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The F drawer

75 phrases beginning with F.

Face like thunder Looking furious or grim, dark as a storm.
Face the music To accept the consequences of one's actions, especially when they're unpleasant, requiring courage or accountability rather than avoidance. It implies…
Facts are chiels that winna ding Facts are stubborn things that cannot simply be knocked down or dismissed. Literary Scots. It asserts the resistance of evidence to contradiction, not…
Fair and square Honestly, directly and according to accepted rules, especially in a contest or transaction. Often follows win, beat or play. Square reinforces honesty…
Fair crack of the whip A fair opportunity to take part, compete or prove one's ability. Informal. Fair go is the shorter and especially characteristic Australian equivalent…
Fair play Conduct that follows the rules and gives everyone an equal chance, extended to fairness and justice in any dealing, not just games. In British English…
Fair to middling Acceptable or moderately good, but not especially impressive.
Fait accompli An accomplished fact: something already done and presented as irreversible, obliging everyone else to accept it. The register is formal, at home in…
Fake news In its dominant modern sense, fabricated or deliberately misleading stories dressed up as news reporting, originally spread via social media for…
Fall between two stools To miss both options, stuck in limbo.
Fall flat To fail completely to produce the intended or expected effect, especially of a joke, speech, stunt or performance that is met with silence instead of…
Fall off the wagon To relapse into a bad habit, usually drinking, after quitting.
Fall on deaf ears Of words, requests or warnings: to be ignored or to receive no sympathetic hearing. The grammatical subject is normally the plea or suggestion, not…
Fall on your sword To accept personal responsibility for a failure, usually by resigning or taking a penalty so that others, or the institution, are shielded from blame…
Familiarity breeds contempt Close or prolonged acquaintance can reduce respect and make faults more noticeable. It describes a possible effect, not a universal law; familiarity…
Fancy-free Free of romantic attachments and unburdened by emotional commitments. In its original Tudor sense it meant untouched by amorous thoughts altogether…
Fast and loose In a recklessly inconsistent or deceitful manner, especially by ignoring rules, facts or commitments. Often constructed as play fast and loose with…
Fat cat A rich and powerful person, most often one who uses wealth to gain political influence or whose pay and perks are seen as excessive. In British use it…
Faux pas An embarrassing blunder in manners, etiquette or conduct; especially a socially awkward or improper act. The register is neutral to mildly formal, and…
Feast or famine Describing a situation with no middle ground, in which activity, supply or success swings between abundance and total scarcity. It is used especially…
Feather your nest To make yourself comfortably wealthy, especially by quietly accumulating money, perks, or advantages through a job or official position. The phrase…
Feel it in your bones To sense or believe something instinctively, with strong conviction but no evidence you can point to. Typically said of intuitions that something will…
Feel your oats Feel unusually lively, confident, frisky, or self-important. Current but somewhat folksy Regional use: United States, later wider North American…
Fiddle while Rome burns To occupy oneself with trivial, self-indulgent, or cosmetic concerns while a serious crisis goes unaddressed. It is almost always a pointed rebuke…
Fifth wheel A person or thing that is unnecessary, surplus to requirements, or in the way, especially an extra person who feels awkward or out of place in a…
Fight fire with fire To counter an attack or aggressive tactic by using the same methods against the person employing them. It can be approving, of robust self-defence, or…
Fight the good fight Persevere courageously in a worthy moral, religious or difficult cause. May be earnest, religious or lightly ironic. Good implies that the speaker…
Filibuster To block or delay legislative business by exploiting procedural rules - classically by speaking without end so a measure can never come to a vote. As…
Filter bubble A situation, especially online, in which a person only encounters information and opinions that match their existing views, because personalization…
Fine and dandy Entirely satisfactory, agreeable, or in good order, sometimes said sarcastically when the situation is plainly otherwise. Informal. Tone determines…
Fine as frog hair Exceptionally fine, delicate, excellent, or in very good spirits. Regional, humorous, and now relatively obscure Regional use: United States…
Fine words butter no parsnips Polite promises and flattering talk achieve nothing without practical action. Often used to demand evidence, money or action after reassuring talk…
First come, first served People are dealt with in the order in which they arrive or apply. Often used attributively before basis, with or without hyphens depending on house…
First past the post Literally, the first to pass the finishing post or reach a goal. Its dominant use names the electoral system, standard in Britain and much of the…
First rate Of the highest quality or excellence; first-class. It serves as an adjective ('a first-rate mechanic', 'the food was first rate') and, more datedly…
First-world problem A minor annoyance that qualifies as a problem only for someone living in comfort and affluence, such as slow hotel wifi or a coffee made with the…
Fish for compliments To try to elicit praise from others indirectly, typically by making self-critical or falsely modest remarks in the hope that listeners will contradict…
Fish or cut bait Decide to act or step aside, no dallying.
