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| Of one accord | In agreement (Everyone is of one accord.) |
| Off base | 1. Inaccurate (I consider the reporter's comments to be off base.) 2. Not on a military base (Some soldiers prefer to live off base.) |
| Off (her) back | 1. From (someone's) body (I would give you the clothes off my back.) 2. Do not bother (someone) (Get off my back!) |
| Off (his) rocker | Crazy (You're off your rocker if you think I'll do that!) |
| Off the beam | Expression of certainty; (He) is crazy! |
| Off the hook | Not responsible (Sam is off the hook now.) |
| Off the rack | Taken from existing stock (Barbara buys clothes off the rack.) |
| Oh, brother | Mild expression of annoyance and surprise |
| Oh, dear | Mild expression of annoyance and surprise |
| Oh, me | Mild expression of annoyance and surprise |
| Oh me oh my | Mild expression of annoyance and surprise |
| OK; okay | That is correct |
| Old bat | An old, obnoxious woman (Stay away from that old bat!) |
| Old coot | Cantankerous old man (No one enjoys being around that old coot.) |
| Old fart | Old man [rude, but also is used jokingly with a close friend] (That old fart doesn't like children in his yard.) |
| Old goat | Cantankerous old man (We try to avoid meeting the old goat.) |
| Old hat | Familiar (That's old hat to us.) |
| Old salt | Seasoned sailor (I want to hire an old salt for my cargo ship.) |
| On a pedestal | To revere (In the past, men put women on a pedestal.) |
| On an upward keel | Positive direction (Things at work are going on an upward keel.) |
| On fire | 1. To burn (Local fire fighters could not save an old house that was on fire.) 2. Very excited (Everyone thought the guitarist was on fire last night.) |
| On last legs | Very tired (Mother was on her last legs.) |
| On (my) back | To criticize someone (Father was on Jim's back about bad grades.) |
| On own | Without anyone's assistance (Dan wants to live on his own.) |
| On pins and needles | To be excited (Jane is on pins and needles because Ralph is dating her.) |
| On the back burner | An issue of minor concern (Let us keep this on the back burner.) |
| On the ball | 1. Do something correctly (Natalie is always on the ball at work.) 2. Have current, comprehensive understanding (Joe is on the ball when it comes to procedures.) |
| On the blink | Broken; not functional (The stove in on the blink today.) |
| On the button | 1. On the chin (Dave hit Steve right on the button.) 2. To be alert (Keep your finger on the button.) |
| On the chin | To accept responsibility (You should just take it on the chin.) |
| On the fritz | Broken; not functional (Our refrigerator is on the fritz.) |
| On the go | Without stopping (We decided to eat on the go.) |
| On the job | To be attentive (Don't worry, I'm on the job.) |
| On the jump | Quickly (Get over here on the jump!) |
| On the level | Honest (You can trust him. He's on the level.) |
| On the lookout for | To search for (Be on the lookout for a better job.) |
| On the make | Attempt to move up (Jill doesn't love him. She's just on the make.) |
| On the nose | To be exact (That's $100 right on the nose.) |
| On the rocks | Ruined (Their marriage is on the rocks.) |
| On the ropes | To lose; desperate (My business is on the ropes.) |
| On the take | Accept bribes (I think our representative is on the take.) |
| On toes | To be alert (Bank guards should be on their toes.) |
| On top | To win (Max came out on top again.) |
| On top of | To be above (You can find a pen on top of that table.) |
| On top of it | To be in control (Don't worry. I'm on top of it now.) |
| On top of the world | To feel wonderful (William is on top of the world today.) |
| Once in a blue moon | Never (Bill will tell the truth once in a blue moon.) |
| Once-over | Quick examination (Troops gave the place a once-over before continuing on.) |
| One foot in | Almost (The old man has one foot in the grave.) |
| One for the books | Unusual (No, I don't think it's one for the books.) |
| One for the record | Unusual (Wow! That's one for the record.) |
| One for the road | A drink before departure (Joel said he needed one for the road.) |
| One-horse town | Small town (I've got to move away from this one-horse town!) |
| One-track mind | Concentrate on a single issue (Billy has a one-track mind--only baseball.) |
| Oops | Mild expression of surprise or embarrassment |
| Open shop | Business that does not accept workers from a labor union |
| Opportunity knocks | To have an opportunity to succeed |
| Out for | To seek (Emily is out for a fun experience.) |
| Out in the open | Fully revealed (Everything about the story is out in the open.) |
| Out of bread | No money (Can you help? I'm out of bread again.) |
| Out of commission | Cannot use (Our television set is out of commission.) |
| Out of it | Unconscious; unaware (Lucy seems out of it this morning.) |
| Out of luck | To be unfortunate (Jimmy is out of luck. The company stopped hiring people.) |
| Out of sight | 1. Expensive (The final cost is out of sight.) 2. Excellent (Your new car is out of sight.) |
| Out of stock | Do not have anymore (Too bad the item is out of stock now.) |
| Out of the pan and into the fire | Espression that means going from a small difficulty to one that is worse |
| Out of the way | Not on a direct route (Rachel enjoys visiting out of the way places.) |
| Out of the woods | Not in trouble (It's a relief; we're out of the woods now.) |
| Out of whack | Abnormal (Something is out of whack here.) |
| Out of (your) gourd | Crazy (Dave is out of his gourd.) |
| Outfox | To trick; be more clever (Luke is proud that he can outfox everyone.) |
| Outrider | An accomplice (The chief thug arrived with a few outriders.) |
| Outside chance | Unlikely; slight chance (Roger has an outside chance to pass the test.) |
| Outskirts | Area at the edge of a town (I'm building a new house on the outskirts.) |
| Over a barrel | To be compromised; have no choice (He's got us over a barrel.) |
| Over (her) | To forget about (something/someone) (Bob was over Suzie now.) |
| Over (my) dead body | To resist fully (Jim warned it can be taken only over his dead body.) |
| Over (my) head | Too difficult to understand (This computer program is over her head.) |
| Over the hill | Too old (Grandfather really is over the hill.) |
| Over the shoulder | To hover (I don't like anyone standing over my shoulder.) |
| Over the shoulder boulder holder | Brassiere (Bra) |
| Over yonder | Not far away (Ralph wanted to visit a friend over yonder.) |
| Overhear | To listen without intent (I was walking by and overheard the girls talking.) |
| Overload | Too much (Too many users can overload the electrical grid.) |
| Overshoot the mark | To miss (Danny overshot the mark with his recent proposal.) |
| Owie | A hurt [Child's term] (Come here Markie and let me fix your owie.) |
