[disappear] or [evaporate] or [vanish into thin air] {v. phr.}To disappear quickly, without leaving a trace. •/Money seems to disappearinto thin air these days./ •/Jack just vanished into thin air before themeeting had started./

[discretion] See: THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS also THROW DISCRETION TO THEWINDS.

[discretion is the better part of valor]{literary} When you are indanger or trouble, good sense helps more than foolish risks; it is better to becareful than to be foolishly brave. — A proverb. •/When you are facing a manwith a knife, discretion is the better part of valor./

[dish] See: COVERED-DISH SUPPER.

[dish of tea] See: CUP OF TEA.

[dish out]{v.} 1. To serve (food) from a large bowl or plate.•/Ann’s mother asked her to dish out the beans./ 2. {informal} To givein large quantities. •/That teacher dished out so much homework that herpupils complained to their parents./ 3. {slang} To scold; treat orcriticize roughly. •/Jim likes to dish it out, but he hates to take it./Compare: HAND OUT.

[dish the dirt]{v. phr.}, {slang} To gossip, to spread rumorsabout others. •/Stop dishing the dirt. Sally, it’s really quiteunbecoming!/

[disk jockey]{n.} An employee at a radio station or in a dance clubwho puts on the records that will be broadcast. •/Jack is working as a diskjockey at the local FM station./

[dispose of]{v.} 1. To throw away; give away, or sell; get rid of.•/John’s father wants to dispose of their old house and buy a new one./•/The burglars had difficulty in disposing of the stolen jewelry./ 2. Tofinish. with; settle; complete. •/The boys were hungry, and quickly disposedof their dinner./ •/The committee soon disposed of all its business./ 3.To destroy or defeat. •/The champion disposed of the other fighter byknocking him out in the second round./ •/Our planes disposed of two enemyplanes./

[dispute] See: IN DISPUTE.

[distance] See: KEEP AT A DISTANCE, KEEP ONE’S DISTANCE.

[ditch] See: LAST DITCH,

[dive] See: GO INTO A TAIL SPIN or GO INTO A NOSE DIVE.

[do] See: HAVE DONE, HAVE DONE WITH, HAVE TO DO WITH, LET GEORGE DO IT, LETONE’S RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT ONE’S LEFT HAND IS DOING, LET’S DON’T, MAKE DO,WELL-TO-DO, WHAT’S UP or WHAT’S DOING.

[do a double take]{v. phr.}, {informal} To look again in surprise;suddenly understand what is seen or said. •/John did a double take when hesaw Bill in girls' clothes./ •/When Evvie said she was quitting school, Idid a double take./

[do a job on]{v. phr.}, {slang} To damage badly; do harm to; makeugly or useless. •/The baby did a job on Mary’s book./ •/Jane cut herhair and really did a job on herself./

[Doakes] See: JOE DOAKES.

[do a stretch]{v. phr.} To spend time in jail serving one’s sentence.•/Jake has disappeared from view for a while; he is doing a stretch for dopesmuggling./

[do away with]{v.} 1. To put an end to; stop. •/The teachers want todo away with cheating in their school./ •/The city has decided to do awaywith overhead wires./ Compare: RID OF. 2. To kill; murder. •/The robbersdid away with their victims./

[do by someone or something]{v.} To deal with; treat. — Used with aqualifying adverb between "do" and "by". •/Andy’s employer always does verywell by him./

[do credit] or [do credit to] also ({informal}) [do proud] Toadd to or improve the reputation, good name, honor, or esteem of; show (you)deserve praise. •/Your neat appearance does you credit./ •/Mary’spainting would do credit to a real artist./

[doctor] See: JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED.

[doctor up]{v. phr.} To meddle with; adulterate. •/You don’t have todoctor up this basic salad with a lot of extras as I am trying to loseweight./

[do duty for]{v. phr.} To substitute for; act in place of. •/Thebench often does duty for a table./

[Doe] See: JOHN DOE.

[doesn’t add up to a can of beans]{v. phr.} To be of little or novalue. (Said of plans, ideas, etc.) •/"That’s a fairly interesting conceptyou got there, Mike, but the competition is bound to say that it doesn’t add upto a can of beans."/

[do for]{v.}, {informal} To cause the death or ruin of; cause tofail. — Used usually in the passive form "done for". •/The poor fellow isdone for and will die before morning./ •/Andy’s employer always does verywell by him./ •/If Jim fails that test, he is done for./

[dog] See: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, GO TO THE DOGS, HOT DOG, LEAD A DOG’SLIFE, LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE, RAIN CATS AND DOGS.

[dog days]{n. phr.} The hottest days of the year in the NorthernHemisphere (July and August). (The ancient Romans associated this time with the"Dog Star" — Sirius — which becomes visible in the heavens at this time ofyear.) •/"The dog days are upon us," John said. "It’s time to go swimming inthe lake."/

[dog-eat-dog(1)]{n.} A way of living in which every person tries toget what he wants for himself no matter how badly or cruelly he must treatothers to get it; readiness to do anything to get what you want. •/In someearly frontier towns it was dog-eat-dog./

[dog-eat-dog(2)]{adj.} Ready or willing to fight and hurt others toget what you want. •/During the California gold rush, men had a dog-eat-doglife./

[doghouse] See: IN THE DOGHOUSE.

[dog in the manger]{n. phr.} A person who is unwilling to let anotheruse what he himself has no use for. •/Although Valerie lives alone in thatbig house, she is like a dog in the manger when it comes to letting someonesharing it with her./

[dog one’s steps]{v. phr.} To follow someone closely. •/All the timehe was in Havana, Castro’s police were dogging his steps./

[dog’s age] or [coon’s age] {n.}, {informal} A very long time.Usually used after "for" or "in" with a negative. •/Charlie Brown! I haven’tseen you for a coon’s age./ •/Father hasn’t had a night out with the boysin a dog’s age./ •/I waited for him for a dog’s age, but he didn’t come./Syn.: MONTH OF SUNDAYS.

[dog’s life]{n. phr.} A life of misery, poverty, and unhappiness.•/Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, lived a dog’s life inside an emptybarrel./

[do in]{v.}, {slang} 1. To ruin; destroy. •/Mr. Smith’s businesswas done in by a fire that burned down his store./ 2a. To kill; murder.•/The poor man was done in by two gangsters who ran away after the crime./2b. To make tired; exhaust. •/The boys were done in after their long hike./Syn.: WEAR OUT(2). 3. To cheat; swindle. •/Mr. Jones was done in by two menwho claimed to be collecting money for orphans and widows./

[doing] See: NOTHING DOING.

[do justice to]{v. phr.} 1. To do (something) as well as you should;do properly. •/Barbara had so many things to do that she could not do justiceto her lessons./ •/The newspaper man did not do justice to the story./ 2.To eat or drink with enthusiasm or enjoyment. •/The boy did justice to themeal./

[dole out]{v. phr.} To measure out sparingly. •/Since the waterration was running low in the desert, the camp commandant doled out small cupsof water to each soldier./