[paint oneself into a corner] <v. phr.> To get oneself into a bad situation that is difficult or impossible to get out of. * /By promising to both lower taxes and raise the defense budget, the president has painted himself into a corner./
[paint the lily] See: GILD THE LILY.
[paint the town red] or [paint the town] <v. phr.>, <slang> To go out to drink and have a good time; celebrate wildly; carouse. * /It was the sailors' first night ashore; they painted the town red./ Compare: ON THE TOWN(2).
[pair] See: TAKE TO ONE'S HEELS also SHOW A CLEAN PAIR OF HEELS.
[pair off] <v.> 1. To make a pair of; put two together; associate; match. * /Mrs. Smith paired off her guests by age and tastes./ 2. To belong to a pair; become one of a pair. * /Jane paired off with Alice in a tennis doubles match./ 3. To divide or join into pairs. * /Later in the day the picnic crowd paired off for walks and boat rides./
[pair up] <v.> 1. To make a pair of; match. * /When she finished the mending, she paired up the socks./ 2. To form a pair; to be or become one of a pair. * /Not all the socks would pair up./ * /Joe paired up with Charlie to work on the lesson./
[pajamas] See: CAT'S MEOW or CAT'S PAJAMAS.
[pal] See: PEN PAL.
[pale] See: BEYOND THE PALE.
[pale around the gills] See: GREEN AROUND THE GILLS.
[palm] See: CARRY OFF THE PALM, GREASE ONE'S PALM, ITCHING PALM.
[palm off] <v.>, <informal> 1. To sell or give (something) by pretending it is something more valuable; to sell or give by trickery. * /He palmed off his own painting as a Rembrandt./ * /The salesman palmed off pine wood floors as oak./ Syn.: FOB OFF, PASS OFF. 2. To deceive (someone) by a trick or lie. * /He palmed his creditors off with a great show of prosperity./ Syn.: PUT OFF. 3. To introduce someone as a person he isn't; present in a false pretense. * /He palmed the girl off as a real Broadway actress./
[pan] See: FLASH IN THE PAN, OUT OF THE PRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE.
[Pandora's box] <n. phr.>, <literary> A thing or problem that, if activated, will give rise to many unmanageable problems. * /If they insist on having that inquiry, they will open up a Pandora's box./ Compare: CAN OF WORMS.
[pan gravy] <n.> Gravy made with meat drippings with seasoning and often a little water. * /His wife liked cream gravy, but he preferred pan gravy./ * /Pan gravy from country ham is often called red-eye gravy./
[panic] See: PUSH THE PANIC BUTTON.
[pan out] <v.>, <informal> To have a result, especially a good result; result favorably; succeed. * /Suppose the class tried to make money by selling candy. How would that pan out?/ * /Edison's efforts to invent an electric light bulb did not pan out until he used tungsten wires./
[pant for] <v. phr.> To desire something very deeply. * /He is panting for his girlfriend, who went out of town to see her family./
[pants] See: ANTS IN ONE'S PANTS, CATCH ONE WITH ONE'S PANTS DOWN, FANCY PANTS, FLY BY THE SEAT OF ONE'S PANTS, GET THE LEAD OUT OF ONE'S PANTS, KICK IN THE PANTS, WEAR THE TROUSERS or WEAR THE PANTS.
[paper] See: ON PAPER, WALKING PAPERS.
[par] See: UP TO PAR.
[parade] See: HIT PARADE.
[parade rest] <n.> A position in which soldiers stand still, with feet apart and hands behind their backs. * /The marines were at parade rest in front of the officials' platform./ Compare: AT EASE(3).
[parallel bars] <n.> Two horizontal bars the same distance apart, that are a few feet above the floor of a gymnasium. * /The boys exercised on the parallel bars in the gym./
[parcel] See: PART AND PARCEL.
