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Searching 1,789 entries, their variants, meanings, and origins

“luck”

Showing 1–24 of 26 matches

  1. As good luck would have it

    Meaning … 'good' has faded in the shortened everyday form 'as luck would have it', which now introduces unlucky turns just as readily as lucky ones, often with dry or ironic understatement. Conversational and slightly…

    Also known as as chance would have it · as ill luck would have it · as luck would have it

  2. Third time lucky

    Meaning Said to express or encourage the belief that a third attempt will succeed where the first two failed - sometimes as genuine confidence, sometimes as a reassuring formula spoken just before trying again. It is…

    Also known as Third time is the charm · Third time's a charm · Third time's lucky · Third time's the charm

  3. On the pig's back

    Meaning Doing great or riding high, all luck.

    Also known as Pig's back

  4. When your ship comes in

    Meaning When luck or wealth hits, big time.

    Also known as Ship comes

  5. Karma

    Meaning … in this life or a future rebirth; in loose Western usage, luck, destiny, or a felt atmosphere of cause and effect, as in good karma, bad karma, or a place said to have bad energy. The colloquial senses drift…

    Also known as karmic · kharma

  6. No dice

    Meaning A flat refusal or failure, no chance or luck.

  7. Break a leg

    Meaning Said to wish a performer good luck just before they go on stage, standing in for the words 'good luck', which theatre superstition treats as a jinx. Outside the theatre it is used playfully before any…

    Also known as break a leg out there · break both legs · go break a leg · I hope you break a leg

  8. Hold thumbs

    Meaning Hope for good luck or wish that something will succeed. The local equivalent of cross your fingers. It can refer either to the gesture or simply to hoping. Regional use: South Africa and neighbouring southern…

    Also known as Hold thumbs for someone · Keep your thumbs held · Thumbs held

  9. Off the hook

    Meaning … trouble, or obligation, escaping a sticky situation with relief or luck. It carries a tone of liberation or sly evasion, used for dodging blame, chores, or peril, blending triumph with a hint of dodging…

  10. Knock on wood

    Meaning … tapping wood, after mentioning good fortune or a hope for the future, as a playful or superstitious attempt to avoid bad luck. The wording is chiefly North American; British English usually has touch wood…

    Also known as Knock wood · Touch wood

  11. Rags to riches

    Meaning … as a stock narrative arc. Usually admiring of effort and luck, but often ironic when the transformation is improbable, exaggerated, or held up as a model anyone could copy. Neutral to admiring in tone, but…

    Also known as from rags to riches · go from rags to riches · rags-to-riches story · rags-to-riches tale

  12. Strike it rich

    Meaning To become rich suddenly, usually through luck, a windfall, or a lucky find rather than steady saving. Informal; applied to prospectors, investors, inventors, and anyone whose fortunes appear to change…

    Also known as hit it rich · strike gold · strike it big · struck it rich

  13. The upper hand

    Meaning … seize, and it usually implies genuine dominance over an opponent rather than a moment of luck. Neutral but competitive in tone; a staple of news, sports, and business reporting. Regional use: General English…

    Also known as gain the upper hand · get the upper hand · have the upper hand · seize the upper hand

  14. Green with envy

    Meaning … 'turn green with envy' or 'green with envy at' someone's luck. The colour belongs to a very old tradition that read envy and jealousy in a pale, sickly complexion. Usually humorous or hyperbolic; the poetic…

    Also known as green with envy at · green with jealousy · turn green with envy

  15. Down in the dumps

    Meaning … usually because of a disappointment, setback or run of bad luck. A mild, everyday expression for a temporary low mood rather than a clinical term, and often softened with 'a bit' or 'rather'. Informal and…

    Also known as a bit down in the dumps · feel down in the dumps · in the dumps

  16. On a wing and a prayer

    Meaning Barely scraping by with slim hope, relying on luck.

    Also known as On wing prayer · Wing and prayer

  17. Long may your big jib draw

    Meaning May you enjoy good luck and favourable conditions for a long time. Traditional toast or farewell; now also used ceremonially Regional use: Newfoundland and Labrador, with related Atlantic Canadian awareness.

    Also known as and long may your big jib draw · deed I is, me old cock, and long may your big jib draw

  18. Shoot yourself in the foot

    Meaning … opponents. It implies avoidable clumsiness rather than bad luck, and is used especially of public relations, political, and career mistakes. Informal; exasperated or mocking in tone, and a favourite of…

    Also known as foot-shooting · shoot oneself in the foot · shoot yourself in both feet · stop shooting yourself in the foot

  19. It never rains but it pours

    Meaning … and the shortened American form 'when it rains, it pours' is at least as common today. Neutral register, typically wry or fatalistic in tone; usually said of a run of bad luck. Regional use: General English…

    Also known as It cannot rain but it pours · It never rains without pouring · When it rains, it pours

  20. Have something up your sleeve

    Meaning … implies deliberate, strategic concealment rather than mere luck. Neutral to admiring of cunning; it hints at gamesmanship but rarely at outright cheating. Regional use: General English (clothing origin)…

    Also known as have a card up one's sleeve · have a trick up one's sleeve · have an ace up one's sleeve · nothing up my sleeve

  21. Lightning never strikes twice

    Meaning … that a very unusual misfortune, or a fluke piece of luck, is unlikely to happen again in the same place or to the same person. A shortened form of the fuller proverbial saying; scientifically false, since…

    Also known as lightning doesn't strike twice · lightning never strikes the same place twice · lightning never strikes twice in the same place

  22. Mercurial

    Origin … was the Roman god of commerce, travellers, eloquence, luck, and trickery, guide of souls to the underworld, wing-shoed and boundary-hopping - inherently elusive, constantly in motion. The word's path into…

    Also known as a mercurial temperament · mercurial wit · mercurially

  23. That's the way the cookie crumbles

    Meaning … annoyances rather than genuine tragedy, shrugging off bad luck as simply how things happen. Informal and consolatory; best kept for minor setbacks, since it can sound flippant about real misfortune…

    Also known as that's how the cookie crumbles · that's when the cookie crumbled · the way the cookie crumbles

  24. Star-crossed lovers

    Origin … lovers are undone by a malign fate rather than simple bad luck. From announcing one plot the phrase grew into a general literary archetype, applied backwards to Pyramus and Thisbe and forwards to countless…

    Also known as a pair of star-crossed lovers · star-cross'd lovers · star-crossed pair · star-crossed romance