overthwart

/əʊvəˈθwɔːt/

From Middle English overthwart, overthwert, overtwert, overquert, overwhart, equivalent to over- + thwart. Compare Dutch overdwaars (“across”), Danish overtvært (“across”).

[…] entrance, and access on all sides, by the felling of huge Trees overthwart one another, was quite barr’d up;

1670, John Milton, The History of Britain, London: James Allestry, Book 2, p. 42:

(archaic, UK dialectal) From one side to the other of.


intiv

He walked intiv a bar.


befo

She carried me to a young woman to nurse for her what she nursed at Mostor Wilks befo freedom.

1941, Work Projects Administration, “Arkansas Narratives: Volume 7”, in Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States:

I use t'know when Mom was alive, befo Gramps brot me out here," Meersman replies in a delivery so flat as to make her seem not so much a bad actress as a nonactress.

1993 October 8, Jonathan Rosenbaum, “Bunuel's Neglected Masterpiece”, in Chicago Reader:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(chiefly in representations of African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of before.


amoung

He looked round amoung the slaves again, and inquired for Harry.

1838, American Anti-Slavery Society, The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4:

There was a slight shuffling movement amoung the men crowded about.

1924, Samuel Derieux, “The Trial in Tom Belchers' Store”, in O Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1919:

An assessment of the motivation and energy levels found amoung UK managers, based on a survey of over 1,500.

2004, Chartered Management Institute, “Published reports”, in The Business Energy Survey (2004):

Shops, cafes and bars that trade on Hackney's streets are required by law to have a licence. This includes tables and chairs and fruit and veg stalls, amoung others.

2011, Hackney.gov.uk, “Markets”, in Shop front traders, archived from the original on 2012-03-28:


ahn

"Ah, go ahn," replied the other argumentatively.

1893, Stephen Crane, Maggie, A Girl of the Streets:

"Mister Penrod," she bellowed forthwith, "come ahn down fr'm up there!


nearhand

From Middle English nerhand, nerehand, nerhande, from the adverb (above). Equivalent to near + hand.

And when I was nearhand the house, I met Menie, her daughter, and she told me that they had heard word from Sandy that morning [...].

1862, Margaret Maitland, Passages in the Life of, page 247:

but I will tell you that some of my coopers went into the fishing station and vomited, owing to the smell from the whales, and they declared to me when they came back that it was the last time they would go nearhand them

1904, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Papers by command, volume 42, page 32:

You'll be always nearhand us in Tierneys' mill.

1926, Catholic World, volume 123, page 199:


acrost

Now ye sling a couple o' saplings acrost the durrt ye've chucked out.

1904, Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond), The Magnetic North:

It's in that little brick buildin' straight acrost from the sheriff's door o' the jail--ye've been neighbors this long time!

1905, Booth Tarkington, The Conquest of Canaan:

I'll jest sashay acrost the track an' give 'em my regards."

1913, Horace Annesley Vachell, Bunch Grass:

(US, dialectal, nonstandard) Alternative form of across.


afther

"You didn't tell mother what you're afther, did you?"

1848, Anthony Trollope, The Kellys and the O'Kellys:

He pronounced these words afterwards, with great solemnity:-- "Andrew Jackson, if I catch ye fightin' once more, I'll be afther givin' ye lave to lave the school."

1904, Winston Churchill, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

"Be afther goin' to it," said Olson.

1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot:


contrary to

Contrary to what you might think, Antarctica is technically a desert.

despite; in opposition to (an assumption, etc.); differently from


astern of

The ship left a wake astern of her.


prior to

im Vorfeld

but rarer and more formal than "prior", generally use vor


at the hand of

[…]Alaeddin ate and drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered spirits he cried, "Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and designed to take my life. Know that I beheld Death with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou didst certify to be my uncle;[…]

1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Night 532”, in Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:


wi'

Let's all sink wi' th' king.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

He's going to get some pots and pans Market-day, and then we'se going up country wi' 'em.

1871, S. T. C., The Court and the Kiln: A Story on the Church Catechism, page 187:


regardless of

He smoked cigars regardless of the consequences.

without attention to; without regard for


going on

It's going on three o'clock.

"How old are you?" ―"Going on nineteen."

Indicates a time or age in the very near future.


in the eyes of

2004, Ian Buruma, Avishai Margalit, Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies, Penguin, →ISBN:

Suddenly she felt an insidious suspicion. She saw this version of Brian in the eyes of the world, and she saw herself, too. Did people think he was basically a moron? Did they laugh at her for being with him?

2008, Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Random House, →ISBN:

In the opinion of, from the perspective of, as far as concerns.

[…]から見た ( […] kara mita, literally “seen from […] ”)

[…]から見れば ( […] kara mireba, literally “if seen from […] ”)


in stead of

Slaue I haue ſet my life vpon a caſt, / And I will ſtand the hazard of the die, / I thinke there be ſixe Richmonds in the field, / Fiue haue I ſlaine to daie in ſtead of him, / A horſe, a horſe, my kingdome for a horſe.

c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], signature [M3], recto:

I my ſelfe vvill haue / The beards of Barbels, ſeru'd, in ſtead of ſallades; / Oyld Muſhromes; and the ſvvelling vnctuous papps / Of a fat pregnant Sovv, nevvly cut off, / Dreſt vvith an exquiſite, and poynant ſauce; […]

1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signature [D3], recto:

The Reformation you haue made of the many and maine corruptions of the Romiſh Ch[urch] vve do ingenuouſly acknovvledge, and doe vvithall imbrace vvith you all the truths vvhich to our knovvledge you haue receiued in ſtead of them. But Rome vvas not built all in a day.

1610, Jos[eph] Hall, “Section XXV. What Separation England hath Made.”, in A Common Apologie of the Church of England: Against the Uniust Challenges of the Ouer-iust Sect, Commonly Called Brownists. […], London: […] [William Stansby] for Samuel Macham, […], →OCLC, marginal note, page 63:


in the name of

From Middle English in the name of, in þe name of.

In the name of all things sacred, please stop that screaming!

With appeal to; by; often used to introduce oaths

In the name of the law, come out with your hands up.

He put the house in the name of his children.

These additional checks at airports are justified in the name of security.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the 2014 coup against Yingluck's government in the name of ending political turmoil, has promised that an election will be held next year.

2017 August 25, Aukkarapon Niyomyat & Panarat Thepgumpanat, "Thai junta seeks Yingluck's arrest as former PM skips court verdict", in reuters.com, Reuters


'gainst

[…]I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ’gainst the merchant there.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:


for sake of

She stayed home for sake of her sick friend.


fo'

From non-rhotic dialects, notably African American Vernacular English. Compare ho (“whore”), mo (“more”).

(dialect, African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of for.

(dialect, African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of four.


beneathe

His rage and troble both pronounce him guiltles Of this attempt, which makes mee rather doubt Hee may proove too seveare in his revendge, Which I with all indevour will prevent Yet to the most censorious I appeale, What coold I lesse have doone to save myne honor From suffringe beneathe skandall?

1882-89, A Collection Of Old English Plays, Vol. IV.:


abaht

There's a lot o' brothers knockin' abaht as people don't know on, eh what?

1908, Charles Rann Kennedy, The Servant in the House:

Ther wor nowt for it but to be wed bi licence, an' hah to get th' brass Dick couldn't tell, but at last he detarmined to tell one ov his shopmates all abaht it, an' ax him to advance him twenty paand, to be paid back as sooin as he gate th' properties.

So when the war broke out, sez 'e: "Well, wot abaht it, Joe?"

1958, Robert W. Service, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man:

(England) Pronunciation spelling of about.


abune

Noo, high abune winds an' waves abune

1877, Peter Burn, English Border Ballads:

And he gaed, and as he was bringing hame the water, a raven owre abune his head cried to him to look...

1991, Katharine Mary Briggs, A Dictionary of British Folk Tales in the British Language:

(Northern England, Scotland) Alternative form of aboon


exept

Than by the force and strengthe of men/ For men see alle daye that suche thynges as may not be achieuyd by force of nature/ ben goten and achieuyd by force of money/ And for so moche hit behoueth to see well to that whan the tyme of the bataylle cometh/ that he borowe not ne make no tayllage/ For noman may be ryche that leuyth his owne/ hopyng to gete and take of other/ Than all waye all her gayn and wynnynge ought to be comyn amonge them exept theyr Armes.

1474, Caxton, Game and Playe of the Chesse:


gainst

Then gan triumphant Trompets ſovvnd on hye, / That ſent to heuen the ecchoed report / Of their nevv ioy, and happie victory / Gainſt him, that had them long oppreſt with tort, / And faſt impriſoned in ſieged fort.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 4, page 172:


as for

I can't teach that class today: I'm sick. As for the rest of the teachers, they are still on leave.

