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[flat-out]{adv. phr.}, {informal} 1. Without hiding anything; plainly; openly. •/The student told his teacher flat-out that he was not listening to her./ 2. At top speed; as fast as possible. •/He saw two men running flat-out from the wild rhinoceros./

[flatter oneself] To be sure of your own talent or skill; highly confident. •/I flatter myself that I am a better swimmer than he is./

[flea in one’s ear]{n. phr.}, {informal} An idea or answer that is not welcome; an annoying or surprisingly sharp reply or hint. •/I’ll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more./

[flea market]{n. phr.} A place where antiques, second-hand things, and cheap articles are sold, and especially one in the open air. •/The local antique dealers held a flea market and fair on the high-school athletic field./ •/There are many outdoor flea markets in Europe./

[flesh] See: IN PERSON also IN THE FLESH, NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL also NEITHER FISH, FLESH, NOR FOWL, PRESS THE FLESH, THORN IN THE FLESH.

[flesh and blood]{n.} 1. A close relative (as a father, daughter, brother); close relatives. Used in the phrase "one’s own flesh and blood". •/Such an answer from her — and she’s my own flesh and blood, too!/ 2. The appearance of being real or alive. •/The author doesn’t give his characters any flesh and blood./ 3. The human body. •/Before child labor laws, small children often worked 50 or 60 hours a week in factories. It was more than flesh and blood could bear./

[flesh out]{v.}, {informal} 1. To add to; make fuller, bigger, or longer. •/The author fleshed out his story by adding more about his war experiences./ 2. also [flesh up] To become heavier, put on weight, or flesh. •/He lost weight after his illness but is beginning to flesh out again./ See: FILL OUT.

[flesh up] See: FLESH OUT(2).

[fling oneself at] See: THROW ONESELF AT.

[fling oneself at someone’s head] See: THROW ONESELF AT SOMEONE’S HEAD.

[flip-flop(1)]{v.}, {informal} To alternate the positions of; exchange the places of; switch. •/The football coach had one play in which he flip-flopped his left halfback and fullback./

[flip-flop(2)]{n.}, {informal} A complete change; a switch from one thing to an entirely different one. •/John wanted to be a carpenter like his father, but when he saw the print shop he did a flip-flop and now he’s learning printing./

[flip-flop(3)]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Involving or using a change from one of two places, positions, or alternatives to the other. •/The machine was controlled by a flip-flop switch./ •/The football coach hoped to surprise his opponents by using a flip-flop offense./

[flip one’s lid] also [flip one’s wig] {slang} 1. To lose one’s temper. •/When that pushy salesman came back Mom really flipped her lid./ Compare: BLOW A FUSE. 2. To lose your mind; become insane. •/When he offered me three times the pay I was getting, I thought he had flipped his lid./ 3. To become unreasonably enthusiastic. •/She flipped her lid over a hat she saw in the store window./ •/He’s flipped his lid over that new actress./

[flip out]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To go insane, to go out of one’s mind. •/A is impossible to talk to Joe today — he must have flipped out./

[flock] See: BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER.

[floor] See: GROUND FLOOR, MOP THE FLOOR WITH, WALK THE FLOOR.

[floor one]{v. phr.} To overwhelm; astound; nonplus. •/John’s sudden announcement that he would retire floored all of us in the office./

[floorwalker]{n.} A section manager in a department store. •/To exchange this pair of shoes, you must first get the floorwalker’s approval./

[flop] See: FLIP-FLOP.

[flower child]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. A young person who believes in nonviolence and carries flowers around to symbolize his peace-loving nature. •/Flower children are supposed to be nonviolent, but they sure make a lot of noise when they demonstrate!/ 2. Any person who cannot cope with reality. •/"Face facts, Suzie, stop being such a flower child!"/

[flower power]{n.}, {slang} The supposed power of love and nonviolence as intended to be used by members of the anti-culture to change American society. •/The young people were marching for flower power./

[fluff one’s lines] See: BLOW ONE’S LINES.

[fluff stuff]{n.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} Snow. •/We can expect some fluff stuff this afternoon./

[flunk out]{v. phr.} To have to withdraw from school or college because of too many failing grades. •/Fred flunked out of college during his junior year./

[flush it]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To fail (something). •/I really flushed it in my math course./ 2. {interj.}, {used imperatively} Expression registering refusal to believe something considered stupid or false. •/"You expect me to buy that story? Flush it!"/

[fly] See: BIRD HAS FLOWN, GO FLY A KITE, MAKE THE FEATHERS FLY, MAKE THE FUR FLY, ON THE FLY, POP FLY, SACRIFICE FLY.

[fly at one’s throat]{v. phr.} To attack you suddenly with great anger. •/When Tom called Dick a bad name, Dick flew at his throat./

[fly ball]{n.} A baseball hit high into the air. •/He hit an easy fly ball to center field./

[fly blind]{v. phr.} 1. To fly an airplane by instruments alone. •/In the heavy fog he had to fly blind./ 2. {informal} To do something without understanding what you are doing. •/I’m glad the car runs now; I was flying blind when I fixed it./ •/He’s flying blind when he talks about philosophy./

[fly-by-night(1)]{adj.} Set up to make a lot of money in a hurry, then disappear so people can’t find you to complain about poor work, etc.; not trustworthy; not reliable. •/Mrs. Blank bought her vacuum cleaner from a new company; when she tried to have it fixed, she found it was a fly-by-night business./

[fly-by-night(2)]{n.}, {informal} 1. A company that sells many cheap things for a big profit and then disappears. •/A dependable company honors its guarantees, but a fly-by-night only wants your money./ 2. A person who does not pay his bills, but sneaks away (as at night.) •/Hotels are bothered by fly-by-nights./

[fly by the seat of one’s pants]{v. phr.}, {slang} To fly an airplane by feel and instinct rather than with the help of the instruments. •/Many pilots in World War I had to fly by the seat of their pants./

[flying] See: WITH FLYING COLORS.

