feet of clay


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Related to feet of clay: led by the nose

feet of clay

A weakness or failing in someone. The phrase originated in the Bible. I know it's hard to believe, but anyone you admire surely has feet of clay.
See also: clay, feet, of

feet of clay

A failing or weakness in a person's character, as in The media are always looking for a popular idol's feet of clay. This expression comes from the Bible (Daniel 2:31-33), where the prophet interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with a head of gold and feet of iron clay. [c. 1600]
See also: clay, feet, of

feet of ˈclay

a surprising fault or weakness in the character of somebody who is admired and respected: Why are people always surprised when they discover that their heroes have feet of clay?This idiom comes from a story in the Bible, where the king of Babylon saw an image with a head of gold and feet of clay.
See also: clay, feet, of

feet of clay

An underlying weakness or fault: "They discovered to their vast discomfiture that their idol had feet of clay, after placing him upon a pedestal" (James Joyce).
See also: clay, feet, of

feet of clay

A flaw or vulnerability of someone who is otherwise admirable. In the Bible's Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed that he saw a statue made of gold, silver, and brass, but with feet of clay. Daniel interpreted the vision to mean that the clay symbolized the Babylonian Empire's vulnerability and imminent collapse. (See Achilles' heel.)
See also: clay, feet, of
References in periodicals archive ?
The military was not responsible for his amorality and penchant for murder, and if Parson's path from model son to killer and abusive husband takes some beating through at times, Feet of Clay is a parable, simply told.
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THE racing world does go in for idols with feet of clay - we like our heroes as they should be, choc full of courage and commitment.
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Durham's Cathedral and Castle are impressive, but are founded on modern feet of clay.
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There is nothing sadder than a fallen idol and we are sorry that Campbell has been found to have feet of clay.
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But his early departure from the pitch only added to the legend, because all too many heroes of that generation, paid a pittance, lingered on spiralling down through the leagues, still trying to scratch a living and revealing feet of clay in the process.
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Describes a monster made of strange materials including head of steam, glass chin, feet of clay & manitas de plata.
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Crews completing the Plymouth Relief Sewer Project relied on microtunneling to install 3,516 feet of clay pipe for the new main, while 2,200 feet of PVC installation was accomplished through conventional open cut.
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NASA's feet of clay were exposed on January 27, 1967--just nineteen years and one day before a bloodier and even more public exposure.
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The new landfill, which has been fortified with an underground earthquake-resistant wall anchored in bedrock, is covered by a flexible-membrane liner and geo-composite fabric, two feet of clay, topsoil and grass.
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Take The Crown is the work of a man who remains a stubbornly British Idol, with feet of clay.
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Many of those who presented themselves as "men of the people" have been found to have feet of clay.
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Skeletons in the closet for a rainy day, Let your hair down when the mice want to play, Two hundred pairs of shoes for your feet of clay, Your name is on the mortgage now the truth is in the way.
READERS' POEMS
But he must have feet of clay, surely, this God-elect, because he doesn't like getting them wet.
You can't cheer on a horse that doesn't run
Heroes are needed today but not those with feet of clay.
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