[corn belt]{n.} 1. The Midwest; the agricultural section of the UnitedStates where much corn is grown. •/Kansas is one of the slates that lieswithin the corn belt./

[corner] See: AROUND THE CORNER, CUT CORNERS, FOUR CORNERS, OUT OF THECORNER OF ONE’S EYE.

[cost a bomb] or [an arm and a leg] {v. phr.} To be extremelyexpensive. •/My new house has cost us an arm and a leg and we’re almostbroke./

[cotton] See: ON TOP OF THE WORLD also SITTING ON HIGH COTTON.

[cotton picking], [cotton-pickin']{adj.}, {slang},{colloquial} Worthless, crude, common, messy. •/Keep your cotton pickinghands off my flowers!/ •/You’ve got to clean up your room, son, this is acotton-pickin' mess!/

[couch case]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A person judgedemotionally so disturbed that people think he ought to see a psychiatrist (who,habitually, make their patients lie down on a couch). •/Joe’s divorce messedhim up so badly that he became a couch case./

[couch doctor]{n.}, {slang}, {colloquial} A psychoanalyst whoputs his patients on a couch following the practice established by SigmundFreud. •/I didn’t know your husband was a couch doctor, I thought he was agynecologist!/

[couch potato]{n.} A person who is addicted to watching television allday. •/Poor Ted has become such a couch potato that we can’t persuade him todo anything./

[cough up]{v.}, {slang} 1. To give (money) unwillingly; pay withan effort. •/Her husband coughed up the money for the party with a good dealof grumbling./ 2. To tell what was secret; make known. •/He coughed up thewhole story for the police./

[couldn’t care less]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be indifferent; notcare at all. •/The students couldn’t care less about the band; they talk allthrough the concert./ Also heard increasingly as "could care less"(nonstandard in this form.)

[counsel] See: KEEP ONE’S OWN COUNSEL.

[count] See: STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.

[countdown]{n.}. {Space English}, {informal} 1. A step-by-stepprocess which leads to the launching of a rocket. •/Countdown starts at 23:00hours tomorrow night and continues for 24 hours./ 2. Process of countinginversely during the acts leading to a launch; liftoff occurs at zero. 3. Thetime immediately preceding an important undertaking, borrowed from SpaceEnglish. •/We’re leaving for Hawaii tomorrow afternoon; this is countdowntime for us./

[counter] See: UNDER THE COUNTER.

[count heads] or [count noses] {v. phr.}, {informal} To countthe number of people in a group. •/On the class picnic, we counted headsbefore we left and when we arrived to be sure that no one got lost./ •/Theusher was told to look out into the audience and count noses./

[count off]{v.} 1. To count aloud from one end of a line of men to theother, each man counting in turn. •/The soldiers counted off from right toleft./ 2. To place into a separate group or groups by counting. •/The coachcounted off three boys to carry in the equipment./ •/Tom counted off enoughnewspapers for his route./

[count on]{v.} 1. To depend on; rely on; trust. •/The team wascounting on Joe to win the race./ •/I’ll do it; you know you can count onme./ •/The company was counting on Brown’s making the right decision./Syn.: BANK ON. 2. See: FIGURE ON(2).

[count one’s chickens before they’re hatched]{v. phr.}, {informal}To depend on getting a profit or gain before you have it; make plans thatsuppose something will happen; be too sure that something will happen. Usuallyused in negative sentences. •/When Jim said that he would be made captain ofthe team, John told him not to count his chickens before they were hatched./•/Maybe some of your customers won’t pay, and then where will you be? Don’tcount your chickens before they’re hatched./

[count out]{v.} 1. To leave (someone) out of a plan; not expect(someone) to share in an activity; exclude. •/"Will this party cost anything?If it does, count me out, because I’m broke."/ •/When the coach wasplanning who would play in the big game he counted Paul out, because Paul had ahurt leg./ 2. To count out loud to ten to show that (a boxer who has beenknocked down in a fight) is beaten or knocked out if he does not get up beforeten is counted. •/The champion was counted. out in the third round./ 3a. Toadd up; count again to be sure of the amount. •/Mary counted out the numberof pennies she had./ 3b. To count out loud, (especially the beats in ameasure of music). •/The music teacher counted out the beats"one-two-three-four," so the class would sing in time./

[count to ten]{v. phr.}, {informal} To count from one to ten soyou will have time to calm down or get control of yourself; put off action whenangry or excited so as not to do anything wrong. •/Father always told us tocount to ten before doing anything when we got angry./ Compare: KEEP ONE’SHEAD. Contrast: BLOW A FUSE, FLY OFF THE HANDLE.

[county mounty]{n.}, {slang}, {citizen’s hand radio jargon}Sheriff’s deputy. •/The county mounties are parked under the bridge./

[courage] See: HAVE THE COURAGE OF ONE’S CONVICTIONS, SCREW UP ONE’SCOURAGE.

[course] See: IN DUE COURSE, MATTER OF COURSE, OF COURSE, PAR FOR THECOURSE.

[court] See: DAY IN COURT, FRONT COURT, HOLD COURT, KANGAROO COURT.

[cousin] See: FIRST COUSIN, SECOND COUSIN.

[cover] See: FROM COVER TO COVER at FROM --- TO(3), UNDER COVER.

[cover a lot of ground]{v. phr.} To process a great deal ofinformation and various facts. •/Professor Brown’s thorough lecture onasteroids covered a lot of ground today./

[covered-dish supper] or [potluck supper] A meal to which each guestbrings a share of the food. •/Dolly made a chicken casserole for thecovered-dish supper./

[cover girl]{n.} A pretty girl or woman whose picture is put on thecover of a magazine. •/Ann is not a cover girl, but she is pretty enough tobe./

[cover ground] or [cover the ground] {v. phr.} 1. To go a distance;travel. •/Mr. Rogers likes to travel in planes, because they cover ground soquickly./ 2. {informal} To move over an area at a speed that is pleasing;move quickly over a lot of ground. •/The new infielder really covers theground at second base./ •/Herby’s new car really covers ground!/ 3. Togive or receive the important facts and details about a subject. •/If you’rethinking about a trip to Europe, the airline has a booklet that covers theground pretty well./ •/The class spent two days studying the RevolutionaryWar, because they couldn’t cover that much ground in one day./

[cover one’s tracks] or [cover up one’s tracks] {v. phr.} 1. Tohide and not leave anything, especially foot marks, to show where you havebeen, so that no one can follow you. •/The deer covered his tracks by runningin a stream./ 2. {informal} To hide or not say where you have been orwhat you have done; not tell why you do something or what you plan to do.•/The boys covered their tracks when they went swimming by saying that theywere going for a walk./ Compare: COVER UP(1).

[cover the waterfront]{v. phr.} To talk or write all about something;talk about something all possible ways. •/The principal pretty well coveredthe waterfront on student behavior./