• angel of death
• after taste
• anchor-hold
• addiction to litigation
• ablaze
• adrift
• airtight
• almost die laughing
• aerial dominance
• at opposite ends of the table

• bite off more than one can chew
• beat the drum
• built on the rock
• buy what someone is selling
• birthday
• bob-sox
• Balkan powder keg
• bobby-sox
• bend over backwards
• bark the moon

• carve ~ in stone
• cog in the wheel
• castle of cards
• countdown to the launch
• clean up someone's mess
• countdown to war
• carpet of snow
• completely in the dark
• clean fingers
• chameleon

• do the dirty work for
• dark shadow
• deliver a knockout blow
• derail
• drop the handkerchief to
• dead dog
• do someone's dirty work
• do someone's dirty work for him
• damp squib
• dagger pointed at the heart of

• ecosystem
• electronics lab
• excoriation
• early bloomer
• eat what one kills
• even keel
• ember
• elbow one's way into
• earthquake
• easy pill to swallow

• face of a company
• firestorm
• follow the beaten path
• freewheel
• fizzle out
• fire a warning shot at
• flip upside down
• fray
• find a way round
• force a stalemate

• go on autopilot
• get in the ring
• get into the hole
• gallant adventure
• go the way of
• green shoots
• go into a spin
• get a slice of the cake
• get into deep water
• go bail for

• hand ~ to someone on a silver platter
• home thrust
• hammer a nail in one's coffin
• have blood on one's hands
• have mush for brains
• have zero visibility
• hurdle
• have two strikes on one
• have eyes bigger than one's stomach
• hold all the aces

• in a bad light
• iron grip
• inscrutable
• in the court of public opinion
• in the wild
• ice
• in the same club
• increase the stakes
• insuperable barrier
• in deep water

• jigsaw
• jugular
• journey through school

• kick in the head
• knockout blow
• known quantity
• kiss the ground
• keep ~ afloat
• keep one's finger on the pulse
• kid's stuff
• keep the pedal to the metal
• keep one's powder dry
• keep pulse on

• lee gauge
• like a red rag to a bull
• look for four-leaf clovers
• late bloomer
• low-hanging fruit
• lockstep
• like a cat with a dish of cream
• long arm
• light years away from
• leave a sour aftertaste

• monarch
• mend a broken fence
• marrow
• miss a shot
• mother
• make bricks without straw
• make a big splash
• moneybag
• make the picture too dark
• milk out

• nimble-fingered
• narrow house
• nightingale
• nudge someone into
• new broom
• nuclear option
• nudge someone in the ribs
• not a get-out-of-jail-free card
• narrow bed

• overcome a roadblock
• one-trick pony
• open one's eyes
• off the scale
• owl
• opiate of the people
• on the fence
• opium of the masses
• ossification
• opiate of the masses

• public face of the government
• put one's nose into
• pale next to
• pull the trigger
• pat someone's back
• pivot
• pressure point
• patent minefield
• prickle
• pale in comparison with

• quarrel with one's bread and butter
• question mark

• rainy day
• reckless gamble
• rank and filer
• rough sledding
• reach for the stars
• red rag
• roadblock
• rap on the knuckles
• run into a bump in the road
• running fire

• storm cloud
• sea of confusion
• safety net
• small change
• stand clear from
• sail under false colors
• storm signal
• shackle
• slave to one's job
• stick in the mire

• take someone to another world
• tried in the court of public opinion
• turn of the tide
• trample one another
• toot one's own horn
• two-faced monster
• turbocharge
• try one's wings
• thrust one's way into
• throw up the reins to

• unbridgeable
• up a blind alley
• use the nuclear option
• upas
• unshackle
• unfiltered lens
• unwitting pawn

• vampirism
• voice of a company
• voice of the government
• voice of an organization
• Viking funeral
• veil of pessimism

• walking powder keg
• warrior
• with folded arms
• wire
• wear a belt and braces
• wellspring of wisdom
• white coat
• weight down
• walled garden
• wag one's tail