[demand] See: IN DEMAND.

[Dennis the Menace]{n. phr.} After the notorious television characterplayed by a young boy who always creates trouble for the grownups. Anyhyperactive little boy who needs calming down. •/"Your son, Joey, is becominga regular Dennis the Menace," Jane said to Elvira./

[dent] See: MAKE A DENT IN.

[deposit] See: ON DEPOSIT.

[depth] See: BEYOND ONE’S DEPTH.

[desk clerk] See: ROOM CLERK.

[detective] See: HOUSE DETECTIVE.

[devil] See: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, FULL OF THE OLD NICKor FULL OF THE DEVIL, GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUE, GO TO THE DEVIL, PLAY THE DEVILWITH, RAISE THE DEVIL, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL AND HE APPEARS.

[devil-may-care]{adj.} Not caring what happens; unworried. •/Johnnyhas a devil-may-care feeling about his school work./ •/Alfred was adevil-may-care youth but became more serious as he grew older./

[devil-may-care attitude]{n. phr.} An attitude of no concern forfinancial or other loss. •/"Easy come, easy go," John said in adevil-may-care attitude when he lost all of his money during a poker game./

[devil of it] or [heck of it] {n. phr.} 1. The worst or mostunlucky thing about a trouble or accident; the part that is most regrettable.•/Andy lost his notebook, and the devil of it was that the notebook containedall his homework for the coming week./ •/When I had a flat tire, the devilof it was that my spare tire was flat too./ 2. Fun from doing mischief. — Used after "for". •/The boys carried away Miss White’s front gate just forthe devil of it./

[devil to pay]{n. phr.} Great trouble. — Used after "the".•/There’ll be the devil to pay when the teacher finds out who broke thewindow./ •/When Jim wrecked his father’s car, there was the devil topay./

[dewey-eyed] See: MISTY-EYED.

[diamond in the rough]{n. phr.} A very smart person without a formaleducation who may have untutored manners. •/Jack never went to school but heis extremely talented; he is a veritable diamond in the rough./

[dibs] See: TO HAVE DIBS ON or TO PUT DIBS ON.

[dice] See: NO DEAL or NO DICE.

[Dick] See: TOM, DICK AND HARRY.

[die] See: CROSS ONE’S HEART or CROSS ONE’S HEART AND HOPE TO DIE,DO-OR-DIE, NEVER SAY DIE.

[die away] or [die down] {v.} To come slowly to an end; grow slowlyless or weaker. •/The wind died down./ •/The music died away./ •/Hewaited until the excitement had died down./ •/His mother’s anger diedaway./

[die in one’s boots] or [die with one’s boots on] {v. phr.},{informal} To be killed or hanged rather than die in bed. •/The badmen ofthe Old West usually died in their boots./ •/The robber said he wanted todie with his boots on./

[die is cast]{v. phr.}, {literary} To make an irrevocabledecision. (From Julius Caesar’s famous words in Latin, "alea iacta est", whenhe crossed the river Rubicon, which meant war.) •/Everything was ready forthe invasion of Europe, the die had been cast, and there was no turning backnow./

[die off]{v.} To die one at a time. •/The flowers are dying offbecause there has been no rain./

[die on the vine] or [wither on the vine] {v. phr.} To fail orcollapse in the planning stages. •/The program for rebuilding the city diedon the vine./

[die out]{v.} To die or disappear slowly until all gone. •/This kindof bird is dying out./ •/If you pour salt water on grass, it dies out./•/The American colonists started colleges so that learning would not dieout./

[difference] See: MAKE A DIFFERENCE, SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE.

[different] See: SING A DIFFERENT TUNE or WHISTLE A DIFFERENT TUNE.

[dig down]{v.}, {slang} To spend your own money. •/The schoollet the club use the bus and driver free for their trip, but they had to digdown to pay for gas and meals./ •/"So you broke Mrs. Brown’s window?" Tom’sfather said, "You’ll have to dig down and pay for it,"/

[dig in]{v.}, {informal} 1. To dig ditches for protection againstan enemy attack. •/The soldiers dug in and waited for the enemy to come./2a. To go seriously to work; work hard. •/John dug in and finished hishomework very quickly./ 2b. To begin eating. •/Mother set the food on thetable and told the children to dig in./

[dig out]{v.} 1. To find by searching; bring out (something) that wasput away. •/Jack dug his sled out of the cellar./ •/The newspaper printedan old story dug out of their records./ Compare: DIG UP. 2. {informal} Toescape. — Usually used with "of". Often used in the phrase "dig oneself out ofa hole." •/The pitcher dug himself out of a hole by striking the batterout./

[dig up]{v.}, {informal} To find or get (something) with someeffort. •/Sue dug up some useful material for her English composition./•/Jim asked each boy to dig up twenty-five cents to pay for the hot dogs andsoda./ Compare: DIG OUT.

[dilemma] See: HORNS OF A DILEMMA.

[dim] See: TAKE A DIM VIEW OF.

[dime a dozen]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Easy to get and so of littlevalue; being an everyday thing because there are many of them; common. •/Mr.Jones gives A’s to only one or two students, but in Mr. Smith’s class, A’s area dime a dozen./

[dime store] or [five-and-dime] or [five-and-ten] {n. phr.} Astore that sells things that cost little. •/Charles bought a pencil at thefive-and-dime./

[dine out]{v. phr.} To not eat at home but to go to a restaurant.•/"Let’s dine out tonight, honey," she said to her husband. "I am tired ofcooking dinner every night."/ See: EAT OUT.

[dint] See: BY DINT OF.

[dip into]{v. phr.} 1. To scan or sample lightly and briefly (said ofprinted materials). •/I didn’t get a chance to read all of War and Peace, butI dipped into it here and there./ 2. To take money out of a savings accountor a piggy bank. •/I am sorry to have to say that I had to dip into the piggybank; I took out $6.75./

[dirt] See: EAT DIRT, HIT THE DIRT, PAY DIRT.

[dirt cheap]{adj.} Extremely inexpensive. •/The apartment we arerenting is dirt cheap compared to other apartments of similar size in thisneighborhood./

[dirty] See: AIR ONE’S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC or WASH ONE’S DIRTY LINEN INPUBLIC.

[dirty look]{n.}, {informal} A look that shows dislike. •/MissParker sent Joe to the principal’s office for giving her a dirty look./

[dirty old man]{n. phr.} An older man who shows an unhealthy interestin young girls. •/"Stay away from Uncle Algernon, Sally," her mother warned."He is a dirty old man."/

[dirty one’s hands] or [soil one’s hands] {v. phr.} To lower orhurt one’s character or good name; do a bad or shameful thing. •/The teacherwarned the children not to dirty their hands by cheating in the examination./•/I would not soil my hands by going with bad people and doing bad things./

[dirty story]{n. phr.} An improper or obscene story. •/Uncle Bill ismuch too fond of telling dirty stories in order to embarrass his friends./

[dirty trick]{n. phr.} A treacherous action; an unfair act. •/Thatwas a dirty trick John played on Mary when he ran away with her youngersister./