See ox is in the ditch on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "An allusion to the urgency and difficulty of extracting an ox from a ditch in which it has become mired.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "the ox is in the ditch",
"tags": [
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"head": "the ox is in the ditch"
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],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "phrase",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1904, Clifton Johnson, Highways and Byways of the South, Macmillan, page 169:",
"text": "\"The ox is in the ditch,\" said she, referring to the New Testament excuse for Sabbath work where the need is great, \"and Billy must mend this gate if it is Sunday.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1987 March 6, George Reedy, “Can the President Still Lead?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-11-07:",
"text": "In talking to his staff, Lyndon B. Johnson always announced the onset of catastrophe with the statement: \"The ox is in the ditch!\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001 May 15, “Senators seek Postal Service overhaul”, in USA Today, retrieved 2008-11-07:",
"text": "\"It's obvious that the ox is in the ditch big time,\" said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The Postal Service is projecting up to $5 billion in losses over the next two years.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, Fred Harris, Following the Harvest: A Novel, →ISBN, page 71:",
"text": "\"You oughtn't to work on the Lord's Day, son,\" she told Dad both times. Dad's response was always the same. \"The ox is in the ditch, Ma.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"This is a big problem; there is unavoidable or demanding work ahead."
],
"id": "en-ox_is_in_the_ditch-en-phrase-w2IkBjlw",
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[
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[
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[
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, chiefly southern US) This is a big problem; there is unavoidable or demanding work ahead."
],
"tags": [
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],
"word": "ox is in the ditch"
}
{
"etymology_text": "An allusion to the urgency and difficulty of extracting an ox from a ditch in which it has become mired.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "the ox is in the ditch",
"tags": [
"canonical"
]
}
],
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"head": "the ox is in the ditch"
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "phrase",
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"Pages with entries",
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1904, Clifton Johnson, Highways and Byways of the South, Macmillan, page 169:",
"text": "\"The ox is in the ditch,\" said she, referring to the New Testament excuse for Sabbath work where the need is great, \"and Billy must mend this gate if it is Sunday.\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1987 March 6, George Reedy, “Can the President Still Lead?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2008-11-07:",
"text": "In talking to his staff, Lyndon B. Johnson always announced the onset of catastrophe with the statement: \"The ox is in the ditch!\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001 May 15, “Senators seek Postal Service overhaul”, in USA Today, retrieved 2008-11-07:",
"text": "\"It's obvious that the ox is in the ditch big time,\" said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The Postal Service is projecting up to $5 billion in losses over the next two years.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, Fred Harris, Following the Harvest: A Novel, →ISBN, page 71:",
"text": "\"You oughtn't to work on the Lord's Day, son,\" she told Dad both times. Dad's response was always the same. \"The ox is in the ditch, Ma.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"This is a big problem; there is unavoidable or demanding work ahead."
],
"links": [
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],
[
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],
[
"unavoidable",
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],
[
"demanding",
"demanding"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, chiefly southern US) This is a big problem; there is unavoidable or demanding work ahead."
],
"tags": [
"Southern",
"US",
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
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"audio": "En-au-ox is in the ditch.ogg",
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/En-au-ox_is_in_the_ditch.ogg"
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],
"word": "ox is in the ditch"
}
Download raw JSONL data for ox is in the ditch meaning in All languages combined (2.5kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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