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The M drawer
81 phrases beginning with M.
- Machiavellian Cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous in pursuit of power or advantage - the politics that treats principle as costume. It is the standing adjective for…
- Mad as a cut snake Extremely angry, wildly agitated or behaving in an uncontrolled way. Very informal. It usually describes anger or commotion, not a medical condition…
- Mad as a hatter Extremely irrational or eccentric. The expression is old-fashioned, and describing a real person's mental health this way may be insensitive.
- Mad as a March hare Completely crazy or wildly eccentric, usually in a lively, harmless way rather than a threatening one. The simile is old-fashioned and more literary…
- Madder than a wet hen Extremely angry, indignant, or agitated, especially in a visibly flustered and noisy way. Folksy and emphatic. It usually makes anger sound colorful…
- Magnum opus The greatest single work of an artist, writer, composer, or builder; a masterpiece regarded as the crowning achievement of a career. It is a formal…
- Main character energy An informal internet expression for a bold, self-assured way of carrying oneself, as though everyday life were a film built around the person living…
- Make a beeline To head straight for something with speed and focus.
- Make a beeline for To hurry straight toward a person, place, or thing, taking the most direct route and ignoring everything else on the way. Informal and neutral in…
- Make a clean breast To confess fully, baring all.
- Make a clean sweep To clear or win it all, total take.
- Make a hames of Make a mess of something through error or inept handling. Informal and mildly disparaging. Hames is normally plural in both the literal and idiomatic…
- Make a holy show of yourself Behave so foolishly in public that you become a ridiculous spectacle. Informal and admonishing. 'Holy' is an intensifier; the phrase does not normally…
- Make a meal of it To overdo or stretch a task, big fuss.
- Make a mountain out of a molehill To exaggerate a small problem into something much bigger than it is, often out of anxiety, drama, or misperspective, blowing minor issues out of…
- Make a pig of yourself Eat too much, especially in a visibly greedy or self-indulgent way. Informal and explicitly disapproving. It is often self-deprecating, but directed…
- Make a pig's ear To botch or mess up bad, a flop.
- Make a rod for your own back To set up your own trouble, self-made.
- Make a scene To behave loudly and emotionally in public, drawing attention through an outburst of anger, grief or drama, and usually embarrassing whoever is…
- Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear To turn something rough into fine, often against the odds.
- Make a song and dance To fuss or hype it up, big show.
- Make a virtue of necessity Turn an unavoidable or unwelcome situation to advantage, or accept it with good grace. Can mean either gaining an advantage from constraint or…
- Make ends meet Have just enough income or resources to cover necessary expenses. Usually concerns household finances and basic needs. Both is historically common but…
- Make hay while the sun shines To seize an opportunity while conditions are favorable, acting fast before chances fade.
- Make no bones about it To state something plainly with no hesitation or fuss, bare of doubt.
- Make no odds It doesn't matter or change much, no big deal.
- Make the grade Reach the required standard, prove good enough, or succeed in a test, role, profession, or difficult undertaking. Informal but common. It refers to…
- Make waves To stir things up or cause a fuss, rocking the calm.
- Making waves To cause a disturbance, stir up trouble, or attract notice by disrupting a settled state of affairs, whether among colleagues, in an industry, or in…
- Malapropism An unintentionally funny misuse of a word, substituting a similar-sounding word that is ludicrously wrong in context, such as 'statue of limitations'…
- Man does not live by bread alone People need intellectual, emotional, or spiritual nourishment as well as material necessities. Traditional man is generic; people do not live by bread…
- Mansplaining Explaining something in a condescending or overconfident way, especially a man explaining to a woman who in fact knows more about the topic than he…
- Manspreading A man sitting with his knees spread wide apart, especially on public transport, so that he occupies more than one seat. Informal and usually a…
- Many a little makes a mickle Many small amounts or efforts, accumulated patiently, eventually make a substantial whole. The title preserves the historically meaningful form. 'Many…
- Many hands make light work Dividing a substantial task among several helpers reduces the effort required from each person. Usually encouraging and cooperative. It may be…
- March to a different drummer To live by one's own standards and timetable rather than conforming to the pace, values, or expectations of the people around you; a shorthand for…
- Martial Of or suited to war - soldierly, warlike, connected with the armed forces. From martial law to martial arts, the word covers everything the war god's…
- Matchmaker Someone who arranges romantic introductions for others - professionally, socially, or from sheer incorrigible interest in other people's weddings. The…
- May Two-Four Victoria Day or its long weekend in Canada. Current informal holiday name Regional use: Canada, strongest in Ontario and also familiar in British…
- Mea culpa A formal admission that something was one's own fault; an acknowledgment of personal error, often public and sometimes ritualised or half-ironic…
- Meat and drink Something that gives a person deep satisfaction, support or encouragement - what they positively thrive on, as in 'criticism is meat and drink to…
- Meat and potatoes The fundamentals; the most basic, essential, or central part of something, as in 'the meat and potatoes of the deal'. As an adjective before a noun it…
- Meet one's Waterloo To suffer a final, decisive defeat, especially one that abruptly ends a long run of success. Used almost only of a person, team, or force previously…
- Meet your maker To die - with the assumption built in that someone is waiting on the other side. The euphemism treats death as an appointment with the manufacturer…
- Melted into thin air To dissolve or fade away completely, as though nothing had ever been there, with a suggestion of gradual, effortless disappearance. Slightly more…
- Mercurial Lively, quick-witted, and quick to change - a temperament that shifts like the god's own sandals between brilliance, charm, and sudden reversal…
- Mesmerize To hold someone's complete attention as if by a spell; to hypnotize or transfix. The word began as a literal medical term for inducing a trance…
- Method in the madness A rational plan or purpose concealed beneath apparently strange or chaotic behaviour. Usually reassuring or humorous. British English favours method…
- Mid Mediocre; noticeably below the hype, as in 'that sequel was mid'. Informal dismissive slang, most at home on TikTok and X, and insulting when applied…
- Might and main Using all available physical strength, determination, and sustained effort to achieve something. Often sounds literary, humorous, or deliberately…
- Milk it To exploit a situation, advantage, or minor misfortune as fully as possible, squeezing out every last drop of benefit, sympathy, or money. It usually…
- Mind like a steel trap Having a sharp, quick memory or wit, snapping shut on details.
