chose

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choose (one's) moment

To thoughtfully and prudently decide the best moment to act. Sometimes used ironically to suggest the opposite. I suggest choosing your moment before you ask the boss for a raise. Wow, she broke up with him on his birthday? She really knows how to choose her moment.

choose (one's) words carefully

To speak with great care and consideration, especially so as to avoid causing trouble or offense. A: "If you're going to bring up a touchy subject like that with Carol, you'll definitely need to choose your words carefully." B: "I know, she can be so volatile." He'll have to choose his words carefully if he wants to bring up the boss's mistake in the meeting.

choose (one's) words wisely

To speak with great care and consideration, especially so as to avoid causing trouble or offense. A: "If you're going to bring up a touchy subject like that with Carol, you'll definitely need to choose your words wisely." B: "I know, she can be so volatile." He'll have to choose his words wisely if he wants to bring up the boss's mistake in the meeting.

choose among (people or things)

To select from a group of options. The supervisor will choose among these candidates for someone to fill the position.

choose between (two people or things)

To select one person or thing from two options. We will choose between the two best candidates for the job. I'm exhausted because I had to choose between sleep or finishing this paper last night.

choose from (people or things)

To select from a group of options. The supervisor will choose from these candidates for someone to fill the position.

choose sides

1. To ally or agree with one person or group in an argument. I refuse to choose sides between my two daughters! I didn't intend to choose sides, but Nancy made the stronger case.

2. To divide a group of people into teams, as when playing a sport or game. The game hasn't started yet because it's taking those guys forever to choose sides!

choose the lesser of two evils

To pick the less offensive of two undesirable options. I wasn't excited about going to a seminar all weekend, but I also didn't want to lose my license, so I chose the lesser of two evils and spent the weekend learning about new regulations in our field. Do you really want to get a demerit for not having your blazer? Just choose the lesser of two evils and tell the teacher you forgot it—maybe she'll take pity on you!

choose the line of least resistance

To do something or decide on a course of action that avoids confrontation or difficulty. Let's not try to innovate this time—just choose the line of least resistance so we can get the job done on time. You're never going to be respected by your boss if you choose the line of least resistance every time he asks you to do something you don't want to do.

See also: choose, least, line, of, resistance

choose the path of least resistance

To do something or decide on a course of action that avoids confrontation or difficulty. Let's not try to innovate this time—just choose the path of least resistance so we can get the job done on time. You're never going to be respected by your boss if you choose the path of least resistance every time he asks you to do something you don't want to do.

See also: choose, least, of, path, resistance

choose up

To divide a group of people into teams, as when playing a sport or game. The game hasn't started yet because it's taking those guys forever to choose up!

choose up sides

To divide a group of people into teams, as when playing a sport or game. The game hasn't started yet because it's taking those guys forever to choose up sides!

pick and choose

To select and combine various different options as one desires. Starting next month, customers of the airline will no longer be able to pick and choose the things they pay for on their flights, instead having to select one of three pre-determined price tiers.

See also: and, choose, pick

plus ça change (plus c'est la même chose)

From French, meaning "the more things change, the more they remain the same." In English, the phrase is used in reference to problems or bad situations that remain the same, even when people or things involved in them are different. We move into a fancy new office, and still the servers crash all the time. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Plus ça change, eh? Even with the so-called champion of the working man in office, it's still the wealthy elite getting all the tax breaks.

choose (up) sides

to select from a group to be on opposing sides for a debate, fight, or game. (Fixed order.) Let's choose up sides and play basketball. The children chose up sides and began the game.

pick and choose

to choose very carefully from a number of possibilities; to be selective. You must take what you are given. You cannot pick and choose. Meg is so beautiful. She can pick and choose from a whole range of boyfriends.