As for the pigs, they could already read and write perfectly.

1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:


c/-

(Australia, New Zealand) Alternative form of c/o; care of


forby

From Middle English forby, forbi, of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, equivalent to fore- + by. Compare Saterland Frisian foarbie (“beyond, past”), Dutch voorbij (“past”), Low German vörbi, German vorbei (“gone, past”), Danish forbi, Swedish förbi. More at fore, by.

cog

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Beyond; past; more than; greater than; over and above; moreover.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic, of time) Past; gone by; over.

Those were the two sonnes of Acrates old / Who meeting earst with Archimago slie, / Foreby that idle strond, of him were told, / That he, wich earst them combatted, was Guyon bold.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Near; beside; by, close to.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) On one side; out of the way.

There was other six forby me.

[T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [VI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 133:

They call it fasting when they have the best of fish from Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forby [i.e., besides] trouts, grilses, salmon, and all the rest of it, and so they make their fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

"Put on your dress, ye shameless witch, standin' there in your pelt I'll take a strap to, for havin' the conceit out of you, forby your idling had lost me the sup of gin to keep the breath of life in me."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 173:

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) Besides; in addition to; as well as; not to mention.

With the exception of
with the exception of

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) With the exception of; not taking into account.


in terms of

If x=2y then 5x can be expressed in terms of y as 10y.

(mathematics) [Of one variable or unit of measurement which has a known relationship to another] Using equivalent expressions that use one variable in place of expressions involving the other.

I switched to a different bank for better customer service, but there was little difference in terms of interest rates.

She has no idea how she wants the house to look in terms of décor.

The fact is, "dad" is a designation you could assign – at least in terms of age – to many of Hollywood's biggest male actors.

2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC:

In relation to a particular aspect; with respect to; as regards; concerning; regarding.

We had been thinking in terms of purchasing those notes on the market, since they were selling at a discount.

1947, Committee on Banking and Currency, quoting Roy White, Proposed Extension of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation: Apr. 10-May 23, 1947, page 143:

Various groups throughout the country are thinking in terms of having a counter-demonstration in re the Fundamentalists' March to Return Morality to America.

1979 December 29, Vern Hall-Smith, “Fundamentalists March”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 5:


throughe

Thus as the people of prudent pollycye, Prynces of the right shal governe; The chirche preye; the juges justefye; And knighthode, manly, and prudently discerne, Til light of trouthe so clerely the lanterne, That rightewysnesse throughe this regyoune, Represse the darknesse of al extorcyoune.

c. 1500, anonymous author, A Chronicle of London from 1089 to 1483:

Wheras young men also with hauntynge of whores (as it is dayly seene) catche the newe leprosie, nowe otherwyse named Jobs agew, and some cal it the scabbes of Naples, throughe

1545, Desiderius Erasmus, A Very Pleasaunt & Fruitful Diologe Called the Epicure:

It was som shame to a yong "man, to be seene in the open market: and if for businesse, he "passed throughe it, he did it, with a meruelous modestie, and "bashefull facion.


down with

down

comfortable (with), accepting of; I'm down with that; as in

“If I can make your lives easier by staying where I'm supposed to, I'm down with it.”

2017, Iona Morrison, Dance with a Devil, The Wild Rose Press Inc, →ISBN:

“They both looked at each other and she smiled and said, “I'm down with it, let's do it.”

2014, Harvey Douglas Wall, HAM The Fire Starter, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 99:

“Hey, dude, are you down with this groove?”

2014, Poe Hawkins, The Last Alchemist: And the Love of His Life, Balboa Press, →ISBN, page 204:

Now are you down with this shit one hundred percent, because this isn't the Carolinas. The game is bigger than those two states.”

2012, O’Shun M Jones, The Commission: A Hip Hop Interpretation of the Mafia, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 38:

“Look, are you down with this or not, Kicky? I need to know now.

2008, H.A. Covington, The Brigade, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 187:

(colloquial) Comfortable with; having a positive, favourable, or accepting attitude toward; approving of; okay with.

ookoo (olla ok/ookoo + allative = to be down with (who is?); käydä or sopia as a verb is considerably more common)

Everyone's down with the flu, and I'm in the office all by myself.

(colloquial) Suffering from (an illness).


with an eye to

We read the contract with an eye to finding a way out of it.

We read the contract with an eye to its renegotiation.

We read the contract with an eye to how it could be made to look to voters.

(idiomatic) With an intention, goal, or consideration to.


thro

As thro a desert dry to go,

1851, Montagu, The Psalms, in a New Version, Fitted to the Tunes Used in Churches: Psalm CVI He the Red Sea rebuk'd also, That it updrying fled


in the way of

He had seen Death many times, - met him in the way of trade, and got acquainted with him.

1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 12, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:

Of what that involves in the way of doctrine I have no idea nor the time to inform myself.

1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 13, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC:

Certainly their extracurricular talents in the way of sport have not gone unnoticed.

2011 September 2, Sonia van Gilder Cooke, “Harvard's a Bargain — If You're From the U.K.”, in Time:

(idiomatic) In relation to; in connection with; with respect to.

The King sought out the farmer who had been branded and sold as a slave . . . and put him in the way of a comfortable livelihood.

1881, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 34, in The Prince and the Pauper: A Tale for Young People of All Ages, Montreal, Que.: Dawson Brothers, →OCLC:

But it would certainly put her in the way of a grand marriage.

1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:

I am in the way of knowing that one of you will not reach your destination, but I don’t know which will be the one to fall. I am in the way of knowing that the rest will be taken before this man Flagg, who is not a man at all but a supernatural being. [...] It’s not my place to argue with you, or convince, but only to put you in the way of understanding God’s plan for you.

1990, Stephen King, chapter 59, in The Stand:

(idiomatic) In or into a position of being likely to obtain, to attain, or to achieve.

"My dear young friend, rely upon my doing my little all in your absence, by keeping the fact before the mind of Joseph.—Joseph!" said Mr. Pumblechook, in the way of a compassionate adjuration.

1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XIX, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 328:

I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less.

(idiomatic) Similar to; as an instance of; as a kind of.


faw

“[…] Now, Colossus, what air you a-beckonin′ at me faw?”

1907, George Washington Cable, Old Creole Days, Gutenberg eBook #10234:

Pronunciation spelling of for; chiefly used to represent the accent of slaves in the United States.


courtesy of

Ashton only had to wait three minutes for his second try, lock Louis Deacon setting it up with a rollocking line-break, before Romania got on the scoreboard courtesy of a penalty from fly-half Marin Danut Dumbrava.

2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport:

Our live stream is available in all territories excluding those listed below, but you can watch the game courtesy of these alternative broadcasters.


in behalf of

In the wake of your recent Forum feature on Bisexuality may I say a word in behalf of the Beleaguered Bi?

1973 December 8, Paul Shanley, “Beleaguered Bi”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 25, page 4:


in the midst of

To the West Station is less than a mile. The line runs first past water-meadows, with another fine view of the Cathedral, then under a bridge, and finally over a level crossing set in the midst of one of the main streets.

1952 July, A. W. V. Mace, “The Ashford, Canterbury, and Ramsgate Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 437:

He has been the master of the fire sale, swooping in to snap up bargains in the midst of panics and sell-offs.

2010 March 14, Paul Harris, “Carlos Slim: The world's wealthiest man”, in The Observer:

The pace of e-commerce was flying, and Magna Park 1 opened in the midst of a spell in which, between 2006 and 2016, the share of John Lewis deliveries going direct to customers rose 12-fold.

2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian:


with a view to

We read the contract with a view to finding a way out of it.

We read the contract with a view to its renegotiation.

We read the contract with a view to how it could be made to appeal to voters.

(idiomatic) With the intention of, with the goal of (followed by a noun or a gerund).


forbye

[T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [VI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 133:

She never seemed to want for siller; the house was as bright as a new preen, the yaird better delved than the manse garden; and there was routh of fowls and doos about the small steading, forbye a wheen sheep and milk-kye in the fields.

1902 January, John Buchan, “The Outgoing of the Tide”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and Other Tales, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1902, →OCLC, pages 229–230:


ahint

From Middle English at-hinden, from Old English æthindan (“behind, after”), equivalent to at- + hind.

ahint the coonter he sat i' the shop

But the sight of her eyes was not a thing to forget. John Dodds said they were the een of a deer with the Devil ahint them; and indeed, they would so appal an onlooker that a sudden unreasoning terror came into his heart, while his feet would impel him to flight.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:


asprawl

All through the night which followed her panic flight from the huge, heavy-footed figure that had groped out for her, called to her, and dropped asprawl her own small cloak in the doorway, Denny Bolton’s blood-soiled face and drunkenly reckless laugh had been with her,

1914, Larry Evans, chapter 11, in Once to Every Man, New York: H. K. Fly, pages 151–152:

Hundreds were asprawl the open space between the Cross and the kirkyard.