[parcel out] <v.> To give out in parts or shares; divide. * /He parceled out the remaining food to the workers./
[par for the course] <n. phr.>, <informal> Just what was expected; nothing unusual; a typical happening. - Usually refers to things going wrong. * /Mary is very clumsy so it was par for the course when she bumped into the table and broke the vase./ * /When John came late again, Mary said, "That's par for the course."/ Compare: ALL IN A DAY'S WORK, RUNNING TRUE TO FORM.
[pare down] <v. phr.> To limit; economize; reduce. * /With a smaller income per month, the family had to pare down their household expenses./
[parliamentary law] <n.> The rules for legislative or other meetings. * /The club followed parliamentary law at the business meeting./
[parrot-fashion] <adv.> Like a parrot; by rote memorization and without any understanding. * /The candidate delivered a speech that was prepared for him and he read it parrot-fashion./
[part] See: DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR, FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED, FOR MY PART, FOR ONE'S PART also ON ONE'S PART, FOR THE MOST PART, IN PART, MAN OF PARTS, TAKE PART.
[partake of] <v.>, <formal> 1. To take some of; receive a share of; eat. * /He partook of ordinary country fare as he traveled./ 2. To have the same qualities as; show the characteristics of. * /Her way of cooking partook of both Italian and American habits./
[part and parcel] <n. phr.> A necessary or important part; something necessary to a larger thing. - Usually followed by "of". * /Freedom of speech is part and parcel of the liberty of a free man./
[part company] <v. phr.> 1. To part with someone; leave each other; separate. * /The boys parted company as they came from the park./ * /George parted company with the others at his front door./ 2. To be different from someone in opinion or action; follow your own way; disagree; differ. * /They parted company on where the new highway should be built./ * /The mayor parted company with the newspapers on raising taxes./
[partial to] <v. phr.> Having a weakness for; favorable toward. * /He seems to be partial to blondes while his brother is partial to redheads./
[particular] See: IN PARTICULAR.
[parting of the ways] <n. phr.> 1. The point where a road or path divides; a fork. * /They stood undecided at a parting of the ways, where a forest path forked./ 2. A time or place where a choice must be made; a deciding point. * /He had come to a parting of the ways: he had to choose the high school courses that would prepare him for college, or the courses that would prepare him for business./
[part of the furniture] <n. phr.> In a job or position for so long that one is taken entirely for granted, like a part of the physical surroundings. * /He has been working in the same office for so many years now that people consider him to be a part of the furniture./
[part with] <v.> 1. To separate from; leave. * /He parted with us at the end of the trip./ Compare: PART COMPANY. 2. To let go. * /They were sorry to part with the old house./ * /He had to part with his secretary when she got married./ Compare: GIVE UP.
[party] See: HEN PARTY, LIFE OF THE PARTY, NECK-TIE PARTY, THROW A PARTY.
[party line] <n. phr.> Ideas, policies, and goals set forth by the leadership of a group or organization. * /Dan seldom has an original idea but he keeps faithfully repeating his company's party line./
[party to] <adj. phr.> Concerned with; participating in. * /The prosecution has been trying to show that the defendant was party to a fraud./
[pass] See: BRING TO PASS, COME TO PASS, FORWARD PASS, JUMP PASS, SCREEN PASS.
[pass around] <v. phr.> To circulate from one to another; distribute something among a group of people. * /Why doesn't he pass around the appetizers to the guests?/
[pass away] <v.> 1. To slip by; go by; pass. * /We had so much fun that the weekend passed away before we realized it./ * /Forty years had passed away since they had met./ 2. To cease to exist; end; disappear; vanish * /When automobiles became popular, the use of the horse and buggy passed away./ 3. To have your life stop; die. * /He passed away at eighty./ Syn.: PASS ON(3), PASS OUT(3).
[pass by] See: PASS OVER.
[pass by the board] See: GO BY THE BOARD.
[passed ball] <n.> A pitched baseball missed by the catcher when he should have been able to catch it. * /The batter singled and went to second on a passed ball./
[pass for] <v. phr.> To be taken for; be considered as. * /Charles speaks Arabic so fluently that he could easily pass for an Arab./