See also: and, choose, pick

choose up

Select players and form sides for a game or team, as in Jean was always afraid she'd be last when it was time to choose up. [First half of 1900s]

pick and choose

Select with great care, as in John and Kate loved to go to the pastry shop, especially if they had time to pick and choose . Despite its redundancy ( pick and choose are synonyms), this phrase has survived since the 1400s.

See also: and, choose, pick

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pick and choose

select only the best or most desirable or appropriate from among a number of alternatives.

See also: and, choose, pick

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌpick and ˈchoose

take time and care to choose something you really want: There are so few jobs in banking at the moment that you’re not really in a position to pick and choose.

See also: and, choose, pick

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

choose up

To select players and form sides, teams, or some other group for a game or competition: The two captains chose up sides for the baseball game.

pick and choose

To select with great care.

See also: and, choose, pick

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

See also:

References in periodicals archive ?

But James McClean (inset right) chose Albion over New York, James Chester chose Albion over Leicester and Rickie Lambert (inset left) chose the Throstle over a Canary.

The stripe is back... and many more reasons to be cheerful; THE SEASON AHEAD

Overall, 31.5% of all respondents chose methamphetamine/crack as the most dangerous drugs facing America's youth.

Survey Reveals How Different Demographic Groups Perceive the Most Dangerous Drug for Our Kids in Today's Society Based on Age

Half chose from six chocolates and half chose from 30.

Consumer vertigo: a new wave of social critics claim that freedom's just another word for way too much to choose. Here's why they're wrong

The founder of Arrowhead Mills, Frank Ford, chose, "He did his best," while Michael Funk, the founder of Mountain Peoples Warehouse and United Natural Foods distributors, picked, "Somebody who worked his butt off to make the world a better place." S.M.

Pioneers and responsibility

The cost to register a domain name ranges from $15 to $60 depending on the level of service you chose. The basic $15 gives you a registered name and service agreement for one year - a good place to start.

Get a business card in cyberspace

Siaulys then chose Armentano, the in-vogue, just-over-40 designer of homes for TV stars, socialites, and politicians, for the interior, even though Ohtake wanted that job, too.

Unique boutique: a pharmaceutical heir chooses risk over easy reward, making a name in hotels

Just one month before I was about to delve into corporate America, dance chose me-again.

The second time around: Alicia Graf in her own words

A large number of the reasons they chose for the decline of America came from the prominence of the new history of race, ethnicity, gender, and class.

Social history for beginners: a "young scholar" looks at his new profession

Ophir let a female view a sham fight and then monitored which male she chose to approach.

Some female birds prefer losers. (Quails)

Because parents ultimately guide their children's education--and have the potential to strongly impact the standards of the music teaching profession--MTNA asked several parents why they chose a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music to instruct their kids.

Celebrating certification

This past school year, the New Ohio Institute, a Toledo-based think tank, chose the Hamilton district as the top-rated Ohio urban school district, in part because it showed more academic progress during the past two years than 75 percent of all other state school districts.

Fulfilling her mother's dream: the progress in this Hamilton City, Ohio, district led to kudos from President Bush. (administrator profile)

Italian documentarians Alberto Vendemmiati and Fabrizio Lazzaretti were commended for "courageous and uncompromising filmmaking" by the jurors, who went on to say they chose the film "for its extraordinary cinematic language achieved under the most difficult of conditions." Is there a distributor out there with enough courage to pick it up?

The Vancouver International Film Festival. (Festival Wraps)

The authors chose 15 male subjects with a mean age of 21.9, at least high school experience in track, the ability to sprint 100 meters in at least 12.5 seconds, and some experience in sprinting the curve.

A Survey on the Effect of Lane Assignment in Sprinting the Curve Portion of a 400-Meter Track

The employer may freely chose which employees it will cover and is not required to cover all employees or all employees meeting any eligibility criteria.

Flexible benefits for small employers

She chose it over Brown, which her parents had recommended for its excellent curriculum in the sciences and outstanding record for sending undergraduates on for Ph.Ds.