Take a shellacking
Be soundly beaten or defeated, as in Our team took quite a shellacking last night. Why being coated with shellac should suggest defeat is not clear. [ ; c. 1930 ]
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- Take a shit
take a run at someone
- Take a spill
see: take a fall
- Take a stand
Adopt a firm position about an issue, as in She was more than willing to take a stand on abortion rights. This idiom alludes to the military sense of stand, “hold one’s ground against an enemy.” [ Mid-1800s ]
- Take at face value
see: at face value
- Take a turn for the better
Improve, as in We thought she was on her deathbed but now she’s taken a turn for the better. The antonym is take a turn for the worse, meaning “get worse, deteriorate,” as in Unemployment has been fairly low lately, but now the economy’s taken a turn for the worse. This idiom employs turn in […]