north

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find true north

To find or proceed on the correct course or in the right direction. A reference to finding the position of the North Pole (e.g., by compass or by locating a pole star) so as to navigate properly. I would strongly advise that you seek professional legal counsel to find true north in your case against the state.

it's grim up north

cliché An adage that life in Northern England is greatly inferior to that in the South. A: "The company wants me to relocate to the branch in Middlesbrough, but I'm not sure I want to go." B: "Can't say I blame you. It's grim up north."

north and south

The mouth. The phrase comes from rhyming slang in which "north and south" rhymes with "mouth." Primarily heard in UK. Hey, watch what comes out of your north and south around your granny.

north forty

Forty acres on the northern section of a property. I think Pa's working up on the north forty—want me to take you over there?

north of (some number)

Beyond some number; exceeding some number. Now that I'm north of 50, I swear my back hurts no matter what I do. If I sneeze, that's it, I'm doubled over for the rest of the day. Does Joel really make north of $80,000 a year? Dang, I'm in the wrong business.

too far north

slang Extremely shrewd. The phrase refers to people from the north of England, who are thought to be especially astute. Primarily heard in US. You'll never outsmart Alison, she's too far north for you.

up North

To, in, or at the northern part of a country or the world. People from both sides of the political spectrum always threaten to move up North across the border whenever a new president is elected. Maybe it's just that the heat down here makes us more mellow, but I always find people up North to be way more uptight and aggressive.

up North

to or at the northern part of the country or the world. I don't like living up North. I want to move down South where it's warm. When you say "up North," do you mean where the polar bears live or just in the northern states?

find true north

Get on the right course, proceed in the right direction, as in We'd better find true north before our competitors do. This term alludes to locating the position of the North Pole from a particular point. [Slang; late 1900s]

up north

to or in the north of a country. informal

head ˈnorth/ˈsouth

(business) (about share prices, currencies, etc.) rise/fall in value: The country’s currency headed south for the second day, weakening 1.4%.

See also: head, north, south

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

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References in classic literature ?

If the climate, since the Glacial period, has ever been in any degree warmer than at present (as some geologists in the United States believe to have been the case, chiefly from the distribution of the fossil Gnathodon), then the arctic and temperate productions will at a very late period have marched a little further north, and subsequently have retreated to their present homes; but I have met with no satisfactory evidence with respect to this intercalated slightly warmer period, since the Glacial period.

But the foregoing remarks on distribution apply not only to strictly arctic forms, but also to many sub-arctic and to some few northern temperate forms, for some of these are the same on the lower mountains and on the plains of North America and Europe; and it may be reasonably asked how I account for the necessary degree of uniformity of the sub-arctic and northern temperate forms round the world, at the commencement of the Glacial period.

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It was a sight without an equal, those long luminous trains, so dazzling in the full moon, and which, passing the boundary chain on the north, extends to the "Sea of Rains." At one o'clock of the terrestrial morning, the projectile, like a balloon borne into space, overlooked the top of this superb mount.

Toward the north the escarpments were lowered by a depression which would probably have given access to the interior of the crater.

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Toward three o'clock in the afternoon th e carriage appeared again at the gate of North Shingles.

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He stood head-on eyeing us as we approached him, for we had found it a waste of time to attempt to escape the perpetual bestial rage which seems to possess these demon creatures, who rove the dismal north attacking every living thing that comes within the scope of their far-seeing eyes.

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Far to the north the Big Bwana and his black warriors clung tenaciously to the trail of the fleeing safari that was luring them further and further from the girl they sought to save, while back at the bungalow the woman who had loved Meriem as though she had been her own waited impatiently and in sorrow for the return of the rescuing party and the girl she was positive her invincible lord and master would bring back with him.

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"The North is my home," said the old lady, "and at its edge is the same great desert that surrounds this Land of Oz.

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The swift current caught us, flung us toward the south shore, but before we could make a landing flung us back toward the north shore.

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Now the girl from the North had been lying near the lamp, eating very little and saying less for days past; but when Amoraq and Kadlu next morning packed and lashed a little hand- sleigh for Kotuko, and loaded it with his hunting-gear and as much blubber and frozen seal-meat as they could spare, she took the pulling-rope, and stepped out boldly at the boy's side.

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In regard to the addresses which I was to make in the North, I recall just one piece of advice which the General gave me.

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"Yes, but WHOSE horse was it that took us to North Riverboro?

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Captain Bonneville mentions another geological phenomenon north of Red River, where the surface of the earth, in considerable tracts of country, is covered with broad slabs of sandstone, having the form and position of grave-stones, and looking as if they had been forced up by some subterranean agitation.

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"I shall sell her in the north," replied the raider.

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Fe -- Change in Landscape -- Geology -- Tooth of extinct Horse -- Relation of the Fossil and recent Quadrupeds of North and South America -- Effects of a great Drought -- Parana -- Habits of the Jaguar -- Scissor-beak -- Kingfisher, Parrot, and Scissor-tail -- Revolution -- Buenos Ayres State of Government.