coach
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coach (someone) for (something)
To help someone to prepare for something. My daughter struggles with public speaking, so I coached her for the debate.
coach up
To improve someone's skills or abilities by coaching or instructing them. A noun or pronoun can be used between "coach" and "up." I could tell she had a ton of raw talent. She just needed someone to coach her up. They hired me to coach up their managers on conversational English.
drive a coach and horses through (something)
To expose the flaws in something, such as a statement, argument, or belief. Primarily heard in UK. The suspect had said he wasn't there that night but then drove a coach and horses through that idea with today's contradictory statement.
life coach
A professional who helps and motivates clients to make positive changes in their lives. I've been stuck in a funk for so long that I think I'm finally ready to hire a life coach. A: "I can't believe Stacy actually quit her terrible job and went back to school to study her passion, art." B: "Me neither. I hear her life coach played a big role in it all."
roach coach
slang A food truck, a truck or van outfitted to be a mobile kitchen used to prepare and sell food at various locations. Everyone in the office likes to get food from the roach coach that parks outside at lunchtime, but I don't really care for anything they serve. There's a roach coach that always comes around to the dorms and frats in the evening to sell munchies to the stoned college students.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
coach someone for something
to train or drill someone in preparation for doing something. Elliott coached his roommate every night for the contest. Juan coached Alice for the play.
drive a coach and horses through something
Fig. to expose weak points or "holes" in an argument, alibi, or criminal case by [figuratively] driving a horse and carriage through them. (Formal. Emphasizes the large size of the holes or gaps in the argument.) The barrister drove a horse and carnage through the witness's testimony. The opposition will drive a coach and horses through the wording of that government bill.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
drive a coach and horses through something
mainly BRITISHIf you drive a coach and horses through an agreement or an established way of doing something, you destroy it or change it completely. The judgment appeared to drive a coach and horses through the Hague agreement. Ministers are driving a coach and horses through the plans.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
drive a coach and horses through
make something entirely useless or ineffective. BritishAn early example of this idiom is found in this statement by the Irish lawyer Stephen Rice ( 1637–1715 ): ‘I will drive a coach and six horses through the Act of Settlement’. Early versions of the phrase also refer to a space big enough to turn a coach and six (or four ) (i.e. horses) in, but the context, following Rice's declaration, is very often that of rendering a law or regulation ineffective.
1997 Spectator A coach and horses was driven through one of the guiding principles of American statecraft.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
drive a coach and ˈhorses through something
succeed in avoiding certain rules, conditions, etc. in an obvious and important way, without being punished: The wage increase we’ve been given is three times the government’s limit. We’ve driven a coach and horses right through their pay policy.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
roach-coach
n. a mobile snack truck. (The term was revived in the Persian Gulf War.) The roach-coach pulled up in front of the dorm every night about eleven.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.