hide (redirected from whips hide)

*(neither) hide nor hair

Cliché no sign or indication of someone or something. (*Typically: find ~; see ~.) We could find neither hide nor hair of him. I don't know where he is. There has been no one here. We found neither hide nor hair.

See also: hair, nor

bury one's head in the sand and hide one's head in the sand; have one's head in the sand

Fig. to ignore or hide from obvious signs of danger. (Alludes to an ostrich, which is believed incorrectly to hide its head in a hole in the ground when it sees danger.) Stop burying your head in the sand. Look at the statistics on smoking and cancer.

See also: bury, head, sand

go into hiding

to conceal oneself in a hidden place for a period of time. The political dissident went into hiding. After robbing the bank, the bandits went into hiding for months.

hair and hide(, horns and tallow)

Rur. every last thing; every part. (Refers orginally to using every part of slaughtered cattle for something.) They took everything Mary had, hair and hide, horns and tallow. Joe never threw anything away. He found a use for everything, hair and hide.

See also: and, hair

have someone's hide

Fig. to punish someone severely. The sheriff swore he'd have the outlaw's hide. You lousy no-good so-and-so! I'll have your hide!

See also: have

hide (someone or something) away (some place)

to conceal someone or something somewhere. Please hide Randy away where no one can find him. Rachel hid the cake away, hoping to save it for dessert. Mary hid away the candy so the kids wouldn't eat it all.

See also: away

hide someone or something behind something

to use something to conceal someone or something. We hid the guests for the surprise party behind a large Oriental screen. I will hide the cake behind the screen too.

See also: behind

hide something in something

to conceal something inside something. She hid her money in a book. Let's hide the cake in this closet.

hide behind someone or something

to conceal oneself behind someone or something. The child hid behind his father. Rachel hid behind a tree.

See also: behind

hide from someone (or an animal)

to conceal oneself from someone or an animal. Are you hiding from me? The rabbit was trying to hide from the fox.

hide one's face in shame

Fig. to cover one's face because of shame or embarrassment. Mary was so embarrassed. She could only hide her face in shame. When Tom broke Ann's crystal vase, he wanted to hide his face in shame.

See also: face, shame

hide one's light under a bushel

Fig. to conceal one's good ideas or talents. (A biblical theme.) Jane has some good ideas, but she doesn't speak very often. She hides her light under a bushel. Don't hide your light under a bushel. Share your thoughts with other people.

See also: bushel, light

hide out (from someone or something)

to hide oneself so that one cannot be found by someone or something. Max was hiding out from the police in Detroit. Lefty is hiding out too.

See also: out

tan someone's hide

to spank someone. Billy's mother said she'd tan Billy's hide if he ever did that again. "I'll tan your hide if you're late!" said Tom's father.

Where (have) you been keeping yourself? and Where (have) you been hiding (yourself)?

Inf. I haven't seen you for a long time. Where have you been? Bill: Hi, Alice! Where you been keeping yourself ? Alice: Oh, I've been around. How are you doing? Bill: Okay. John: What's up? Bill: Hi. man. Where you been keeping yourself? John: Oh, I've been busy.

See also: been, keeping

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be on a hiding to nothing  (British informal)

to be in a situation where it is impossible to succeed We were on a hiding to nothing trying to get more money out of the government.

See also: nothing

bury your head in the sand

to refuse to think about an unpleasant situation, hoping that it will improve so that you will not have to deal with it Parents said bullying was being ignored, and accused the headmaster of burying his head in the sand.

See also: bury, head, sand

cover/hide a multitude of sins  (humorous)

if something hides a multitude of sins, it prevents people from seeing or discovering something bad Big sweaters are warm and practical and they hide a multitude of sins.

See also: cover, multitude, sin

haven't seen hide nor hair of somebody/something   (informal)

if you have not seen hide nor hair of someone or something, you have not seen them for a period of time (often + since ) I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since last Sunday, and I'm beginning to get rather worried.

See also: hair, haven't, nor, seen

hide your light under a bushel

to avoid letting people know that you are good at something, usually because you are shy (often in continuous tenses) I didn't realize you could play the piano - you've been hiding your light under a bushel.

See tan hide, cover a multitude of sins, haven't seen hide nor hair of

See also: bushel, light

tan somebody's hide  (old-fashioned)

to hit someone, usually a child, many times as a punishment I'll tan that boy's hide if he touches my toolbox again.

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hide your head in the sand also stick your head in the sand

to refuse to think about an unpleasant situation Teachers can't just hide their heads in the sand and not try to find out why students aren't doing better.

Usage notes: also used with bury and other verbs: All Olivia wanted to do was bury her head in the sand and forget everything.

See also: head, sand

hide a multitude of sins also cover a multitude of sins

to prevent people from noticing something bad I'm a messy eater, so I always wear black – it hides a multitude of sins.

Etymology: based on the saying love covers a multitude of sins from the Bible

See also: multitude, sin