1947, James Barke, The Song in the Green Thorn Tree, London: Collins, Part 1, p. 78:

From a distance the wood looked like a cloak, flung carelessly asprawl the shoulder of the hill,

1977, Ewan Clarkson, chapter 3, in The Badgers of Summercombe,, New York: Dutton, page 18:

[…] she thought that not for anything would she wish him to see her naked thus, naked and cut, asprawl a windowsill.

1994, Edna O’Brien, House of Splendid Isolation, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, page 147:


at the feet of

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

2001, Acts 22:3, Holy Bible, English Standard Version

(idiomatic) As a disciple, student, subordinate or worshiper of.

the resulting St. Louis 3-on-1 should be placed at the feet of the San Jose forwards

2018, Stacey Abrams campaign: 'This falls at the feet of Brian Kemp', Washington Post:

As being the work or responsibility of; attributed to.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see at, feet, of. Situated near the feet of.


hoff

"'W'y, chuck 'er, ye blighter!' says I. "'But 'ow farst must Hi count four?' he asks agin, lookin' worrit; 's'pose she goes hoff in me 'and?' he says.

1918, Credo Harris, Where the Souls of Men are Calling:

"I believe in fair play, but I darsn't keep my eyes hoff of 'em sleepy-lookin' tops, when their flippers is anywheres near their knives, you know."

1880, John Habberton, Romance of California Life:

"'An hungrateful fool, marry an' turn me hoff; ugh, ugh! fix 'im, hany 'ow.'

1877, Charles W. Hall, Adrift in the Ice-Fields:


inmid

From Middle English inmid, equivalent to in- + mid.


inmiddes

From Middle English inmiddes, equivalent to in- + middes.


in respect of

Regarding; concerning; pertaining to; with reference to.

(law) On account of; by reason of; because of.


aftah

"Dey uster have a song 'bout de Mockers roun' de cabins, an' a dance went wid it, 'cause it was a berry long song; but aftah dat Sambo done change it some when he uster sing it."

1897, Mabel Osgood Wright, Elliott Coues, Citizen Bird:

"If I send a saddle-hoss to yo' do' on day aftah to-morrhow evening at fo' o'clock, will you rhide out with me for-h about a hour-h and a half--just for a little pleasu'e?"

1899, George Washington Cable, The Grandissimes:

"There's a woman aftah my own heart, suh," murmured Anstey.

1911, H. Irving Hancock, Dick Prescott's Second Year at West Point:


in the teeth of

Having crossed the Caribbean in the teeth of contrary winds, it was not until the early days of April that the French fleet hove in sight of Cartagena [...]

1922, Rafael Sabatini, Captain Blood, Chapter XXVII:


bewest

From Middle English be west, biwesten, from Old English be westan (“west, from the west”).

inh

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To the west of.


foreanent

Acts James VI
Utheris inhabiting the bordouris fore-anent England.

(Scotland, obsolete) Over against; opposite to.


behither

How I had been robbed in the valley, I informed the Senators, who told me that, in very truth, the people of that side were bad livers, and naturally theevish, whereby I perceived well, that as we have with us the Countreys cisalpine and transalpine, that is, behither and beyond the mountains, so have they there the Countreys cidentine and tradentine, that is, behither and beyond the teeth: but it is farre better living on this side, and the aire is purer.

1653, Francis Rabelais [i.e., François Rabelais], translated by [Thomas Urquhart] and [Peter Anthony Motteux], “How Pantagruel with His Tongue Covered a Whole Army, and what the Author Saw in His Mouth”, in The Works of Francis Rabelais, Doctor in Physick: Containing Five Books of the Lives, Heroick Deeds, and Sayings of Gargantua, and His Sonne Pantagruel. […], London: […] [Thomas Ratcliffe and Edward Mottershead] for Richard Baddeley, […], →OCLC; republished in volume I, London: […] Navarre Society […], [1948], →OCLC, book the third, page 308:


in the throes of

We won't be able to meet next week as we will be in the throes of moving offices. Perhaps the week after will be better.

The inconveniences that must be endured before the modernisation plan can come into action may be seen at Coventry, where since August the station has been in the throes of rebuilding.

1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Part, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 101:

Heavily occupied, or busily involved in an important activity.


imell

From Middle English imell, emell, emelle, omelle, from Old Norse á milli, í milli (“in the middle”), from Old Norse milli, miðli (“middle”), from Proto-Germanic *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). More at middle.


along with

She fired all the journalists in the company, along with some of the administration workers.

With the descent of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whole families split for the ensuing decades, some for ever. This event and its after-effects, along with the war against the Japanese in the 1940s, was to cast a long shadow over the years ahead, and led to the creation of the wholly unprecedented worship of Kim Il-sung, and his elevation to almost God-like status. It was also to create the system in which his son was to occupy almost as impossibly elevated a position.

2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian:


roun'

"De ole jedge has be'n a little onreg'lar sence de wah, suh; but he gin'ally gits roun' 'bout ten o'clock er so..."

1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:


down to

I had to walk down to the ground floor.

Go down to the shops.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see down, to.

Are you down to go to the cinema?

I'm down to my last few sleeping pills.

What type of person you become is down to you.

So I guess the cooking is now down to me.

Within the responsibility or influence of.

The failure was down to total neglect.

It's down to me, the way she talks when she's spoken to / Down to me, the change has come, she's under my thumb.

1966, The Rolling Stones, Under My Thumb:

The intermittent signal dropout was down to a faulty connection which he'd fixed in seconds.

That difficulty is down to significant natural variations in average Antarctic stratospheric springtime ozone levels from year to year

2011 May 16, James Mitchell Crow, “First signs of ozone-hole recovery spotted”, in Nature:

We checked everything down to the last/smallest detail.


benorth

"No, no, landlord," answered a strong deep voice behind him, "it's e'en because your English gaugers and supervisors, that you have sent down benorth the Tweed, have taen up the trade of thievery over the heads of the native professors."


betwixen

From Middle English, from Old English betweoxn (“between”), for earlier *betweoxum, *betwihsum, *betwiscum, from be- + dative plural of *twix, *twisc (“twofold”), from twā (“two”) + -isc (“-ish”), equivalent to be- + two + -ish.


abun

(obsolete, Northern England, Scotland) Alternative form of aboon (“above”)


ahind

"You see, sir," said Mr. Smear, "that wherever that ere water has been it's left a dampness ahind it; the moistur' consekent upon such a dampness must be evaporated by ever-so-many applications of the warming-pan.

1841, Various, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 1, October 9, 1841:

"Watch was drunk; I crawled down ahind the whiskey.

1869, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Men, Women, and Ghosts:

"But, you see, he's been and gone and pulled back the board that you have to step on to git ahind your desk; he's been and gone and pulled back the board so as you can't help a-tippin' it up, and a-sowsin' right in ef you step there."

1871, Edward Eggleston, The Hoosier Schoolmaster:

[Porky Pine:] I'll duck ahind the tree an' pop out [...]

1959 January 27, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 10:


to-ward

Tom and Joe, who had come upon the group of other pupils after the impromptu snowball throwing contest had started, advanced further to-ward their school companions. Peaches and Teeter were still engaged in their friendly struggle, until Peaches tripped over a stone, concealed under a blanket of snow, and both went down in a struggling heap.

1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine:


non obstante

Non obstante the Change of Religion, the Plough-boies, and also the Schooleboies will keep-up and retain their old Ceremonies and Customes and priviledges.

1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 40:

(obsolete) notwithstanding, regardless of, despite


unnear

Where the Earth was couer'd with her Floud, now Citties stand, vnneere the Oceans Brim.

1612, John Davies of Hereford, The Muse's Sacrifice:

easy wheatfields of the Berry where Joseph was born (not unnear George Sand's beloved home at Nohant)

2000, Harry Guest, The Artist on the Artist:

(chiefly obsolete) Not near; at a distance from.


ohn

"As for no lo'ein' him, mither—me that canna luik at a blin' kittlin' ohn lo'ed it!—lo, mither! God made me sae, and didna mean me no' to lo' An'rew!"

"As for not loving him, mother—me that cannot look at a blind kittling without loved it!—lo, mother! God made me so, and didn't mean me not to love Andrew!"


close by

She lives close by us.

Close, near, nearby: in proximity (to).
With a noun-phrase complement.

There isn't any good source of water close by.

Close, near, nearby: in proximity (to).
With no explicit complement.

He waited close by to the store.

With the preposition to introducing a noun-phrase complement.

The close-by family members tried to help.

Close, near, nearby: in proximity (to).
Preceding and modifying a noun.


