Say Idioms

(English Idioms & Sayings) Idioms beginning with SAY

say a mouthful

- to say something of great importance/meaning/length
"You certainly said a mouthful," I said when my friend began to tell me about his complaint.

say grace

- to say a prayer of thanks before or after a meal
The bride's father was asked to say grace before the wedding banquet.

say one`s piece

- to say openly what one thinks
I said my piece at the meeting and then left quietly by the back door.

say (something) in a roundabout way

- to say something indirectly
I had to say what I wanted to say in a roundabout way in order to make my point.

say (something) to (someone's) face

- to say something (often unpleasant) directly to someone
My supervisor always complains about me but she is afraid to say anything to my face.

say (something) under one's breath

- to say something so softly that almost nobody can hear it
The woman said something under her breath but I could not understand it.

say the word

- to give a sign, to show a wish
"Just say the word and I will come and meet you at the airport."

say uncle

- to surrender, to give in
The little boy was forced to say uncle and agree to do what the older boy wanted.

scale (something) down

- to make something smaller by a certain amount or proportion
The government decided to scale down their plans for the sports stadium.

scare (someone) out of his or her wits

- to frighten someone very much
The dog scared the little boy out of his wits.

scare (someone) silly

- to frighten someone very much
The mouse scared the girl silly.

scare (someone) stiff

- to scare someone severely
The little boy was able to scare his little brother stiff when he decided to hide in the closet and scare him.

scare the (living) daylights out of (someone)

- to frighten someone very much
Falling off the bicycle scared the daylights out of the little girl.

scare up (someone or something)

- to find someone or something, to gather something with some effort
We were able to scare up a couple of sleeping bags so that we could go camping.

scared silly/stiff

- to be frightened very much
I was scared stiff during the horror movie.

scatter (something) around

- to carelessly put something in different places
My papers are always scattered around my house and I am never able to find them.

school of hard knocks

- the ordinary experiences of life
The man learned about life in the school of hard knocks.

school of thought

- a particular philosophy
There are many schools of thought about how the government should proceed with its new transportation plan.

scout around for (someone or something)

- to search here and there and all over for someone or something
The company is scouting around for a new warehouse for their products.

scrape the bottom of the barrel

- to take whatever is left after the best has been taken
The company is scraping the bottom of the barrel if they must give that woman a job.

scrape (something) together

- to gather small amounts of money or something (usually with some difficulty) for some purpose
We managed to scrape together enough money to go on a holiday even though business is very bad at the momen

Posted by Learning English through Idioms and Sayings/Proverbs