boogeyman

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boogeyman

1. An imaginary, evil man who has supernatural abilities. I had a hard time getting the kids to go to bed—they're convinced that the boogeyman is going to come into their room at night.
2. By extension, anything that is deemed frightening or threatening, especially when such an opinion is unwarranted. The idea that minorities might move into certain neighborhoods is a constant societal boogeyman.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

boogieman

(ˈbugimæn and ˈbʊgimæn)
n. an imaginary man who is said to frighten people; a false threat of any kind. Don’t turn me into a boogieman. Spank the child yourself.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Bogeymen, rods, and wet-nurses lost ground, parents kept children at home for a longer period, paternal authority gradually weakened and sons began to claim more freedom in the choice of their career.
Childhood, Memory and Autobiography in Holland: From the Golden Age to Romanticism
The problem is that these bogeymen in the multi-nationals are protecting their interests in a totally legal and above board way.
The social benefits alone, which come from increased employment, are surely evidence that these companies are actually a force for the good and not multi-national bogeymen? Amanda Vigar is managing partner at Holmfirth-based accountants V&A Bell Brown LLP
'Bogeymen' a force for good; THE BUSINESS BATTLEAXE Amanda Vigar
In the final, Alex Bailey (9), Dan Brown (9) and Lauren Bewick (7) led the Bogeymen to victory, beating Team Wolves 7-2.
Northern League
Where the bogeymen in those films were economical and psychological, respectively, the demon in E.
Shadow of the Vampire
Now supporters of a new "independent" government agency are dragging up the same old bogeymen to justify the NIE, which will supposedly fund sound peer-reviewed environmental research.
Sound science?
It's a mutual relationship with the people on the surface, who the Bogeymen call Drycleaners and they're all happy with it.
Meet your friendly neighbourhood Bogeyman; Timothy Spall gets smelly as he heads an all-star cast in Fungus The Bogeyman. MARION MCMULLEN asks him about about playing the misunderstood monster
JUST how many bogeymen does the world need now the Cold War's ended?
Euro troubles; MAILBAG
The truth is we all have to learn to live with the real-life bogeymen.
Don't fan the flames
Among firearms, the bogeymen have included Saturday night specials, assault weapons, and plastic guns--none of which were what the gun-control lobby claimed they were.
Among drugs, the bogeymen have included just about every illegal substance at one time or another.
Voodoo social policy: exorcizing the twin demons, guns and drugs
Who knows what may have happened if he had continued in his for mer job as one of the top bogeymen for The Nasty Party?
Nasty? No, nice!
A NATION'S identity seems to be forged by the nature of the bogeymen it creates.
Who wins in the blame game?
Adapted from the cult children's book by Raymond Briggs, it tells the tale of what happens when a family of Drycleaners (that's humans to you and me) get entangled with Bogeymen and their dank, distasteful, fetid and foul underworld, building an excting adventure on to Briggs' grime loving creations.
Tine Off: On trail of badly behaving Bogey; As Martin Clunes finds out, there's a Fungus among us
Now, in Ronny Hu's long mooted horror-thriller, these two fearsome big screen bogeymen meet in a showdown to prove who's the scariest of themall.
Seven: MOVIES: Butcher boys; Slasher icons go face to mask in a disappointing showdown
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