'mongst

No more do souls of men. For stories sayen
Well known 'mongst countrey folk, our spirits fly, […]

1647, Henry More, “[Philosophical Poems.] Antipsychopannychia or The Third Book of the Song of the Soul: Containing a Confutation of the Sleep of the Soul after Death. The Præexistency of the Soul, […].”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Poems of Dr. Henry More (1614–1687) […] (Chertsey Worthies’ Library), [Edinburgh: […] Edinburgh University Press; Thomas and Archibald Constable, […]] for private circulation, published 1878, →OCLC, stanza 78, page 126, column 1:


thruout

He connected the bulb in circuit with his conventional radio apparatus, using the same circuits for additional electrodes that he had used thruout his experiments with the thing.

1920 May 5, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 78, column 2:

It led to a drive against screeno as used in movie houses thruout the city.

St. Paul arrived in Greece 1,900 years ago this summer. It was a momentous event for the peoples of the western world. To signalize this undevicesimal centennial, the Greek Orthodox church is inviting scholars and religious leaders thruout the world to Athens for a delayed celebration in June of 1951.

1950 March 4, John Evans, “Notes on News in Religion”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, volume CIX, number 54, Chicago, Ill., page 8:

(US, Canada) Nonstandard spelling of throughout.


acrosst

Their family worked the land behind that horse farm acrosst from where your great-grannie and all us used to live.

2006, J. Marie Darden, Finding Dignity, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 107:


ferninst

Those pink-satin evening slippers simply lose all their display value when you stick those red-kid bed-slippers right up ferninst them that way.

"It's right ferninst where yer afther stan'in, up the stairs on the corner of Granefield Coort--over there, bedad."

But Fate, as he expressed it in the vernacular, was "ferninst him."

1874, Ambrose Bierce, Cobwebs From an Empty Skull:


wth

[…]others to make sporte wᵗʰ all of this last sorte were they whome they call Fresh-menn Punies of the first yeare, […]

c. 1610, anonymous author, “The Election of the Prince”, in Boas Frederick Samuel, editor, The Christmas Prince, London: Malone Society, published 1923, page 3:


forenenst

The land forenenst the Greekish shore.

1600, Fairfax, transl., Jerusalem Delivered:


other than

There was no furniture in the abandoned house, other than a broken bedstead.

за исключе́нием (za isključénijem)(+genitive)

The problem cannot be solved other than by putting in much time and effort.

(idiomatic) Otherwise than; in any other way than, for any other reason than, etc.


uptill

She, poor bird, as all forlorn,
Leaned her breast up-till a thorn.

1599, William Shakespeare, As it Fell Upon a Day:


whith

Boil half a pound of French barley in 3 several waters, keep the last water to make your milk of, then stamp half a pound of almonds with a little of the same water to keep them from oyling; being finely beaten, strain it whith the rest of the barley water, put some hard sugar to it, boil it a little, and give it the party warm.

Winthrop, whith such directions as he conceived fitt, and, as I hear, hath given his debte, which he maks 544^li. unto y^e gentlemen of y^e Bay. Indeed, M^r.

1898, William Bradford, Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation':


withoutside

Soon after, a fire was made withoutside the cabin, in the open air, and a kettle hung over it to boil.

1912, Sir Harry Johnston, Pioneers in Canada:

We build our houses on the sand Comely withoutside and within; 20 But when the winds and rains begin To beat on them, they cannot stand; They perish, quickly overthrown, Loose from the very basement stone.

1830, Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems:

At noon, he got withoutside of the reef by a second opening more to the north; for, having observed the latitude to be 22 deg. 17', his intention was to seek for the River of Jacob Remessens (near the North-west Cape); but the wind veering to north-east, he could no longer follow the direction of the coast.

1814, Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis:


foregain

From Middle English *foregayn, *foreȝein, *foreȝeȝn, foregane, from Old English foran ongean (“opposite”), equivalent to fore- + gain. Compare German vorentgegen.

inh

(obsolete) Directly opposite to; in the opposite scale to.


foregainst

From Middle English *foregaynst, foreagenis, foragenis, foreganis, from Old English fōran onġēan (“opposite”), equivalent to fore- + gainst. Compare German vorentgegen.


hard by

He was laid to rest hard by the same church where he was once baptised.

In a bar hard by P. P. Layouts, Richard Hnatt sat sipping a Tequila Sour.

1964, Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch:

(dated) Close to; near; in proximity to; next to.


dahn

“So, wot, people'd pay to throw you dahn the stairs? Dunno abaht that. People in these parts is used to throwing one another dahn stairs for free.

2007, Howard Whitehouse, Bill Slavin, The Faceless Fiend: The Faceless Fiend: Being the Tale of a Criminal Mastermind, His Masked Minions and a Princess with a Butter Knife, Involving Explosives and a Certain Amount of Pushing and Shoving, Book 2:

He's cool. Does triathlons dahn de Sahn.

2013 September 5, James Burton, The Bermuda Sun, archived from the original on 2022-12-12:

(UK, Bermuda) Pronunciation spelling of down.


gainward

From gain- + -ward, or from an apheretic variant of Middle English agaynward, aȝenward, aȝeinward.

(obsolete) Toward; facing; over against.


s/p

Following TBI, bcl-2 and bax bands intensities reduce 2 hrs after injury (P<0.05) more importantly the bax:bcl-2 ration increases at 2 hrs and remains elevated at 7 days s/p injury (P<0.05) (Raghupathi et al., 2003).

2008, Nicole Zangrilli Hoh, “Bcl-2 Genotypes and Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury” (Ph.D. dissertation), ProQuest, page 43

63-year-old woman, s/p 30-foot fall 3 weeks previously

2011, Alexander Vaccaro et al., Spine and Spinal Cord Trauma: Evidence-Based Management, Thieme, unnumbered page

(medicine) Abbreviation of status post: after.


fromward

From Middle English fromward, framward, from Old English framweard (“about to depart, departing, doomed to die; with his back turned”, adjective) and framweardes (“away from”, adverb), equivalent to from + -ward. Compare froward.

(now dialect, Southern England, Midlands, West Country) From; away from.


v. a.

(epigraphy, obsolete) Acting in place of; from Latin vices agens.


up until

It's easy to see why he was confused — up until that point, you didn't have popular bands coming out with makeup on.

2002, Gene Simmons, Kiss and Make-Up, page 87:

Evidence that the NSA was secretly building a vast database of U.S. telephone records - the who, the how, the when, and the where of millions of mobile calls - was the first and arguably the most explosive of the Snowden revelations published by the Guardian newspaper in 2013.
Up until that moment, top intelligence officials publicly insisted the NSA never knowingly collected information on Americans at all. After the program’s exposure, U.S. officials fell back on the argument that the spying had played a crucial role in fighting domestic extremism, citing in particular the case of four San Diego residents who were accused of providing aid to religious fanatics in Somalia.

2020 September 2, Raphael Satter, “U.S. court: Mass surveillance program exposed by Snowden was illegal”, in Tom Brown, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 2020-11-01, Media & Telecoms:


ab.

w:The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

American Heritage Publishing Co.
w:American Heritage (magazine)


emongst

Most sacred fire, that burnest mightily / In liuing brests, ykindled first aboue, / Emongst th'eternall spheres and lamping sky […]!

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


in keeping with

Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

In keeping with the stock they are replacing, the B23s are fully automated.

2023 February 22, Paul Stephen, “TfL reveals first of new B23s for Docklands Light Railway”, in RAIL, number 977, page 12:

The Cop28 presidency released a draft text in the early evening on Monday, which called for “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, so as to achieve net zero by, before or around 2050, in keeping with the science”.

2023 December 11, Fiona Harvey, Patrick Greenfield, Nina Lakhani, Adam Morton, Damian Carrington, “Cop28 draft climate deal criticised as ‘grossly insufficient’ and ‘incoherent’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


fromwards

From Old English framweardes (“in a direction away from”); equivalent to from + -ward + -s. Compare froward.

Towards or fromwards the zenith.

1713, W[illiam] Derham, Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […], →OCLC:

move along towards or fromwards the end of the yard

1610, Arthur Hopton, Baculum geodæticum:


anenst

He lives anenst the church.

He shall have a bel, that's Abel; / And by it standing one whose name is Dee, / In a rug gown, there's D, and Rug, that's drug: / And right anenst him a dog snarling er, / There's Drugger, Abel Drugger. That's his sign. / And here's now mystery and hieroglyphic!

c. 1610, Ben Jonson, “The Alchemist”, in William Gifford, editor, The Works of Ben Jonson, volume 4, published 1816, page 88:

He said nothing anenst this particular.

(UK, Scotland, obsolete) About; concerning; anent.


death against

"I know," O'Donnell supposedly muttered. "I was death against it from the beginning . . . ."

1972, Burton Hersh, The Education of Edward Kennedy: A Family Biography, page 159:

He would always sniff for the telltale odor of kerosene, which the residents might have used for starting fires in their stoves — Edwin was death against it because of the hazard to the whole village.

