[dig down] <v.>, <slang> To spend your own money. * /The school let the club use the bus and driver free for their trip, but they had to dig down to pay for gas and meals./ * /"So you broke Mrs. Brown's window?" Tom's father said, "You'll have to dig down and pay for it,"/
[dig in] <v.>, <informal> 1. To dig ditches for protection against an enemy attack. * /The soldiers dug in and waited for the enemy to come./ 2a. To go seriously to work; work hard. * /John dug in and finished his homework very quickly./ 2b. To begin eating. * /Mother set the food on the table and told the children to dig in./
[dig out] <v.> 1. To find by searching; bring out (something) that was put away. * /Jack dug his sled out of the cellar./ * /The newspaper printed an old story dug out of their records./ Compare: DIG UP. 2. <informal> To escape. - Usually used with "of". Often used in the phrase "dig oneself out of a hole." * /The pitcher dug himself out of a hole by striking the batter out./
[dig up] <v.>, <informal> To find or get (something) with some effort. * /Sue dug up some useful material for her English composition./ * /Jim asked each boy to dig up twenty-five cents to pay for the hot dogs and soda./ Compare: DIG OUT.
[dilemma] See: HORNS OF A DILEMMA.
[dim] See: TAKE A DIM VIEW OF.
[dime a dozen] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Easy to get and so of little value; being an everyday thing because there are many of them; common. * /Mr. Jones gives A's to only one or two students, but in Mr. Smith's class, A's are a dime a dozen./
[dime store] or [five-and-dime] or [five-and-ten] <n. phr.> A store that sells things that cost little. * /Charles bought a pencil at the five-and-dime./
[dine out] <v. phr.> To not eat at home but to go to a restaurant. * /"Let's dine out tonight, honey," she said to her husband. "I am tired of cooking dinner every night."/ See: EAT OUT.
[dint] See: BY DINT OF.
[dip into] <v. phr.> 1. To scan or sample lightly and briefly (said of printed materials). * /I didn't get a chance to read all of War and Peace, but I dipped into it here and there./ 2. To take money out of a savings account or a piggy bank. * /I am sorry to have to say that I had to dip into the piggy bank; I took out $6.75./
[dirt] See: EAT DIRT, HIT THE DIRT, PAY DIRT.
[dirt cheap] <adj.> Extremely inexpensive. * /The apartment we are renting is dirt cheap compared to other apartments of similar size in this neighborhood./
[dirty] See: AIR ONE'S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC or WASH ONE'S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC.
[dirty look] <n.>, <informal> A look that shows dislike. * /Miss Parker sent Joe to the principal's office for giving her a dirty look./
[dirty old man] <n. phr.> An older man who shows an unhealthy interest in young girls. * /"Stay away from Uncle Algernon, Sally," her mother warned. "He is a dirty old man."/
[dirty one's hands] or [soil one's hands] <v. phr.> To lower or hurt one's character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. * /The teacher warned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination./ * /I would not soil my hands by going with bad people and doing bad things./
[dirty story] <n. phr.> An improper or obscene story. * /Uncle Bill is much too fond of telling dirty stories in order to embarrass his friends./
[dirty trick] <n. phr.> A treacherous action; an unfair act. * /That was a dirty trick John played on Mary when he ran away with her younger sister./
[disappear] or [evaporate] or [vanish into thin air] <v. phr.> To disappear quickly, without leaving a trace. * /Money seems to disappear into thin air these days./ * /Jack just vanished into thin air before the meeting had started./
[discretion] See: THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS also THROW DISCRETION TO THE WINDS.
[discretion is the better part of valor] <literary> When you are in danger or trouble, good sense helps more than foolish risks; it is better to be careful than to be foolishly brave. - A proverb. * /When you are facing a man with a knife, discretion is the better part of valor./
[dish] See: COVERED-DISH SUPPER.
[dish of tea] See: CUP OF TEA.
[dish out] <v.> 1. To serve (food) from a large bowl or plate. * /Ann's mother asked her to dish out the beans./ 2. <informal> To give in large quantities. * /That teacher dished out so much homework that her pupils complained to their parents./ 3. <slang> To scold; treat or criticize roughly. * /Jim likes to dish it out, but he hates to take it./ Compare: HAND OUT.
