Phrases.com »

Phrases related to: original intent

Yee yee! We've found 51 phrases and idioms matching original intent.

Sort:RelevancyA - Z
a carpet-baggerA candidate for election who has no roots or interest in the constituency he wishes to represent. The original meaning was a Unionist financier or adventurer who exploited the cheap labour in the American South after the Civil War. The carpet bags carried by these adventurers were made of carpet material.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
eye for an eye and a tooth for a toothTo take retribution or give penalty similar to the original offense or faultRate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
ten-dollar wordA long and uncommon word used in place of a shorter and simpler one with the intent to appear sophisticated.Rate it:

(5.00 / 2 votes)
toothpaste is out of the tubeA situation that cannot be recovered or reversed to its original state.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
put backTo return something to it's original place.Rate it:

(4.78 / 9 votes)
she would rip a dog off a gut wagonA gut wagon was a horse drawn wagon that was used for collecting butcher's scraps for further processing. The wagons were often followed by determined and persistent dogs intent on eating the contents of the wagon. It took a great deal of effort to keep these dogs away from or off the wagon. A person's appearance ugly or objectionable enough to discourage or scare the dogs from the gut wagon would be ugly indeed.Rate it:

(4.67 / 3 votes)
look offTo mislead by directing one's apparent attention away from one's true object of intent.Rate it:

(4.50 / 2 votes)
what goes around comes aroundWhat encompasses ones ideal thought makes a return to an original meaning once more.Rate it:

(4.50 / 2 votes)
born with a silver spoon in one's mouthNote. The original nautical expression is just born with a silver spoon and describes those young gentlemen who were able to enter the Royal Navy without examination and whose promotion was assured. the converse was born with a wooden ladle.Rate it:

(4.33 / 3 votes)
butter upTo flatter, especially with the intent of personal gain.Rate it:

(4.00 / 2 votes)
twenty-five cent wordAn uncommon word, often used in place of a more common one with the intent to appear sophisticated.Rate it:

(3.50 / 2 votes)
drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators(idiomatic) When performing a long and complex task, and when you've gotten utterly immersed in secondary and tertiary unexpected tangential subtasks, it's easy to lose sight of the initial objective. This sort of distraction can be particularly problematic if the all-consuming subtask or sub-subtask is not, after all, particularly vital to the original, primary goal, but ends up sucking up time and resources (out of all proportion to its actual importance) only because it seems so urgent.Rate it:

(3.00 / 2 votes)
throw downTo fight, incite to fight, or approach with the intent to fight; to make a stand.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
no plan survives contact with the enemyIt is a reality of conflict that, after a plan against an enemy is begun, there will always be unexpected elements resulting from opposition that require improvisation and deviation from the original plan.Rate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
alter egoTrastorno de identidad disociativo, referido a quien lleva doble vida. Es un segundo yo, a quien se atribuye personalidad distinta de la normal u original. Se trata de una persona real o imaginaria, a quien admira y desearía ser como ella el individuo.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
burn offTo fill with programming not suitable for its original purpose.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
burn some rubberAn expression of intent to drive ruthlessly, speedily, wildly, illegally: Express the intention to perform tasks, agendas in wild abandon, in order to impress, gain an advantage, recover lost time or missed opportunity:Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
c'est comme le couteau de jeannotThat is like the Irishman’s gun (said of anything that has been mended so often as to have nothing of the original left).Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
college educationThe desired or promised intent of a degree program.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
come afterTo pursue or follow; to pursue with hostile intent.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
consider it doneUsed to indicate an intent to fulfil a request or order promptly.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
corner the marketTo monopolize a resource or commodity, as with the intent of driving up prices.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
file off the serial numbersTo remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
fire in angerTo fire a weapon with the intent of causing damage or harm to an opponent.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
full circleA full turn back to the original direction or orientation.By extension, of a discussion, a point arrived at which is the same point at which it began; the point at which effort has resulted in no progress.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
give backTo return, restore (a thing to its original owner or location etc.).Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
give noticeTo announce one's intent to leave a job; to inform an employer that one is leaving.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
go ahead.....make me stay!!A comical spin on the original phrase expressed by Clint Eastwood in the film entitled "Dirty Harry";.i.e. "Go ahead....make my day!!"Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
go equippedTo possess tools, weapons or other articles with the intent of using them to commit a crime.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
go over someone's headTo take up an issue with another person's boss or other superior rather than beginning or continuing to deal with the original person.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
hammer and tongsWith tools indicating seriousness of intent and capability of harm.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
if the shoe fitsMore common version of the original "If the shoe fits, wear it"; If it has all of the characteristics of a thing, it probably is that thing.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
interpret awayto smooth out undesired concepts and teachings in a text, often one of fundamental importance to a religion or ideology, by interpreting that text contrary to its spirit or original meaningRate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
lost in the shuffle!'Lost in the shuffle' 0ccurs when the conversation, the discussion becomes so 'hot 'N heavy', so disjointed, so agitated that the original theme is 'lost in the SHUFFLE' !Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
mixed messageAny communication that is contradictory, inconsistent, or unclear, especially in its motive or intent.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
negative/positiveIn photography, a reverse image, which when printed is again reversed, restoring the original scene. It was invented by Fox Talbot in c.1834.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
out for bloodWith the intent of killing somebody (especially out of revenge).Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
quae est vis huius verbi?what is the meaning, the original sense of this word?Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
quae notio or sententia subiecta est huic voci?what is the meaning, the original sense of this word?Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
quid significat, sonat haec vox?what is the meaning, the original sense of this word?Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
Real McCoyGenuine or the original articles and not the fake ones; something original or best in qualityRate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
return to formTo go back to a better, original state.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
shoot first and ask questions laterTo take action with serious consequences without delay, preserving the benefit of surprise by not providing indication of one's intent.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
smallpox blanketAn apparently benevolent offering whose real intent is to disrupt, destabilize or weaken.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
soften the groundTo prepare or create favorable conditions, especially with the intent of improving public acceptance of the forthcoming occurrence.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
sound outTo question and listen attentively in order to discover a person's opinion, intent, or preference, especially by using indirect conversational remarks.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
spick-and-spanClean, spotless; original sense "like new".Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
take a wrong turn at AlbuquerqueTo take a wrong turn or miss a turn in a journey, so reaching a place distant from the original goal.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
the rubber meets the roadA place or circumstance at which the implementation of a plan or intent is to be achieved.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
washed outOf clothes. When they lose some of their original colour from being washed so often.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)

We need you!

Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

Alternative searches for original intent:

Quiz

Are you a phrases master?

»
It's best to look on the __________ side.
A sunny
B just
C right
D bright

Browse Phrases.com

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