1982, Katharine Blaisdell, Over the River and Through the Years - Volume 4, page 3:

He was death against liquor, though.

1983, Ira E. Shea, Margaret Elley Felt, The Grange was My Life, page 15:

(rare, nonstandard) Alternative form of dead against.


rahn

Well when ah's youngah, ah’d just light a candle rahn de dinna table play pure crazy 8s and spades vif my brotha til we lot dozed off...

2013 April 12, “Exclusive: Meet Derpuntae - Bermuda’s first meme”, in The Bermuda Sun, archived from the original on 2022-12-12:

(Bermuda) Pronunciation spelling of round.


except for

with the exception of
with the exception of


edd.

Short for Latin ediderunt (“they have published”).

Nineteen Eighty-Four edd. Secker & Warburg, 1949


from off

a live coal […] taken with the tongs from off the altar

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 6:6:

Taking an envelope from an inner pocket of his ulster he began to wipe the blood from off the blade.

I thought that was some bloke from off the telly until I tapped his name into a search engine and found out that he was this amazing revolutionary who really rocked the beret and got a lot of stuff done.

2015, Tamsyn Murray, Completely Cassidy – Star Reporter:


ajax

In the bar we would stand with our sisters, varda (look at) the bona cartes (male genitals) on the butch homme (man, pronounced o-me) ajax (nearby), who, if we fluttered our ogle riahs (eye lashes) at him sweetly, might just troll over to offer a light for the unlit vogue (cigarette) clenched between out teeth. [The explanations in round brackets are by Peter Burton]

1985, Peter Burton, Parallel Lives, page 38:

Oh, vada well that omee-palone ajax who just trolled in[.]

2004, Paul Baker, Fanatabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang, page 1:

[O]oh[,] will just vada that filiomi ajax[.]

2006, Matt Houlbrook, Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957, page 152:


on the order of

[H]is philanthropy was more on the order of that of Jack Cade than it was Christian.

1919, Elbert Hubbard, “John Wesley”, in Little Journeys: Vol. 9-Great Reformers:

The earth's interior is somewhat on the order of an elaborate amusement-park tunnel of love.

1959 Dec. 17, Bosley Crowther, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (film review), New York Times (retrieved 16 June 2014)

Calling Ford's muscle car an iconic, era-defining product on the order of Sony's Walkman or Apple's iPhone isn't a stretch.

2013 December 16, Bill Saporito, “Ford Is Back in the Saddle with New Mustang”, in Time, retrieved 2014-06-16:

In the manner of; along the lines of; like; of a similar kind to; more-or-less equivalent to.


excl

The price was £400 excl VAT.


in the throws of

in the throes of
in the throes of#English


in right of

In right of her being president of the Board, she is also the chair of Board meetings.

The husband held title to the land in right of his wife (see also jure uxoris).

(law) a power held as a consequence of another power, or held as a consequence of a relationship

The Queen of Canada in Right of Quebec is suing the Queen of Canada in Right of Newfoundland.

(law, government, often capitalized) jurisdiction of a person who is head of state of more than one state


in favour of

With financial losses emerging in 1957, the BTC abandoned the diesel pilot scheme in favour of wholesale orders for untried designs.

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:

(British spelling) Alternative form of in favor of


-v-

Perhaps a result of the hardening of /-u(w)iən/ (to /-uviən/); compare English Peruvian to French péruvien and Italian peruviano.

Loving -v- Virginia


c/w

(music) Abbreviation of comes with, coupled with or combined with. Commonly used with 45 RPM singles, referring to the flip side (B-side) of the record.

(medicine) Abbreviation of consistent with.

(technology) Abbreviation of complete with. Used to indicate that an extra or additional part is included.


wuth

"More'n that, neighbor Walton. You can't get a decent cow for thirty dollars. I hain't got one that isn't wuth more, though I've got ten in my barn."


beyant

'Is't they swaggie beyant?'

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 191:


befo'

(African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of before.


behine

Pronunciation spelling of behind, representing African-American Vernacular English.

pronunciation spelling of

(archaic) Alternative spelling of behind


machiam

Kiasi cannot die; machiam machiam words

2000, Liew Geok Leong, Women Without Men, page 130:

Chennai (Madras) Photo: machiam our local pasar malam…

2009, Angel_Ling, “Tripadvisor”, in Tripadvisor.com.sg, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Machiam rojak! Very messy but taste shiok right?

2014-07-30, Owl International, “Singapore, We Are Ok! (National Day Song 2014)”, in Youtube.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Wah machiam movie star leh. . So handsome!

2015-09-16, Irene Ang, “Twitter”, in Twitter.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Machiam hipster like that.

2015, Denise Tan, “Burpple”, in Burpple.com, archived from the original on 2015-09-24:

(Singapore, informal) like, similar to, resembling.


ascr.

Short for Latin āscrīptus (“ascribed to”).


ap.

Abbreviation of apud. Used in scholarly works to cite a reference at second hand


together with

/tʊˈɡɛð.ə(ɹ)wɪð/

/tʊˈɡɛðɚ wɪθ/

The new tax, together with inflation, risks hurting the economy even more.

With or in proximity to another person or thing.


accd'g to

It was reported here that PJ, Nash, Stokely, and Armour will be working out
with Chris Carter in the offseason accd'g to Billick[.]

1999 December 28, Don Awalt, “Armour(WR thoughts)”, in alt.sports.football.pro.baltimore (Usenet):

the winner for 2003 was not a guy who tipped a coke machine on him, accd'g
to what I could find on the site[...]

2004 May 27, JFlexer, “DARWIN AWARDS 2004”, in alt.gossip.celebrities (Usenet):

Accd'g to the user manual, it indicates a disc issue, I then proceeded
to try three other discs, also previously recorded, though not filled -
I had the same result[.]

2004 December 9, chle...@enter.net, “Sharp recording error: "DEFECT" w/numerous discs”, in alt.audio.minidisc (Usenet):


in the event of

In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held indoors.


in case of

Take an umbrella in case of rain.

In case of emergency, break glass.

Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier, wore a backpack equipped with an air bag, a relatively new and expensive part of the arsenal that backcountry users increasingly carry to ease their minds and increase survival odds in case of an avalanche.

2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:


in the process of

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, process, of.

I found him in the process of completing that article about periscopes.

It is still in the process of installation.

(often followed by the -ing form of a verb) Engaged in, but not finished with.


in the shoes of

He is in the shoes of a dead man.

In the same (or former) situation as another named person.


in the middle of

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, middle, of.

I found him in the middle of a custody battle with his first wife.

He is still in the middle of a complex installation.

(often followed by the -ing form of a verb) Engaged in, but not finished with, often with something unpleasant.


wt

Wᵗ condicion that at the tyme of the Lavatory eueryche of theym turne theym to the people, and exorte theym to pray for ye soules following...

1513, Robert Fabyan, last will and testament

They hewe downe a tre in the wod with the hondes of the woꝛke man, and faſhion it with the axe: they couer it ouer with golde oꝛ ſyluer, they faſten it wᵗ nales and hammers, that it moue not.

1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Jeremy [Jeremiah] x:[3–4], folio xxviii, verso, column 1:


complete with

A car repair comes complete with an oil change.

Having some specified thing as an additional feature.


5'8" 135 lbs. gdlk coll. ed, indep but shy at bars, n2 music/audio, quiet nights, j/o ect. ^([sic])

1985 April 20, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 13:

U can only change u n2 a better, a greater, and a wiser you!

2023, Michailah Belle, Vision of Inspiration, Union City, N.J.: Writers Republic L.L.C., →ISBN, page 21:


on the other side of

The village is on the other side of the river.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on, the, other, side, of.

The discussion will be continued on the other side of the commercial break.

She was on the other side of 70 and had had a hard life.

(temporal) Older than (a specified age).


in excess of

We spent in excess of £5,000 on repairs to the storm-damaged roof.


unincluding

Fear of the poorhouse (street or squat or prison) may create quite the entrepreneurial motive too-- not unincluding the criminal; sometimes these two being indistinguishable.

2004, Alan Goldfein, Europe's Macadam, America's Tar:


overcross

From Middle English overcrossen, equivalent to over- + cross.

(archaic, rare) Across, over; from side to side of.


as against

But in the meditations of his leisure hours he believed in a dual reality which accounted for the miracles of Russian history. Talking about it, however, was harder than writing about it. Talking about it was almost impossible. ¶ “Well…” Nechvolodov replied. “You take the broad view of everything. I can’t look beyond Russia.” ¶ That was just the trouble. And it was worse still that a good general should be a writer of bad books and see that as his vocation. In his version, Orthodoxy was always right as against Catholicism, the rulers of Moscow as against Novgorod. Russian ways were gentler and purer than those of the West.

