[take up arms] <v. phr.>, <literary>. To get ready to fight; fight or make war. * /The people were quick to take up arms to defend their freedom./ * /The President called on people to take up arms against poverty./ Contrast: LAY DOWN ONE'S ARMS.

[take upon oneself] See: TAKE ON ONESELF.

[take up the cudgels for] <v. phr.>, <literary> To come to the defense of; to support or fight for. * /He was the first to take up the cudgels for his friend./ Compare: STAND UP FOR.

[take up with] <v.> To begin to go around with (someone); see a lot of. * /Frank has taken up with Lucy lately./

[take with a grain of salt] also [take with a pinch of salt] <v. phr.> To accept or believe only in part; not accept too much. * /A man who says he is not a candidate for President should usually have his statement taken with a grain of salt./ * /We took Uncle George's stories of the war with a pinch of salt./

[taking pictures] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> To use a radar-operated speed indicator in order to enforce the 55 MPH speed limit. * /The Smokeys are taking pictures!/

[tale] See: TELL TALES OUT OF SCHOOL.

[talent scout] <n. phr.> A person employed by a large organization to seek out promising and gifted individuals. * /Gordon has been working as a talent scout for a television program./ Compare: HEAD HUNTING(2).

[talent show] <n.> An entertainment in which new entertainers try to win a prize. * /Mary won the talent show by her dancing./ * /The people liked Bill's singing in the talent show./

[talk] See: DOUBLE-TALK, PEP TALK, SALES TALK, SWEET TALK.

[talk a blue streak] <v. phr.>, <informal> To talk on and on, usually very fast. * /Sue is a nice girl but after one drink she talks a blue streak and won't stop./

[talk back] also [answer back] <v.> <informal> To answer rudely; reply in a disrespectful way; be fresh. * /When the teacher told the boy to sit down, he talked back to her and said she couldn't make him./ * /Mary talked back when her mother told her to stop watching television; she said, "I don't have to if I don't want to."/ * /Russell was going somewhere with some bad boys, when his father told him it was wrong, Russell answered him back, "Mind your own business."/

[talk big] <v.>, <informal> To talk boastfully; brag. * /He talks big about his pitching, but he hasn't won a game./

[talk down] <v.> 1. To make (someone) silent by talking louder or longer. * /Sue tried to give her ideas, but the other girls talked her down./ Compare: SHOUT DOWN(2). To use words or ideas that are too easy. * /The speaker talked down to the students, and they were bored./

[talking book] <n.> A book recorded by voice on phonograph records for blind people. * /Billy, who was blind, learned history from a talking book./

[talking point] <n.> Something good about a person or thing that can be talked about in selling it. * /The streamlined shape of the car was one of its talking points./ * /John tried to get Mary to date Bill. One of his talking points was that Bill was captain of the football team./

[talk in circles] <v. phr.> To waste time by saying words that don't mean very much. * /After three hours at the negotiating table, the parties decided to call it quits because they realized that they had been talking in circles./

[talk into] <v.> 1. To get (someone) to agree to; make (someone) decide on (doing something) by talking; persuade to. - Used with a verbal noun. * /Bob talked us into walking home with him./ Compare: TALK OVER(2). Contrast TALK OUT OF. 2. To cause to be in or to get into by talking. * /You talked us into this mess. Now get us out!/ * /Mr. Jones lost the customer in his store by arguing with him./ * /"You'll talk us into the poor house yet!" said Mrs. Jones./ Contrast: TALK OUT OF.

[talk of the town] <n. phr.> Something that has become so popular or prominent that everyone is discussing it. * /Even after three decades, Picasso's famous metal statue is still the talk of the town in Chicago./

[talk out] <v.> To talk all about and leave nothing out; discuss until everything is agreed on; settle. * /After their quarrel, Jill and John talked things out and reached full agreement./

[talk out of] <v.> 1. To persuade not to; make agree or decide not to. - Used with a verbal noun. * /Mary's mother talked her out of quitting school./ Contrast: TALK INTO. 2. To allow to go or get out by talking; let escape by talking. * /Johnny is good at talking his way out of trouble./ Contrast: TALK INTO.

[talk out of turn] See: SPEAK OUT OF TURN.

[talk over] <v.> 1. To talk together about; try to agree about or decide by talking; discuss. * /Tom talked his plan over with his father before he bought the car./ * /The boys settled their argument by talking it over./ 2. To persuade; make agree or willing; talk and change the mind of. * /Fred is trying to talk Bill over to our side./ Compare: TALK INTO.

