American Idioms and Expressions

Make Overtures To (someone) Idiom

This database is a comprehensive collection of all the American idioms and slang available. American Idioms are many and varied. We hope you enjoy our collection. We are adding more all the time. .

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make overtures to (someone)
What does make overtures to (someone) mean?
approach someone in a friendly way to begin talking about something or dealing with something, make a formal proposal or offerThe woman made overtures to her friend to try and solve some of their recent problems.

Some Random Idioms
Rudderless ship
What does "Rudderless ship" mean?
If an organisation, company, government, etc, is like a rudderless ship, it has no clear direction and drifts about without reaching its goals.
face the music
What does "face the music" mean?
to accept the consequences of something The boy must face the music for his actions very soon.

swear on a stack of bibles
What does "swear on a stack of bibles" mean?
pledge to tell the truth about something (in a court of law someone may swear to tell the truth by placing his or her hand on a bible or other religious text)The man swore on a stack of bibles that he had never seen the accused criminal before.
Armed to the teeth
What does "Armed to the teeth" mean?
To be heavily armed.Don't even think about going into Chicago's housing projects unless you are armed to the teeth.
This is a pirate phrase originating in Port Royal Jamaica in the 1600's. Having only single shot black powder weapons and cutlesses, they would carry many of these weapons at once to keep up the fight.
In addition they carried a knife in their teeth for maximum arms capability.
break one's word
What does "break one's word" mean?
to not keep one's promise The young child promised his parents that he would not break his word.

go to pot
What does "go to pot" mean?
to deteriorateThe business has gone to pot since the new manager came.
come home to haunt (someone)
What does "come home to haunt (someone)" mean?
result in undesirable effects eventually
keep books
What does "keep books" mean?
keep records of money gained and spent, do the work of a bookkeeperMy first job was to keep books for a small company in my hometown.
rock-bottom offer
What does "rock-bottom offer" mean?
the lowest price that one can offer to buy somethingThe buyer made a rock-bottom offer to buy our product.
plastic
What does "plastic" mean?
fake; false; unreal

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