fly off the handle
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Related to flies off the handle: without a hitch, flew in the face, dropping like flies, flies in the face of
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fly off the handle
To become uncontrollably angry; to lose control of one's temper. It's a shame the candidate allowed himself to fly off the handle like that during the debate, since it undermines a lot of the really solid arguments he'd been making up to that point. I know you're upset, but there's no point flying off the handle like that. It was just an honest mistake.
fly off the handle
Fig. to lose one's temper. Every time anyone mentions taxes, Mrs. Brown flies off the handle. If she keeps flying off the handle like that, she'll have a heart attack.
fly off the handle
Lose one's temper, as in Tom flies off the handle at the slightest setback. This metaphoric expression alludes to the loosened head of a hammer flying off after a blow. [Early 1800s]
fly off the handle
INFORMALIf you fly off the handle, you suddenly become very angry. When I finally managed to speak to him, he flew off the handle and shouted down the phone. Note: The reference here is to an axe head which has become loose, and so when someone swings the axe, the axe head flies off.
fly off the handle
lose your temper suddenly and unexpectedly. informalThis expression uses the image of a loose head of an axe flying off its handle while the axe is being swung.
fly off the ˈhandle
(informal) suddenly become very angry: There’s no need to fly off the handle!fly off the handle
Informal To become suddenly enraged: flew off the handle when the train was finally canceled.
fly off the handle
To lose one's temper. The image is one of speed, as rapidly as an axe head parting company from the handle during a down stroke. The phrase is credited to the 19th-century humorist Thomas Haliburton.