[talk rot] <v. phr.> To say silly things; talk nonsense. * /He's talking rot when he says that our company is almost bankrupt./

[talk shop] <v. phr.>, <informal> To talk about things in your work or trade. * /Two chemists were talking shop, and I hardly understood a word they said./

[talk through one's hat] <v. phr.>, <informal> To say something without knowing or understanding the facts; talk foolishly or ignorantly. * /John said that the earth is nearer the sun in summer, but the teacher said he was talking through his hat./

[talk turkey] <v. phr.>, <informal> To talk about something in a really businesslike way; talk with the aim of getting things done. * /Charles said, "Now, let's talk turkey about the bus trip. The fact is, it will cost each student $1.50."/ * /The father always spoke gently to his son, but when the son broke the windshield of the car, the father talked turkey to him./

[talk up] <v.> 1. To speak in favor or support of. * /Let's talk up the game and get a big crowd./ 2. To speak plainly or clearly. * /The teacher asked the student to talk up./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. 3. <informal> To say what you want or think; say what someone may not like. * /Talk up if you want more pie./ * /George isn't afraid to talk up when he disagrees with the teacher./ Syn.: SPEAK UP. Compare: SPEAK OUT.

[tall order] See: LARGE ORDER.

[tall story] or [tale] <n. phr.> See: FISH STORY.

[tamper with] <v.> 1. To meddle with (something); handle ignorantly or foolishly. * /He tampered with the insides of his watch and ruined it./ 2. To secretly get someone to do or say wrong things, especially by giving him money, or by threatening to hurt him. * /A friend of the man being tried in court tampered with a witness./

[tank] See: THINK TANK.

[tan one's hide] <v. phr.>, <informal> To give a beating to; spank hard. * /Bob's father tanned his hide for staying out too late./

[tape] See: FRICTION TAPE, MASKING TAPE.

[taper down] <adj. phr.> To decrease; reduce. * /He has tapered down his drinking from three martinis to one beer a day./

[taper off] <v.> 1. To come to an end little by little; become smaller toward the end. * /The river tapers off here and becomes a brook./ 2. To stop a habit gradually; do something less and less often. * /Robert gave up smoking all at once instead of tapering off./ Contrast: COLD TURKEY.

[tar] See: BEAT THE --- OUT OF.

[tar and feather] <v.> To pour heated tar on and cover with feathers as a punishment. * /In the Old West bad men were sometimes tarred and feathered and driven out of town./

[task] See: TAKE TO TASK.

[taste] See: LEAVE A BAD TASTE IN ONE'S MOUTH.

[tat] See: TIT FOR TAT.

[tax trap] <n.>, <informal> Predicament in which taxpayers in middle-income brackets are required to pay steeply progressive rates of taxation as their earnings rise with inflation but their personal exemptions remain fixed, resulting in a loss of real disposable income. * /Everybody in my neighborhood has been caught in a tax trap./

[T-bone steak] <n.> A steak with a bone in it which looks like a "T". * /On Jim's birthday we had T-bone steak for supper./

[tea] See: CUP OF TEA also DISH OF TEA.

[teach a lesson] <v. phr.> To show that bad behavior can be harmful. * /When Johnny pulled Mary's hair, she taught him a lesson by breaking his toy boat./ * /The burns Tommy got from playing with matches taught him a lesson./

[teach the ropes] See: THE ROPES.

[team up with] <v. phr.> To join with; enter into companionship with. * /My brother prefers to do business by himself rather than to team up with anybody else./

[teapot] See: TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.

[tear around] <v. phr.> To be constantly on the go; dash around. * /No one can understand how she manages to tear around from one social event to another and yet be a good mother to her children./

[tear down] <v.> 1. To take all down in pieces; destroy. * /The workmen tore down the old house and built a new house in its place./ 2. To take to pieces or parts. * /The mechanics had to tear down the engine, and fix it, and put it together again./ 3. To say bad things about; criticize. * /"Why do you always tear people down? Why don't you try to say nice things about them?"/ * /Dorothy doesn't like Sandra, and at the class meeting she tore down every idea Sandra suggested./

[tear into] <v. phr.> To attack vigorously, physically or verbally. * /The anxious buyers tore into the wedding gowns on sale at the famous department store./ See: RIP INTO.

[tearjerker] <n.> A sentimental novel or movie that makes one cry. * /Love Story, both in its novel form and as a movie, was a famous tearjerker./

[tear oneself away] <v. phr.> To force oneself to leave; leave reluctantly. * /The beaches in Hawaii are so lovely that I had to tear myself away from them in order to get back to my job in Chicago./

[tear one's hair] <v. phr.> To show sorrow, anger, or defeat. * /Ben tore his hair when he saw the wrecked car./ * /The teacher tore his hair at the boy's stupid answer./ * /It was time to go to class, but Mary had not finished the report she had to give, and she began tearing her hair./

[tears] See: BORE TO TEARS, CROCODILE TEARS.