[dish the dirt] <v. phr.>, <slang> To gossip, to spread rumors about others. * /Stop dishing the dirt. Sally, it's really quite unbecoming!/
[disk jockey] <n.> An employee at a radio station or in a dance club who puts on the records that will be broadcast. * /Jack is working as a disk jockey at the local FM station./
[dispose of] <v.> 1. To throw away; give away, or sell; get rid of. * /John's father wants to dispose of their old house and buy a new one./ * /The burglars had difficulty in disposing of the stolen jewelry./ 2. To finish. with; settle; complete. * /The boys were hungry, and quickly disposed of their dinner./ * /The committee soon disposed of all its business./ 3. To destroy or defeat. * /The champion disposed of the other fighter by knocking him out in the second round./ * /Our planes disposed of two enemy planes./
[dispute] See: IN DISPUTE.
[distance] See: KEEP AT A DISTANCE, KEEP ONE'S DISTANCE.
[ditch] See: LAST DITCH,
[dive] See: GO INTO A TAIL SPIN or GO INTO A NOSE DIVE.
[do] See: HAVE DONE, HAVE DONE WITH, HAVE TO DO WITH, LET GEORGE DO IT, LET ONE'S RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT ONE'S LEFT HAND IS DOING, LET'S DON'T, MAKE DO, WELL-TO-DO, WHAT'S UP or WHAT'S DOING.
[do a double take] <v. phr.>, <informal> To look again in surprise; suddenly understand what is seen or said. * /John did a double take when he saw Bill in girls' clothes./ * /When Evvie said she was quitting school, I did a double take./
[do a job on] <v. phr.>, <slang> To damage badly; do harm to; make ugly or useless. * /The baby did a job on Mary's book./ * /Jane cut her hair and really did a job on herself./
[Doakes] See: JOE DOAKES.
[do a stretch] <v. phr.> To spend time in jail serving one's sentence. * /Jake has disappeared from view for a while; he is doing a stretch for dope smuggling./
[do away with] <v.> 1. To put an end to; stop. * /The teachers want to do away with cheating in their school./ * /The city has decided to do away with overhead wires./ Compare: RID OF. 2. To kill; murder. * /The robbers did away with their victims./
[do by someone or something] <v.> To deal with; treat. - Used with a qualifying adverb between "do" and "by". * /Andy's employer always does very well by him./
[do credit] or [do credit to] also (<informal>) [do proud] To add to or improve the reputation, good name, honor, or esteem of; show (you) deserve praise. * /Your neat appearance does you credit./ * /Mary's painting would do credit to a real artist./
[doctor] See: JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED.
[doctor up] <v. phr.> To meddle with; adulterate. * /You don't have to doctor up this basic salad with a lot of extras as I am trying to lose weight./
[do duty for] <v. phr.> To substitute for; act in place of. * /The bench often does duty for a table./
[Doe] See: JOHN DOE.
[doesn't add up to a can of beans] <v. phr.> To be of little or no value. (Said of plans, ideas, etc.) * /"That's a fairly interesting concept you got there, Mike, but the competition is bound to say that it doesn't add up to a can of beans."/
[do for] <v.>, <informal> To cause the death or ruin of; cause to fail. - Used usually in the passive form "done for". * /The poor fellow is done for and will die before morning./ * /Andy's employer always does very well by him./ * /If Jim fails that test, he is done for./
[dog] See: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, GO TO THE DOGS, HOT DOG, LEAD A DOG'S LIFE, LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE, RAIN CATS AND DOGS.
[dog days] <n. phr.> The hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (July and August). (The ancient Romans associated this time with the "Dog Star" - Sirius - which becomes visible in the heavens at this time of year.) * /"The dog days are upon us," John said. "It's time to go swimming in the lake."/
[dog-eat-dog(1)] <n.> A way of living in which every person tries to get what he wants for himself no matter how badly or cruelly he must treat others to get it; readiness to do anything to get what you want. * /In some early frontier towns it was dog-eat-dog./