hit the bottle —(coll.) drink too much habitually or over a period of time: She seemed all right for a while but I’m afraid she’s hitting the bottle again. crack-brain • crackhead crack-brain —(coll.) a stupid person; a fool: Sometimes you are quite a crackbrain yourself. crackhead —(sl.) a user of “crack”—crystalline, smokable co- caine: They brought an eight-year-old crackhead in for treat- ment. crash about • crash about someone’s ears crash about—move about in a clumsy, noisy manner: Now, I don’t want any of you children crashing about upstairs while your father’s asleep. crash about someone’s ears—(of one’s dreams, ambitions, etc.) fail suddenly; collapse disastrously: All our plans crashed about our ears when the government changed the tax laws. crash barrier • crush barrier crash barrier —a barrier erected along the side of a road or between the two halves of a motorway to prevent accidents: The lorry hit the crash barrier and overturned. crush barrier —a (temporary) barrier for restraining a crowd: It was the day of the Ibrox Park disaster when 66 fans died leaving the ground when a crush barrier collapsed. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase crush bar—a place in a theater for audiences to buy drinks in the intervals: In the second interval he made his way to the crush bar . crash into something • crush into something crash into something —hit smth. with force, usually acciden- tally: Emergency services examine the scene where a car crashed into a power pole, killing the driver. crush into something—1. press into smth. so that there is breaking or injury: Many passengers were injured in the crash which left the front three carriages crushed into the rear of the train. 2. enter a building or enclosed space in a tightly packed mass: People crushed into the stadium whether they had tick- ets or not. crazy as a loon • crazy like a fox crazy as a loon—(coll.) very silly; insane: If you think you can get away with that, you’re as crazy as a loon . crazy like a fox—(coll.) very sly, cunning, or shrewd: Don’t let him fool you. He’s crazy like a fox . credit someone for something • credit someone with something credit someone for something—1. appreciate a person for some good quality: Even if you don’t agree with the member’s opin- ion, you must credit him for his loyalty. 2. pay tribute to a person responsible for an achievement: Thompson credited him [ Sullivan] for developing an essentially new theory in psy- chiatry. credit someone with something—1. regard a person as having some usually good quality: Both parties credited him with too much idealism and too little plain horse-sense. 2. ascribe an achievement to a person: Families credited Dean with sav- ing their family farms and livestock from illegal pollution. cross a check • cross-check cross a check—draw lines across a check so that it can only be paid into a bank account: I didn’t cross the check as I un- derstand that nowadays a check can only be cashed by the person who is written on the check. cross-check —test if a calculation, process, etc. is accurate by doing it a different way: We also cross-checked the results gained with these measures by using secondary sources of in- formation. cross over Jordan • cross the Rubicon cross over Jordan—(also: cross over to the other side) die; pass away: Following a stroke which left her comatose, she crossed over Jordan on February 3, 1972, and is buried at Laurel Land Cemetery. cross the Rubicon—take an irrevocable step; make a fateful and final decision: Now is the time for Koizumi to cross the Rubicon and take decisive action to implement the radical structural reforms. cross something off • cross something out cross something off—take an item off a list; disregard such an item: They crossed off ice cream from the grocery list. It’s just too cold for ice cream. cross something out—cancel an item on a list, etc. by drawing a line through it: He wrote in pencil, and then crossed the words out with thick, dark lines that nearly tore the page. cross the finish line • cross the line cross the finish line—1. cross the line which marks the end of a race: Williams had been declared the winner, both for crossing the finish line first and on a corrected time basis. 2. complete a task: By the year 2015 we can cross the finish line and know that all children with visual impairment have at- tained the right to education. cross the line —1. = cross the finish line 1: Catherine Coey was the first woman to cross the line in a time of 45 min. 57 sec. 2. overstep the limits of decency, respectability, etc.: It is only when women cross the line drawn by patriarchy that real pos- sibilities begin to emerge. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase get one’s lines crossed—(also: get one’s wires crossed) misunderstand or be confused about smth.: I thought I actually got my lines crossed , and might have misread the bus schedule, and sent my child out to the bus stop too early. cross the T • cross the t’s cross the T—(Navy) cross ahead of enemy ship’s line of ad- vance approximately at right angles, thus securing tactical ad- vantages: This maneuver, known as “crossing the T ,” has been the dream of all admirals. cross the t’s—1. (also: stroke the t’s) draw the horizontal line across the upright of the letter “t”: There was something fa- miliar about the handwriting. The way the writer crossed the t’s too high. 2. (in the phrase “dot the i’s and cross the t’s”) be very thorough; meticulously stick to accepted routine: They had been careful to engage the accounting firm and had really crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s. Cf.: dot the last i and cross the last t— carefully finish a project: Most of you are not quite ready to dot the last “i” and cross the last “t ” of your thesis. crow eater • eat crow crow eater—(Austral. sl.) a person from South Australia: The team includes a couple of flashy Moroccans, Brits of all persuasions and, of course, an Aussie crow-eater from Ade- laide. eat crow —be forced to admit that one was wrong: Archives are dangerous things. I’ve had to eat crow a few times myself, especially when I changed my mind on a hard-fought issue. crow’s feet • crowfoots crow’s feet—wrinkles produced by age, spreading out from the corners of the eyes: Notable crow’s feet had come about the corners of her nose, mouth and eyes. crowfoots—wild plants with yellow flowers: These three Crowfoots are confounded by persons ignorant of Botany – 89 – crow’s feet