[tear up] <v.> 1. To dig a hole in; remove the surface of; remove from the surface. * /The city tore up the street to lay a new water pipe./ * /Mother tore up the carpeting in the living room and had a new rug put in./ 2. To tear into pieces. * /Mary tore up the old sheets and made costumes for the play out of the pieces./ * /John tore up his test paper so that his mother wouldn't see his low grade./

[tee off] <v.> 1. To hit the golf ball from a small wooden peg or tee to begin play for each hole. * /We got to the golf course just in time to see the champion tee off./ 2. <slang> To hit a ball, especially a baseball very hard or far. * /He teed off on the first pitch./ 3. <slang> To attack vigorously. * /The governor teed off on his opponent's speech./ 4. <slang> To make (someone) angry or disgusted. * /It teed me off when Billy stole my candy./ * /Joe was teed off because he had to wait so long./

[teeth] See: TOOTH.

[tee up] <v.> To set the golf ball on the tee in preparation for hitting it toward the green. * /Arnold Palmer teed the ball up for the final hole./

[telepathy] See: MENTAL TELEPATHY.

[tell] See: DO TELL, I'LL SAY or I TELL YOU, I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, I'M TELLING YOU, YOU'RE TELLING ME, YOU TELL 'EM.

[tell apart] <v. phr.> To see the difference between; know each of. * /The teacher could not tell the twins apart./

[tell a thing or two] <v. phr.>, <informal> To tell in plain or angry words; scold. * /When John complained about the hard work, his father told him a thing or two./ * /If Bert thinks he would like to join the army, I'll tell him a thing or two that will make him change his mind./ Compare: BAWL OUT, GIVE A PIECE OF ONE'S MIND, TELL OFF, THING OR TWO.

[tell it like it is] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <informal> To be honest, sincere; to tell the truth. * /Joe is the leader of our commune; he tells it like it is./

[tell it to the marines] or [tell it to Sweeney] <slang> I don't believe you; Stop trying to fool me. * /John said, "My father knows the President of the United States." Dick answered, "Tell it to the marines."/

[tell off] <v.> 1. To name or count one by one and give some special duty to; give a share to. * /Five boy scouts were told off to clean the camp./ 2. <informal> To speak to angrily or sharply; attack with words; scold. * /Mr. Black got angry and told off the boss./ * /Bobby kept pulling Sally's hair; finally she got angry and told him where to get off./ Syn.: TELL ONE WHERE TO GET OFF. Compare: GIVE A PIECE OF ONE'S MIND, LAY DOWN THE LAW, TELL A THING OR TWO.

[tell on] <v.> 1. To tire; wear out; make weak. * /The ten-mile hike told on Bill./ 2. <informal> To tell someone about another's wrong or naughty acts. - Used mainly by children. * /Andy hit a little girl and John told the teacher on Andy./ * /If you hit me, I'll tell Mother on you./

[tell tales out of school] <v. phr.> To tell something that is secret; tell others something that is not meant to be known. * /Don't tell Jane anything. She is always telling tales out of school./ Compare: LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG, SPILL THE BEANS.

[tell one where to get off] or [tell one where to head in] <v. phr.>, <informal> To talk angrily to; speak to or answer with rough language; scold. * /Bob told Ted to get out of his way. Ted told Bob where to get off./ * /Mary laughed at Barbara's hairdo. Barbara told Mary where to head in./ Compare: TELL A THING OR TWO, TELL OFF.

[tell time] <v. phr.> To read a clock or watch. * /Although Johnny is only three years old, he is already able to tell time./

[tell you what] See: I'LL TELL YOU WHAT.

[temper] See: GOD TEMPERS THE WIND TO THE SHORN LAMB, HOLD ONE'S TEMPER or KEEP ONE'S TEMPER, LOSE ONE'S TEMPER.

[temperature] See: RUN A TEMPERATURE.

[tempest in a teapot] <n. phr.> Great excitement about something not important. * /Bess tore her skirt a little and made a tempest in a teapot./

[tempt fate] or [tempt the fates] <v. phr.> To take a chance; run a risk; gamble. * /You're tempting fate every time you drive that old wreck of a car./

[ten] See: DIME STORE or FIVE-AND-TEN, COUNT TO TEN.

[ten-four?] <v. phr.>, <interrog.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> Do you understand? * /Is that a ten-four?/

[ten gallon hat] <n.>, <informal> A tall felt hat with a wide, rolled brim worn by men in the western part of the U.S. * /Men from the southwest usually wear ten gallon hats./

[ten roger] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> I acknowledge. * /That's a ten roger./

[ten to one] or [two to one] <adv.> or <adj. phr.>, <informal> Almost certainly, nearly sure to be true; very likely to happen. * /Ten to one it will rain tomorrow./ * /It is ten; to one that Bill will be late./

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