- Mind your Ps and Qs Be careful about your manners, conduct, or details; behave properly and avoid mistakes.
- Miss the boat To fail to take advantage of an opportunity, or to act too late to benefit from it. A second, less common sense is to fail to understand or grasp…
- Monday morning quarterback A person who criticizes a decision after its outcome is known and confidently explains what should have been done instead. Informal and usually…
- Money burns a hole in your pocket Cash you itch to spend fast.
- Money doesn't grow on trees A warning that money is not easily obtained and should not be spent or requested carelessly; said especially to someone, often a child, who treats…
- Money down the drain Money spent with nothing to show for it, wasted or irretrievably lost; the wider phrase covers any effort, work or opportunity squandered just as…
- Money for old rope Money or profit gained with very little effort, or a task that is exceptionally easy. It is chiefly British and informal, usually said of an easy job…
- Money is the root of all evil A blunt claim that the pursuit of wealth lies behind wrongdoing and suffering in the world. In everyday use it is aimed at greed and corrupting…
- Money talks Wealth, or the promise of it, gets attention, influence and results faster than argument or merit can; used cynically or resignedly to explain why…
- Money to burn To have far more money than you need, so that you can spend freely, extravagantly or recklessly; nearly always in the frames 'have money to burn' or…
- Monkey business Mischievous, deceitful or dubious activity. The phrase covers everything from playful fooling around to trickery and underhand or improper goings-on…
- Monkey on your back A persistent burden, compulsion, or problem that is difficult to escape; historically, especially a drug addiction. Informal. In addiction contexts it…
- Monkey's wedding A sunshower: rain falling while the sun is shining. Informal but widely recognisable in South Africa. Jackal's wedding is a related regional…
- More haste, less speed Rushing a task often delays success by causing mistakes or wasted effort. Usually offered as practical advice. The apparent paradox is clearer when…
- More in sorrow than in anger Reacting with sadness, disappointment or regret rather than fury; hurt rather than enraged. In current use it usually frames someone's response to…
- More sinned against than sinning Said of someone whose own wrongdoing looks small beside the wrong others have done to them: a claim to be chiefly the injured party - less blameworthy…
- More than meets the eye Having more significance, complexity, or hidden detail than is apparent at first glance. Said of people, situations, agreements, or works of art whose…
- More than one way to skin a cat There are several different methods of reaching the same goal, so if one approach fails or is blocked, workable alternatives remain. It is nearly…
- More than you can shake a stick at Used of a quantity or number too large to count or take in, typically in the pattern 'more X than you can shake a stick at'. It conveys abundance with…
- Motte and bailey A rhetorical trick in which someone advances a bold, controversial claim (the 'bailey') but, when challenged, retreats to a bland, easily defended…
- Mountain out of a molehill To treat a trivial problem as though it were a serious one, exaggerating its importance out of all proportion. It is nearly always a rebuke to someone…
- Move fast and break things A slogan favouring speed over caution: ship quickly, accept that things will break, and fix them later. Began as Facebook's internal engineering…
- Move heaven and earth To make every possible effort to achieve something, however extreme or difficult the measures required. A strong hyperbole of determination, typically…
- Move the goalposts To unfairly change the rules, criteria, or target of a process after it has already begun, typically making it harder for the other party to succeed…
- Moving target Something that keeps changing while you aim at it - a goal, definition, or standard that shifts faster than efforts to meet it. The phrase is the…
- Mudslinging The practice of making malicious attacks on an opponent's character, private life, or reputation instead of arguing the case on its merits - the stock…
- Murder will out A murder or other grave wrongdoing will eventually be discovered. Archaic in casual speech. It may be extended to concealed wrongdoing that is not…
- Music to my ears Extremely pleasing or welcome to hear, said especially of good news or of words you have long wanted someone to say. The thing heard need not be…
- My brother's keeper A person responsible for another person's welfare or conduct. Traditional brother can be used generically, but sibling's keeper or one another's…