[flying high]{adj.}, {slang} Very happy; joyful. •/Jack was flying high after his team won the game./ Compare: IN THE CLOUDS, ON TOP OP THE WORLD.

[flying start] See: GET OFF TO A FLYING START.

[flying tackle]{n.}, {informal} A tackle made by jumping through the air at the person to be tackled. •/Most football coaches don’t want their players to make flying tackles./ •/The policeman stopped the burglar with a flying tackle./

[flying wedge]{n.}, {informal} 1. An offensive formation in football in which players link arms and line up to form a "V" with the ball carrier in the middle. •/The flying wedge was so dangerous and hurt so many players that rules have forbidden it for over 50 years./ 2. A group (as of guards or policemen) who use a "V" formation to help someone get through a crowd. •/Police had to form a flying wedge to get the movie star through the crowd of autograph hunters./

[fly in the face of] or [fly in the teeth of] {v. phr.} To ignore; go against; show disrespect or disregard for. •/You can’t fly in the face of good business rules and expect to he successful./ •/Floyd’s friends tried to help him, but he flew in the teeth of their advice and soon became a drunkard./

[fly in the ointment]{n. phr.}, {informal} An unpleasant part of a pleasant thing; something small that spoils your fun. •/We had a lot of fun at the beach; the only fly in the ointment was George’s cutting his foot on a piece of glass./ •/Your new job sounds too good to be true — interesting work, high pay, short hours. Isn’t there any fly in the ointment?/

[fly off the handle]{v. phr.}, {informal} To become very angry. •/John flew off the handle whenever Mary made a mistake./ •/The children’s noise made the man next door fly off the handle./ Syn.: LOSE ONE’S TEMPER.

[fly the coop]{v. phr.}, {slang} To leave suddenly and secretly; run away. •/The robbers flew the coop before the police arrived./ •/His partner flew the coop with all the money./

[flying visit]{n. phr.} A visit of very short duration. •/Tom came to New York for only a flying visit. We had hardly eaten lunch when he had to leave./

[flying saucer] See: U.F.O.

[fly into a rage] or [temper] {v. phr.} To become very angry. •/By the time we mention the name of her ex-husband, she flies into a rage./

[foam at the mouth]{v. phr.}, {slang} To be very angry, like a mad dog. •/By the time Uncle Henry had the third flat tire he was really foaming at the mouth./

[fob off]{v.}, {informal} 1. To get something false accepted as good or real. •/The peddler fobbed off pieces of glass as diamonds./ Syn.: PALM OFF, PASS OFF. 2. To put aside; not really answer but get rid of. •/Her little brother asked where she was going, but she fobbed him off with ah excuse./

[fog] See: IN A FOG.

[foggy bottom]{n.}, {slang} An area in downtown Washington, D.C. where many offices of the Department of State are located; hence figuratively, the U.S. Department of State. •/The press secretary gave us a lot of foggy bottom double-talk about the hostage crisis in the Near East./

[fold up]{v.}, {informal} To collapse; fail. •/The team folded up in the last part of the season./ •/The new restaurant folded up in less than a year./ Compare: FALL APART.

[folk] See: WEE FOLK.

[follow] See: AS FOLLOWS.

[follower] See: CAMP FOLLOWER.

[follow in one’s footsteps] also [follow in one’s tracks] {v. phr.} To follow someone’s example; follow someone exactly, •/He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a doctor./ Compare: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

[follow one’s heart]{v. phr.} To do what one wishes to do rather than to follow the voice of reason. •/Instead of accepting a lucrative job in his father’s business, Jim followed his heart and became a missionary in the jungle./

[follow one’s nose]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To go straight ahead; continue in the same direction. •/Just follow your nose and you’ll get there./ 2. To go any way you happen to think of. •/Oh, I don’t know just where I want to go. I’ll just follow my nose and see what happens./

[follow out]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To do fully; finish (what you are told to do.) •/The boy followed out the instructions and made a fine model plane./ Compare: FOLLOW THROUGH. 2. To keep working at (something) until it is finished; give (something) your attention until it comes to an end or conclusion. •/The student followed out all the index references in the encyclopedia until he found what he wanted to know./ Compare: FOLLOW UP.

[follow suit]{v. phr.} 1. To play a card of the same color and kind that another player has put down. •/When diamonds were led, I had to follow suit./ 2. To do as someone else has done; follow someone’s example. •/When the others went swimming, I followed suit./

[follow through]{v. phr.} 1. To finish a movement that you have started; continue an action to its natural ending. •/A football passer should follow through after he throws the ball./ 2. To finish an action that you have started. •/Bob drew plans for a table for his mother, but he did not follow through by making it./