till (redirected from with fingers in the till)

*all hours (of the day and night)

Fig. very late in the night or very early in the morning. (*Typically: until ~; till ~; at ~.) Why do you always stay out until all hours of the day and night? I like to stay out till all hours.

See also: hour

(Good-bye) until then. and (Good-bye) till then.; (Good-bye) till later.; (Good-bye) until later.

Good-bye until sometime in the future. Sally: See you tomorrow. Good-bye until then. Sue: Sure thing. See you. Mary: See you later. Bob: Until later. The announcer always ended by saying, "Be with us again next week at this time. Good-bye until then."

See also: until

Call no man happy till he dies, and Count no man happy till he dies.

Prov. You cannot tell if a person's life has been happy on the whole until that person's life is over; no matter how happy someone is now, something bad may happen to destroy his or her happiness. Alan: You must be very happy with your new wife. Bill: Call no man happy till he dies. Jill: That movie star must be the happiest person in the world. He's rich, people love him, and he likes his work. Jane: Count no man happy till he dies.

See also: call, die, happy, man

Church ain't out till they quit singing.

Rur. things have not yet reached the end. Charlie: No way our team can win now. Mary: Church ain't out till they quit singing. There's another inning to go.

See also: church, out, quit, singe

from here till next Tuesday

Rur. for a great distance; for a long time. If you try that again, I'll knock you from here till next Tuesday. You can lecture him from here till next Tuesday, but he won't listen.

See also: here, next

Good-bye for now. and (Good-bye) until next time.; Till next time.; Bye for now.; Till we meet again.; Until we meet again.

Good-bye, I'll see you soon.; Good-bye, I'll see you next time. (Often said by the host at the end of a radio or television program.) Alice: See you later. Good-bye for now. John: Bye, Alice. Mary: See you later. Bob: Good-bye for now. The host of the talk show always closed by saying, "Good-bye until next time. This is Wally Off, Slgning off."

See also: now

have one's hand in the till and have one's finger(s) in the till

Fig. to steal money from one's employer. James couldn't afford that car on just his salary. He must have his hand in the till. Sally was outraged when she found that one of her salesclerks had his fingers in the till.

See also: hand, have

It's not over till it's over.

Inf. It is not over yet and will not be until the event has completely played out. It looks like we have won, but it's not over 'til it's over! They haven't won the game yet. It's not over 'til it's over.

Never halloo till you are out of the woods.

Prov. Do not rejoice until you are certain that your problems are over. Jill: Now that I have a full-time job, I'm certain to be able to pay all my debts. Jane: But it's just a temporary job; it may not last long. Never halloo till you are out of the woods.

See also: never, out, Woods

Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.

Prov. If you think something might cause trouble, leave it alone and wait until it actually causes trouble. Ellen: My daughter's teacher is going to be troublesome, I can tell. Maybe I should go to the school and talk to her. Jane: Why not wait till she actually does something? Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.

See also: never, trouble

till hell freezes over

Inf. forever. (Use caution with hell.) That's all right, boss; I can wait till hell freezes over for your answer. I'll be here till hell freezes over.

See also: freeze, hell

till kingdom come

Fig. until the end of the world; forever. Do I have to keep assembling these units till kingdom come? I'll hate her guts till kingdom come.

See also: come, kingdom

till the fat lady sings and when the fat lady sings

Fig. at the end; a long time from now. (Supposedly from a tale about a child—sitting through an opera—who asks a parent when it will be over. "Not until the fat lady sings" is the answer.) Relax. It won't be over till the fat lady sings. We can leave with everybody else when the fat lady sings.

See also: fat, lady, sing

to the bitter end and till the bitter end

Fig. to the very end. (Originally nautical. This originally had nothing to do with bitterness.) I'll stay till the bitter end. It took me a long time to get through school, but I worked hard at it all the way to the bitter end.

See also: bitter, end

You never know (what you can do) till you try.

Prov. Even if you think you are not able to do something, you should try to do it. Jill: Want to go rock-climbing with me this weekend? Jane: Oh, I can't rock-climb. Jill: How do you know? Have you ever tried it? Jane: No, not really. Jill: You don't know what you can do till you try. Alan: I'll never be able to learn to dance. Jane: You don't know till you try.

See also: know, never, try

You never miss the water till the well runs dry.

Prov. People are not grateful for what they have until they lose it. Jill: I never realized what a good friend Jeanie was until she moved away. Jane: You never miss the water till the well runs dry.

See also: dry, miss, never, run, water, well

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have your fingers/hand in the till

to steal money from the place where you work, usually from a shop He had his fingers in the till, that's why he lost his job.

See also: finger, have

till/until kingdom come

for a very long time

Usage notes: 'Until Kingdom come' is a phrase from a prayer in the Bible and means 'until the world ends'.

I don't want to wait until kingdom come for you to decide what you're doing.

See also: come, kingdom

to the bitter end

if you do something to the bitter end, you continue it until it is finished, although it is difficult and takes a long time Many climbers gave up before they reached the summit, but I was determined to stick it out to the bitter end.

See also: bitter, end

until hell freezes over  (informal)

if you say that someone can do something until hell freezes over, you mean they will not get the result they want They can talk until hell freezes over - they won't make me change my mind.

See also: freeze, hell, until

until the cows come home

for a very long time We could talk about this problem until the cows come home, but it wouldn't solve anything.

See also: come, cow, home, until

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you haven't lived until something (spoken) also you haven't lived till something

you will be sorry if you do not try this You haven't lived until you've got a personal trainer to work out with.

See also: haven't, live, until

to the bitter end See: stick it out

See also: bitter, end

until hell freezes over also till hell freezes over

forever I will fight for these children till hell freezes over.

Usage notes: also used in the form when hell freezes over (never): They said they would get back together when hell freezes over.

Etymology: based on the idea that hell (a very hot place where people are punished forever) can never freeze

See also: freeze, hell, until

until the cows come home (spoken) also till the cows come home

for a very long time You can diet until the cows come home, and you still won't be a size 4.

See also: come, cow, home, until