Fish out of water Feeling awkward, uncomfortable, or out of place in an unfamiliar environment. It captures disorientation or mismatch-someone struggling to adapt-with…
Fit as a butcher's dog In top shape or health, sturdy and spry.
Fit as a fiddle To be in excellent physical health or condition, often with an emphasis on vitality and energy. It's commonly used to describe someone who appears…
Fit like a glove To fit or suit exactly and perfectly, with nothing loose or forced. Used literally of garments and equipment that match the body's measurements…
Fit to be tied Extremely angry, irritated, or agitated. Informal and hyperbolic. It normally means very angry, not literally violent or in need of restraint…
Five by five Completely satisfactory; loud, clear, and working well. Recognisable but less common outside radio or pop-culture contexts Regional use: United States…
Flak Hostile criticism or opposition, as in catching or taking a lot of it after an unpopular decision. Informal. The word began as soldiers' shorthand for…
Flat as a pancake Completely level or dull, no rise at all.
Flat broke Completely penniless; having no money at all. Informal, with 'flat' intensifying 'broke' in the sense 'utterly, completely'. Usually describes a…
Flat out like a lizard drinking Working extremely hard, very busy, or moving at top speed. The Australian simile is deliberately comic.
Flesh and blood Living human beings, ordinary human nature, or one's close biological family. Context determines whether the phrase means humanity, human weakness, or…
Flotsam and jetsam Goods or wreckage found floating on the sea; more broadly, any accumulation of discarded odds and ends, and by extension, often dismissively…
Fly by the seat of your pants To act or navigate by instinct alone, with no plan or tools.
Fly off the handle To suddenly lose one's temper or become uncontrollably angry, often in an exaggerated or unexpected outburst. It's typically used to describe…
Fly-by-night Describes a person or business that is unreliable because it may disappear overnight, especially to avoid paying rent, wages or other debts; also used…
Follow suit To do the same thing that someone else has just done; to copy another's example or course of action. It usually follows a statement of what the first…
FOMO Anxious worry that more exciting or rewarding things are happening elsewhere and you are missing them, which can push people to over-check social…
Food for thought Something that merits serious reflection or gives the mind material to ponder. It appears almost exclusively as the object of 'give', 'offer', or…
Food for worms A darkly humorous way of saying that someone is dead and buried: a corpse, sustenance for the creatures of the grave. The phrase is a dysphemism…
Fool me once, shame on you Being deceived once is the deceiver's fault, but letting the same deception succeed a second time is your own, because you failed to learn from…
Fool's gold Something that looks valuable but isn't, a shiny fake.
Fool's paradise A state of happiness built on illusion or false hope and destined to end in disappointment. It is used to warn about, or quietly pity, someone who is…
Foot the bill To pay a bill or cover the whole cost of something, especially a large or unwelcome expense that other people have run up. Often used when the payer…
For a song For a very low price; for a fraction of something's real worth, almost always with verbs of buying or selling, as when a treasured asset goes for a…
For love or money Under any circumstances or by any inducement, most often used after a negative. Usually appears in a negative clause. Outside that construction it may…
For the birds Completely worthless, trivial or beneath serious attention; fit only to be dismissed. An informal American put-down applied to things, ideas and…
Forbidden fruit Something desired precisely because it is off-limits - a pleasure whose attraction comes largely from being illicit. The phrase explains the pull of…
Foul play Dishonest, treacherous or criminal conduct; sometimes violence suspected in a death or disappearance. In police reporting it often implies possible…
Friendly fire Attack by gunfire, bombing, or other weapons that comes from one's own side rather than the enemy and kills or wounds allied forces; the wording is a…
From pillar to post From one place, person, or difficulty to another, usually without making progress. Usually implies frustration, disorder, or repeated referral rather…
From soup to nuts Completely, from beginning to end; covering every part of a process, range, or service with nothing left out. It is an informal American expression…
From the bottom of your heart With complete sincerity and the fullest depth of feeling; used especially of thanks, apologies, and declarations of love to stress that the words come…
Front runner The competitor thought most likely to win - the horse or runner leading the field, and by extension the candidate, product, or bidder that everyone…
Full of beans Bursting with energy or enthusiasm, lively as if fueled by a jolt.
Full of hot air Talking big with no substance, all puff.
Full steam ahead Proceeding, or an instruction to proceed, with maximum speed, effort, and commitment and without hesitation or reservation; often an exclamation or…
Funny money Counterfeit or otherwise illegitimate currency; by extension, any money that is dubious, artificially inflated, or not what it appears, such as…