shovel

be shovel-ready

To be ready for construction to begin, typically once enough funding has been secured. Usually used in reference to large-scale building projects. We've got the permits from the city and plans from the architect, so things here are shovel-ready. Any word on funding from the government? It took years, but that big development project is finally shovel-ready.

pick-and-shovel work

Any tedious, monotonous work (not necessarily involving physical labor). I know organizing all these files is pick-and-shovel work, but we'll appreciate it afterward when documents are no longer a nightmare to find. As an intern, I get stuck with most of the pick-and-shovel work associated with the election campaign.

See also: work

put (one) to bed with a shovel

euphemism To kill one. The expression alludes to the burial of the person killed. Don't worry, boss, put that stool pigeon to bed with a shovel before he ever gets the chance to testify.

See also: bed, put, shovel, to

shovel in

1. To fill some substance in(to something or some place) with or as if with a shovel. In each usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "shovel" and "in." Six of us stood around the newly dug foundation and shoveled in pound after pound of concrete. I began shoveling dirt in the hole to cover up the exposed pipeline.

2. To fill a thing or area in (with some substance) using or as if using a shovel. We shoveled in the grave without saying a word, as the rain poured sullenly down on us from above. I placed the book in the hole at the base of the tree and shoveled it in with my hands.

3. To eat something very quickly and roughly. You're going to give yourself a stomachache, the way you're shoveling in that steak! She shoveled the food in her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in days.

See also: shovel

shovel out

1. To clear or remove something out (of something or some place) with or as if with a shovel. A noun or pronoun can be used between "shovel" and "out." He hurt his back shoveling snow out of the driveway. I got down on my knees and shoveled out the dirt with my hands.

2. To empty something or some area with or as if with a shovel. A noun or pronoun can be used between "shovel" and "out." Dad wants me to shovel out the stables before I can go out tonight. Everyone in the neighborhood is required to help shovel the sidewalks out in the winter.

See also: out, shovel

shovel-ready

Ready for construction to begin, typically once enough funding has been secured. Usually used in reference to large-scale building projects. We've got the permits from the city and plans from the architect, so things here are shovel-ready. Any word on funding from the government? It took years for that big development project to become shovel-ready.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

put someone to bed with a shovel

Sl. to bury someone; to kill and bury someone. Shut up! You want me to put you to bed with a shovel? The leader of the gang was getting sort of tired and old, so one of the younger thugs put him to bed with a shovel.

See also: bed, put, shovel, to

put to bed with a shovel

 

1. Sl. dead and buried. (Alludes to burying someone.) You wanna be put to bed with a shovel? fust keep talking that way. Poor old Jake. He was put to bed with a shovel last March.

2. Sl. intoxicated. He wasn't just tipsy. He was put to bed with a shovel! Dead drunk? Yes, he was put to bed with a shovel.

See also: bed, put, shovel, to

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

put someone to bed with a shovel

tv. to bury someone; to kill and bury someone. (see also put to bed with a shovel.) The leader of the gang was getting sort of tired and old, so one of the younger thugs put him to bed with a shovel.

See also: bed, put, shovel, someone, to

put to bed with a shovel

1. mod. dead and buried. (From put someone to bed with a shovel.) You wanna be put to bed with a shovel? Just keep talking that way.

2. mod. alcohol intoxicated. (From sense 1) He wasn’t just tipsy. He was put to bed with a shovel!

See also: bed, put, shovel, to

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.