1989, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts, August 1914, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 168:


over against

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

1984, The Holy Bible, New International Version, Zondervan, →ISBN, 1 Corinthians 4:6:

Then he took his place over against the wall.

1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXVII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 272:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see over, against.


for want of

for want of a better word

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

When the time of Christ's second coming is at hand, there will be but a very little faith in the world. And the Lord knows that there be many, who are now as high as Lucifer, that at that day, for want of faith, will be thrown down to the sides of the pit; even in the very belly of hell.

a. 1689 (date written), John Bunyan, “ Some Gospel Truths Opened”, in Henry Stebbing, editor, The Entire Works of John Bunyan, […], volume I, London: James S[prent] Virtue, […], published 1863, →OCLC, page 75:

In April 1923, he was working with a gang of five others in Glasgow on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). They were told to walk in the cess. But as it wasn't clear, they walked on the sleepers, each carrying a 70lb lifting screw on his shoulder. McGuinness was struck by a train and killed for want of a safe path.

2022 August 10, Dr Mike Esbester, “New understandings from old incidents”, in RAIL, number 963, page 58:


upsee

to drink upsee Dutch


inspite

(Pakistan) Despite, irrespective of, notwithstanding.


astraddle of

I fell at the foot of the only solitary tree there was in nine counties adjacent[…], and the next second I had hold of the bark with four sets of nails and my teeth, and the next second after that I was astraddle of the main limb and blaspheming my luck in a way that made my breath smell of brimstone.

1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VII, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 64:

Charming hour of the day, particularly when, as sometimes happens, it is also that of the setting sun whose last rays, raking the street from end to end, lend to my cenotaph an interminable shadow, astraddle of the gutter and the sidewalk.

1958, Samuel Beckett, “The Unnamable”, in Three Novels by Samuel Beckett, New York: Grove, page 471:


in the space of

In the space of an hour, they managed to destroy sixty cars.


uptil

About 800 tractors were to be purchased in the scheme but actually 509 tractors were purchased uptil the end of January 1974.

1974, Planning and Development Department, Punjab Development Review and Prospects, Volumes 3-4, Punjab (Pakistan), page 96:

In the north this area extends uptil New Kavi Nagar, in the south uptil national Bye-pass Road, in the east uptil municipal limits […]

1989, Aruna Saxena, Perspectives in Industrial Geography: A Case Study of an Industrial City of Uttar Pradesh, Concept Publishing Company, page 61:

As has been seen earlier Mrs. Indira Gandhi was elected Congress President in February 1959 and continued to hold the office uptil December 1961.

1988, Bameshwar Singh, Congress Ministries Under the High Command Shadow, Bihar (India): Commonwealth Publishers, page 88:


what of

What of the thin and rotten ice he had felt under his feet all day, it seemed that he sensed disaster close at hand, out there ahead on the ice where his master was trying to drive him.

1903 July, Jack London, “The Toil of Trace and Trail”, in The Call of the Wild, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 152:


at the risk of

At the risk of sounding stupid, how does it work?

Despite the likelihood of (something bad happening).

uhalla

despite the likelihood of (something bad happening)


with the exception of

With due allowance for (a specified detail); not including; other than.


at the bottom of

I should have known you'd be at the bottom of all this!

Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it.

1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion.”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 3:

Covertly responsible for; being the real origin of.


aback of

[…] to effect which they must beat to windward for several days, between the west end of Cuba and the south coast of East Florida, till they get as far to the eastward as the Pan of Matanzas, a mountain so called, just aback of the town of the same name, say thirty leagues to the east of the Havanna, opposite which the gulph stream turns to a due north direction, which had been before east, and runs three, four, and five knots an hour […]

1831, George Hallam, Narrative of a Voyage from Montego Bay:

The question of wind must be matter of inference from the incidents above stated: the movement of the “Lawrence” and “Queen Charlotte,” and the bracing aback of the “Niagara's” topsail.

1905, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Sea Power and the War of 1812, volume 2, page 68:

(British English, US, dialectal) Behind; on the other side of


aboat

All Aboat the Best Cars in the Great White North, Eh?

2006 November 21, Davey G. Johnson, Jalopnik:

What's this all aboat, eh? Mansion outside Melbourne comes with a Canada-themed interior and MOOSE trophy cabinet… yours for $3.7 million

2015 December 20, Mercury Press Agency, Daily Mail:

But there's a dark side to this snow-swept paradise many people don't know "aboat": Survey results published by the Environics Institute — a Canadian social research organization — and reported by the CBC this week reveal that non-indigenous Canadians have some troubling attitudes about their indigenous neighbors.

2016 June 8, Zak Cheney-Rice, “New Survey Shows How Canadians Really Feel About Indigenous People — And It's Not Pretty”, in Mic:


in regard to

I am writing in regard to the advertisement that you placed in last week's Daily News.


with regards to

Perhaps confusion between as regards and with regard to.


on the strength of

The police arrested him on the strength of some rather flimsy evidence.

In reliance upon; on the basis of; using as a guide or support.


by vice of

(idiomatic) Because of (something unfavorable, immoral, negative, etc.)


in regard of

And, as I understand, his office was the treasurership of Calais, who, in regard of his great age, shortly after was discharged of his said office, and so returned into England, intending to live a more private life; […]

1793, A Selection from the Harleian Miscellany of Tracts, page 99:


by force of

The enemy army was extinguished by force of numbers only.


when it comes to

8 Jan 2020, Felicity Cloake in The Guardian, How to make the perfect gluten-free chocolate brownies – recipe
I’d prefer to keep things straightforward and stick in the lovely, tasty yolks, too. After all, there’s no such thing as too rich when it comes to brownies.


for and on behalf of

(law) Acting for; acting as an agent of.


inside of

Return it inside (of) a month.

A book is a man’s best friend outside of a dog, and inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

1954, Jim Brewer, Boys’ Life, volume 44, number 2, Think and Grin, page 78, column 1:


fuh

(informal) Pronunciation spelling of for.


on the lines of

The Minister said something on the lines of, “I don’t care if it causes people to lose their jobs.”

Osnabrück, reached at daybreak, is a remarkable two-level station on the lines of Willesden Junction.

1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:


on the cusp

on the cusp of stardom

on the cusp between adulthood and old age

(idiomatic) on the point of a significant transformation, ascendance, etc.


in accordance with

according to; following the rules of standards of


spite of

My loue lookes freſh, and death to me ſubſcribes,
 Since ſpight of him Ile liue in this poore rime, […]

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 107”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature G 3, recto:

[…] some of the rain forced its way, and Ann felt the effects of it, for she caught cold, spite of Mary's precautions.

1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction:

Spite of brown-stone trimmings, plate-glass and mosaic vestibule floors, the water does not rise in summer to the second story, while the beer flows unchecked to the all-night picnics on the roof.

1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Awakening”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 19:


for fear of

[...] but in the damp conditions prevailing the driver sensibly was unwilling to attempt the climb up through Combe Down tunnel without help, for fear of slipping to a standstill in the unventilated bore, [...].

1960 March, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 184:

In order to try to prevent the risk of a particular thing happening.


NET

Initialism of no earlier than or not earlier than.


abart

(England) Pronunciation spelling of about.


in the grip of

I couldn't enjoy life while I was in the grip of drug abuse.

At that time, the city [Christiania, now Oslo] was in the grip of a cholera epidemic, and victims were dying at the rate of 60 a day. Bradshaw contracted the disease, and died on September 6 [1853].

1950 January, “Notes and News: George Bradshaw's Grave”, in Railway Magazine, pages 61–62:

overwhelmed or controlled by something adverse

overwhelmed, gripped (idiomatic, figurative)


onaccounta

He's depraved onaccounta he's deprived.

The game called / Onacounta darkness

1972, Conrad Weiser, “GOD MUST”, in I Don't Need to Know Your Name to be Your Friend, page 89:

I mean, we called GBI onacounta the Smitty .38, the outta state tags...” Beauchamp answered, stonefaced.

2005, Christopher Chambers, edited by Eleanor Taylor Bland, Shades Of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors:

Den when da sun come out and errybody feel safe, onacounta get light again, errybody go outside and find one tallblack cat god.

2006, Y. York, “Doggy Style”, in Nothing is the Same, page 9:

Pronunciation spelling of on account of.


in the business of

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, the, business, of.

People who level these insults are just in the business of putting others down.

(idiomatic) dealing heavily in or intimately involved with (a practice, behavior, etc.)


in the shadow of

A small village hut in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.

He works in the shadow of his father.

In a state of relative unimportance when contrasted to the stature, notability, etc. of another.


a-back

Aw seed him aback o’th’ edge.


howsofar

But just howsofar can the complex and politically sensitive story of Nanbaree be 'translated' into simple terms and words without trivialising it?

