Browse by first letter
The P drawer
39 phrases beginning with P.
- Paint the town red Go out and celebrate in a conspicuous, lively, or boisterous way, often involving drinking.
- Paradigm shift A fundamental change in the basic assumptions, concepts, and practices of a field or activity, in which one whole framework of thinking replaces…
- Parasocial Describes a one-sided relationship in which a person feels a sense of intimacy and connection with a media figure, celebrity, influencer, or fictional…
- Part and parcel An essential, expected, or inseparable component of a larger activity, system, or experience. Most often appears after be: something is part and…
- Pass the buck Shift responsibility, blame, or an unwelcome decision to someone else. Informal and usually critical, because it implies avoidance rather than…
- Pell-mell In disorderly confusion or at a headlong pace, with people or things mixed together unpredictably. Can describe both confused arrangement and rapid…
- Penny wise and pound foolish Careful over small savings while wasteful or imprudent about much larger costs. Hyphenation varies. It can criticise any small saving that creates…
- Pie in the sky Something pleasant that is promised or hoped for but is unrealistic and unlikely ever to materialize; a fanciful reward or empty promise. Usually…
- Piece of cake An informal way of saying that a task or activity is very easy or requires little effort.
- Pile-on An occasion when a large number of people attack or criticise one person online, typically for something they said or did, usually in a way that is…
- Ping me To send someone a brief electronic message, or to check that they are reachable, usually over chat, text, or email; in workplace speak it simply means…
- Pipe down Become quiet, or tell someone firmly to stop talking or making noise. Informal and often brusque. Directed at a person, it can sound ruder than…
- Piping hot Very hot, especially of freshly cooked food or drink served steaming. It is used almost exclusively of things that are meant to be hot, not of weather…
- Play hooky Stay away from school or another obligation without permission. Current informal expression Regional use: United States, later North American English.
- Play it by ear To handle something without a set plan, adapting as it unfolds.
- Play second fiddle To take a lesser or supporting role, overshadowed.
- Pleased as Punch Delighted, and often visibly or self-satisfiedly so; usually in the fuller form 'as pleased as Punch'. The comparison is with Mr Punch of the Punch…
- Plough the sands To labour hard at something that cannot possibly succeed; effort poured into an undertaking as barren as a field of sand, since sand turned by the…
- Post-truth Relating to or denoting circumstances in which facts matter less than emotional appeal and personal belief in shaping public opinion, especially in…
- Pull out all the stops To go all out with maximum effort or flair, holding nothing back.
- Pull someone's leg To tease or mislead someone playfully, telling them something untrue as a joke rather than to harm them. Almost always used in the progressive or…
- Pull the wool over your eyes Deceive someone or prevent them from seeing the truth.
- Pull your finger out A blunt, informal British and Australian demand meaning 'stop dawdling and start making a real effort'. Almost always imperative, addressed to someone…
- Put a damper on To dampen or spoil the mood, cooling the fun.
- Put a sock in it A blunt demand to shut up or stop making noise, stuffing chatter like a sock jams a gap-crude but effective.
- Put paid to To end or kill off.
- Put the cart before the horse Do things in an illogical or ineffective order, especially by dealing with a result before the preparation or cause on which it depends.
- Put the comether on Charm, coax or cajole someone, sometimes in order to deceive them. Regional and dated. The phrase can imply either attractive persuasion or dishonest…
- Put the heart crossways in someone Give someone a sudden severe fright or shock. Informal and emphatic. Often used immediately after a startling noise or unexpected appearance. Regional…
- Put the kibosh on Stop, suppress, or bring an activity or plan to an end.
- Put the screws on To press or squeeze hard, forcing it.
- Put the wind up To spook or rattle someone, all nerves.
- Put through the wringer To be squeezed hard, worn out.
- Put up your dukes Raise your fists and prepare to fight, either as a real challenge or as a theatrical imitation of one. Dated and often playful. In a real…
- Put wood in the hole Shut the door, usually because an open doorway is letting in cold air. Regional, informal and increasingly associated with older speakers. The 'oil'…
- Put your best foot forward To lead with your strongest effort, shining.
- Put your foot in it Say or do something tactless by mistake and thereby embarrass or upset someone. This is chiefly the British form; North American English usually says…
- Put your money where your mouth is To back your words with action or cash, proving it.
- Put your oar in To butt in or meddle, sticking your bit.