These, howsofar I stray, shall work their spell,
And seem to bring my feet
Back to the ways remembered well,
Where with old friends, old loves,
I walked of yore.

1900, M. A. De Wolfe Howe, edited by Jeannette Leonard Gilder and Joseph Benson Gilder, Seasons:


yonside

(UK, dialect, obsolete) On the other side of.


in exchange for

In return for (something or someone else).


in the region of

17 September 1980, Geoffrey Howe, Letter regarding Welsh Language TV
If we had to deduct the full net cost of the Welsh language service from the levy on the ITV companies, this would be an unwelcome addition to the PSBR, which I understand your officials put at somewhere in the region of £10 million a year.

approximately equivalent to; around; close to (a determinate figure or vale)


> There is always something meaner than you around. That rule goes for everything, even the Horrors.
Yep, but I'm pretty mean myself ( esp. be4 my 1st cup of coffee in the mornin' ;)

1997 April 8, Jim Stevenson's reader, “Nanotech for SR?”, in rec.games.frp.cyber (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-14:

right on mofo, i always tolk a littl e be4 my games!

2000 September 27, Umojan, “Drugs and CS”, in alt.games.half-life.counterstrike (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-14:

uniing at 10, cool. 1 day be4 my 11th birthday (April) I got my first unicycle and i was I loved it. for 6 months in intervals i stopped and it would just be laying around the house but now that i know about everything about unicyclig like diffrent stles of riding and diffrent unis, and i got a KH trials im hooked again and i reckon ill be uniing for the rest of my life!

2008 May 6, Unisykolist, “Unicycle football”, in rec.sport.unicycling (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-14:

(Internet slang, leetspeak) Abbreviation of before.


when it came to

When it came to the more successful contestants, meanwhile, edits of the shows also began to fall heavily on sad backstories – the "sob story", if you will – instilling the idea that singers had to mine trauma from their lives to up the emotional ante, making them seem to be more "worthy" winners.

2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC:

when it comes to
when it comes to#English

Alternative form of when it comes to (used for things in the past)


wͭ

The kynge axed upon a daye counſeyll of the quene what was beſt to do wͭ the ſones yͭ were Edmonde Irenſydes. Syr ſayd ſhe.they ben the ryght heyres of the londe / ⁊ yf they lyue they wyll do moche ſorowe wͭ warre / ⁊ therfore lete ſende them in to a ſtrange londe a ferre to ſome man that may them defoyle ⁊ deſtroy.

[1502], Chronycle of Englonde, [London]: [Wynkyn de Worde], →OCLC:

And as euery one is indued of God wͭ greater giftes, ſo ought he to be herein chefely heard, or at leaſt yͭ without yͤ expreſſe worde none be heard: for he yͭ hathe not yͤ worde ſpeaketh not by yͤ mouth of yͤ Lord.

1569, “Epistle to the Moste Vertuous and Noble Quene Elisabet, Quene of England, France, and Ireland, &c. […]”, in The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […], 2nd edition, Geneva: […] Iohn Crispin:

[folio B2, verso] They are very pitiful and charitable towardes their neighbours, they make great lamentations in their aduerſitie ⁊ in their miſerie, the kinred recken vp all their felicitie, at their departure out of life, they vſe mourning mixt wͭ ſinging, wͨ continueth for a lõg ſpace. […] [folio D2, recto] He ſaith that it is a very great countrey and as it were a newe world, the people very rude and voyde of all goodneſſe, they goe all naked ſo that they are miſerablie vexed with colde, neyther haue they the wit to couer their bodies wͭ beaſts ſkins, wͨ they take in huntinge, they haue no kind of metal, they liue by hũting, they carie certaine lances of wood, made ſharp at yͤ point, they haue bowes, the ſtringes whereof are made of beaſtes ſkinnes:[…]

1582, Iohn Verarzanus [i.e., Giovanni da Verrazzano], and Nicolas [i.e., Nicolò] Zeno; Antonio Zeno, “To the Most Christian King of Fraunce, Fraunces the First. The Relation of Iohn Verarzanus a Florentine, of the Lande by Him Discouered in the Name of His Maiestie, Written in Diepe the Eight of Iuly 1524” and “The Discourse of the Isles of Frisland, Iseland, Engroueland, Estotiland, Drogeo and Icaria, Made by M. Nicolas Zeno, Knight, and M. Antonio His Brother”, in R[ichard] H[akluyt], compiler, Divers Voyages Touching the Discouerie of America, and the Ilands adiacent vnto the Same, […], London: […] [Thomas Dawson] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC:

And yͭ it were beſt, yͤ ſober perſons ſhuld thus queſtiõ wͭ him, on ſom holiday before diner, or in yͤ night ſeaſõ, as is commõly accuſtomed.

1596, “The Papists doctrine touching the soules of dead men, and the appearing of them”, in R[obert] H[arrison], transl., Of Ghostes and Spirites, VValking by Night, and of straunge Noyses, Crackes, and sundrie forewarnings, which commonly happen before the death of men: Great slaughters, and alterations of Kingdomes. One Booke., London: […] Thomas Creede, translation of [De spectris, lemuribus et magnis atque insolitis fragoribus] by Lewes Lauaterus [i.e., Ludwig Lavater], pages 107–108:

And all the people of the land reioyced, and the city was quiet, after that they had ſlaine Athaliah wͭ the ſword.
2 Maccabees 8:32, column 1 :
They ſlew alſo Philarches that wicked persõ who was wͭ Timotheus, ⁊ had annoied the Jewes many waies.


from off of

From from off + of and/or from + off of, equivalent to from + off + of.

“That's right,” answered Veronica, lightly brushing a few remaining crumbs from off of her tangerine brocade morning coat.

2001, Bonnie M Gulan, A Collection of Nodding Off Stories, page 30:

Janna picked up the remote control from off of the table, turned the TV on, and started flipping through the channels.

2012, Amard Efil, Dark Shadows from Within:

He frowns then wipes the sweat from off of his face.

2013, Donald O. Kelly, From the Mind of a Lunatic, page 131:


in memory of

Honoring and reminding people of someone who has died.


in the neighborhood of

in the neighbourhood of
in the neighbourhood of#English

Alternative spelling of in the neighbourhood of.


in the neighbourhood of

[…]we understand on reliable authority that on one occasion the journey was made in approximately 43 min., and this must have included maximum speeds in the neighbourhood of 90 m.p.h.

1941 August, “The Why and the Wherefore: London-Brighton Records”, in Railway Magazine, page 383:


despite of

(archaic or nonstandard) in spite of; despite


in despite of

From Middle English in despijt of, in despit of, in despytt of, in dispite of, in dispit of, in dispyt of.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, despite, of.


gotta be back b4 joey gets here[…]let’s get 2gether again b4 julian comes, ok?

2004, Ellen Wittlinger, Heart on My Sleeve, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, pages 77 and 167:

Was in Orphas room 2nite readin her diary again. 4got sum of it from b4.

2004, Paul Howard, PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids, The O’Brien Press, published 2012, →ISBN:

imagine if i die b4 i figure it out!

2009, Tara Chace, transl., Are U 4 Real?, Dial Books, translation of original by Sara Kadefors, →ISBN:

Hope 2 run into u 2day b4 I talk 2 Callie.

2010, Jessica Burkhart, Elite Ambition, Aladdin M!X, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, →ISBN:

All drinks £2.50 b4 11pm.

2011, Geraldine Bloustien, Margaret Peters, Youth, Music and Creative Cultures: Playing for Life, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 215:

it also seems a lil hippo-criticl gvn youv been ritin a blog abt her and yer life as a gr8t artst & a muther snc b4 she wuz born.[…]i wuz just reedn wut i rote 2 u b4.[…]thar was 1 lil grrl w/curli brown hair like mine b4 i got it str8nd at sefora.[…]moms used to babysit wen she wuz my age but that wuz a long time ago b4 9-11[…]hes gonna cum in just 3 hours b4 moms gets up & im gonna meet him down the street so that she duznt heer his car.

2014, Elisabeth Sheffield, Helen Keller Really Lived, The University of Alabama Press, →ISBN, pages 203–209:

Yesterday. No, day b4.

2018, Douglas Rees, Elektra’s Adventures in Tragedy, Running Press Teens, Perseus Books:

wen they r evacuating b4 the 14th

2019, Brett Wirebaugh, Half-Tail Rising, Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 141:

Alternative letter-case form of B4 (“before”)


in the pay of

(derogatory) Employed by (someone), often secretly.

palkkalistoilla (of -> preceded by genitive)


of a mind

I am not of a mind with him.

He and I are not of a mind on the matter.

If you're of a mind, the work can be observed while quaffing a pint in the Rat Race pub in the old station buildings on the existing platform.

2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 74:

So inclined (to do something), in the mood.


f'r

The minute we’d tetch off a blast ’n’ the fuse’d begin to sizzle, he’d give a look as much as to say: ‘Well, I’ll have to git you to excuse me,’ an’ it was surpris’n’ the way he’d shin out of that hole ’n’ go f’r a tree.

1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 442:

If ye bring ye’er wife f’r to see th’ game, an’ she has her name in th’ paper, that counts ye wan.

1898, F[inley] P[eter] D[unne], “On Golf”, in Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War, Boston, Mass.: Small, Maynard & Company, section “Mr. Dooley in Peace”, page 251:

I was up to th’ hospital f’r weeks an’ weeks an’ weeks, an’ I was there on a bed, an’ by me on ’nother bed was a big man who had been blew up by a ’splosion somewhere.

1905 September, “The Crutch”, in Book of the Royal Blue, volume VIII, number 12, Baltimore, Md., page 24, column 2:


alongsides

From alongside + -s (adverbial suffix), probably on the model of besides.

Ay, ay, this is all very well, in the animal way, though it makes but a poor figure alongsides of scalps and and-bushes.

1841, J[ames] Fenimore Cooper, chapter I, in The Deerslayer: A Tale. […], 1st British edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 12:

What is a simple master-mariner at best alongsides a parson with a persuasive voice?.

1907, Frank Frankfort Moore, chapter XXIV, in The Love that Prevailed, New York: Empire Book Company, page 299:

Alongsides his hired labour work on the sugar cane farms, Ambo learned carpentry skills from his uncle through an apprenticeship.

2000, Yujiro Hayami, Masao Kikuchi, “Population Growth and the Evolution of Households”, in A Rice Village Saga: Three Decades of Green Revolution in the Philippines, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd., page 70:


depending on

Conditioned upon; to a varying extent or degree based on.


on the count of

Now listen here children, on the count of ten I want everyone to sit down in a circle and hold hands.


mitout

Late 18th century; earliest use found in the works of English writer Thomas Holcroft (1745–1809). Alteration of without, after German mit (“with”).

This is for you: 340 lines of so-called resolution, suitable for recording your sister's second wedding, local community board meetings, or porn mitout plot.

2022, Thomas Schnauz, “Plan and Execution” (8:35 from the start), in Better Call Saul, season 6, episode 7, spoken by Joey Dixon (Josh Fadem):


by reason of

If this was unrestricted freehold, the land is available for sale or lease, although often it is not readily marketable, by reason of its shape and access; neighbouring landowners are possible purchasers. In some cases, reversionary rights were reserved to neighbouring landowners when the land was acquired.

1951 June, “The Why and the Wherefore: Abandoned Branch Lands”, in Railway Magazine, page 428:

By virtue of; resulting from; because of.


at the door of

The endorsement by the three Democrats is a victory for Senator John L. Sampson of Brooklyn, the minority leader, who spent months coaxing a consensus out of his often-fractious conference. / “We are at the door of marriage equality,” Mr. Sampson said.

2011 June 13, Nicholas Confessore, Michael Barbaro, “Once Against Gay Marriage, 4 Senators Say They Will Back It”, in The New York Times:

Ahead of crucial games against Watford and Chelsea, Tottenham are at the door of the top four, and in Eriksen, they possess one of the Premier League’s finest locksmiths.

2016 December 30, Jonathan Liew, “Christian Eriksen interview: 'If you are smart enough, you don’t need to run'”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(idiomatic) Very near to; such that something is imminent.


north of

We have a programme where north of half a billion pounds has been wasted, and has already gone through three programme directors before yourself, and five senior responsible owners.

2011, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts, The failure of the FiReControl project: fiftieth report of session 2010-12, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 10:

The holo display leapt up, shaping itself this time into the form of an asari seated at a desk. A little on the stocky side, deeper blue skin than most, average ageless beauty, although Cora knew she was somewhere north of six hundred years old.

2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 5, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 98:

Population 39,693 (just north of 115,000 today), Cheltenham has been overtaken by Gloucester in terms of headcount.

2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:

(idiomatic) more, higher or greater than


uplong

Uplong the slipp'ry Masts the Yards ascend, / And stretch'd abroad the Canvass wings extend.

1762, William Falconer, From the Shipwreck:

Well, I did belong to keep a piece of soap, but six weeks back the woman uplong the next farm, 'er sent down and borrowed it.

1963, Reginald Harrison Smythe, Healers on Horseback, page 107:

Located in a direction considered up, such as toward a central place or up the road.


incl

The pronoun we (incl) is different from the pronoun we (excl).


equally as

It's important to trust our feeling, and it's equally as important to gather the facts.

Herbs and spices can be equally as essential for a healthy diet.

as; just as; just as much as; to the same degree


in token of

Therefore be it knowne, / As to vs, to all the World, That Caius Martius / Weares this Warres Garland: in token of the which, / My Noble Steed, knowne to the Campe, I giue him, With all his trim belonging; […]

c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ix], page 7, column 2:

Let euery one of vs speake a sentence: hee that shall ouercome, & whose sentence shall seeme wiser then the others, vnto him shall the king Darius giue great gifts, and great things in token of victory:

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Esdras 3:5:

(idiomatic) As an indication of; in a show of.


as with

A French fashion is now busy investing the large body of French gentlemen with Chatelaines. These do not hang, as with English ladies, from the waist, but from the waistcoat pocket. They are generally attached to the watch—or, supposing the gentleman has no such useful appendage for killing time, then they are fastened to the waistcoat-button, and allowed to dangle gracefully therefrom.

1847, “Chatelaines for Gentlemen”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume XVI (New Library Series), number 405, London: Punch Office, […], and Bradbury, Evans, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 153, column 1:

In another minute there was no letter; but, as with every other relationship in my life, an eschar of ashes.

Just as with the Olympic Games, Paralympian ones continue to change.

2018, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15:


'fore

Heard shots and dropped, son, caught a hot one
Somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come

1996, Nas (lyrics and music), “The Message”, in It Was Written:

I got defensive and said, "Nah, I was the same without it"
But then I thought back, back to a better me
Before I was a B-list celebrity
'Fore I started callin' bitches "bitches" so heavily

2014, J. Cole (lyrics and music), “No Role Modelz”, in 2014 Forest Hills Drive:

(chiefly African-American Vernacular) Aphetic form of before.


down route

The aircraft was scheduled to operate a freighter flight from London Heathrow Airport to Frankfurt Airport. The aircraft was planned to be operated by two pilots accompanied by an Overseas Engineer (OSE) to provide technical support down route. The pilots arrived at the operator’s Crew Reporting Centre at approximately 0520 hrs and collected the flight briefing pack. The pilots met the OSE prior to briefing but he had some engineering matters to attend to, so did not attend the flight crew briefing.

2022 November 3, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, “History of the flight”, in AAIB investigation to Boeing 787-8, G-ZBJB, archived from the original on 2023-11-19, page 2:


upon the strength of

on the strength of
on the strength of#English


on the edge of

Very near, imminently approaching; ready to, about to.


thruff

Reflecting a dialectal pronunciation where the sound of (/x/) in English thurgh altered to /f/, as in standard English rough, tough, etc.

Nobbut a bit on it's left, an' I meän'd to 'a stubb'd it at fall, / Done it ta-year I meän'd, an' runn'd plow thruff it an' all, […]

1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Northern Farmer”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 133:

[…] voices o' deed folks, an' hands wi'outen airms, that came i' tha darklins, moanin' an' cryin an' beckonin' all night thruff; […]

1891 June, “Legends of the Cars”, in Folk-lore: A Quarterly Review, volume II, number II, London: David Nutt, page 150:

He pointed to a stone at our feet which had been laid down as a slab, on which the seat was rested, close to the edge of the cliff. "Read the lies on that thruff-stean," he said.

1897, Bram Stoker, “Mina Murray’s Journal”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter VI, pages 73–74:

(UK, dialectal, dated) Pronunciation spelling of through.


not for

He is not for resuscitation.

After discussion with her family, she was deemed not for ICU admission.

(medicine, UK, Australia, New Zealand) Not to be subjected to (a procedure); indicates that the patient, or relevant carers or next of kin, have specifically requested that the procedure not be carried out.


frowards

[…] and their Motion having acquir'd its utmost Celerity by their Descent cannot stop in their Congress, but must proceed to remount one joint Undulation, at least to an equal Height with those Two which rais'd it frowards the Poles; as being the Counterpoise of their Libration.

1715, Edward Barlow, Meteorological Essays, page 23:

[…] a pilgrim who goeth towards or frowards the House of St. James.

1886, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Translations. Prose - notices of fine art, page 93:

(obsolete) Alternative form of froward (“away from”)


in something's favor

Synonym of in favor of (“out of preference for”)