undesirable: He was determined to free the child from the stultifying effects of the formal classroom, with its fixation on discipline. 2. release a person from some physical hindrance: As soon as they arrived the colonel took the old man in his office after ordering to free him from the ropes. make someone free of something—1. give a person permission to make free use of smth. one owns: Miss Tyler made him free of her house till his own eccentricities, and her wrath at his marriage, drove him out. 2. = free someone from something 1: I know that the management is mostly to blame for scheduling and everything, but that doesn’t make him free of responsi- bility. freeze someone out • put the freeze on someone freeze someone out—(coll.) exclude a person from business, etc. by severe competition: They can bring a stock down to the lowest point, thus “freezing out ” the unhappy stockhold- ers. put the freeze on someone—(U.S. sl.) ignore a person; end social contact with smb. (also: put the chill on someone): Let’s put the freeze on Ted until he starts acting better. Note: a) The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase freeze on to someone—(coll.) 1. hold on to smb.; stick to a person: If ever you see him again, Fentiman, freeze on to him like grim death. 2. become attached to a person: He’s a lawyer and he might not freeze on to you. b) The expression is not antonymous in meaning to the phrase turn the heat on someone—(sl.) put pressure on a person; subject smb. to a severe cross-examination (also: put the heat on someone): Mukhtar is in jail in connection with an old case in which he surrendered soon after the police turned the heat on him. fresh as a daisy • fresh as a rose fresh as a daisy—feeling cheerful and full of energy: It was six in the morning, dawn was breaking, but Nick still felt as fresh as a daisy , ready to dance, drink and talk for hours longer. fresh as a rose—(of a woman) looking very attractive, with a fresh color: She’s beautiful, yes, really beautiful, fresh as a rose on the day of the battle or whatever that poem is. friend at court • friend of the court friend at court—(also: friend in court) smb. in a position of influence who is willing to act in a person’s behalf: We felt that we always had a friend at court in Uncle Alec, no matter what we did or left undone. friend of the court—(legal) an adviser to the court who vol- unteers to offer information on some aspect of the case: The role of the adjudication officer is to act as amicus curiae (friend of the court ) assisting the tribunal in its investigation. Friendly Society, the • Society of Friends, the Friendly Society, the—(hist.) mutual-aid organization formed to protect members against debts incurred through illness, etc.: The growth of the Friendly Society is impressive. At the beginning during the 1814–1816 period, there were roughly twenty members. Society of Friends, the—(also: Religious Society of Friends, the) the Quakers (a Christian sect, founded in the mid–17th century in England): Probably the best known historical figure in the Society of Friends was William Penn. Born in 1644, he became a Quaker in 1667… from A to B • from A to Z from A to B—from one point or position to another: In traffic-choked cities the slender bike is the fastest means of getting from A to B . from A to Z—(also: from A to Izzard) from beginning to end; completely: Every program-builder should know the sym- phonic repertoire from A to Z . from Dan to Beersheba • from Land’s End to John o’ Groat’s from Dan to Beersheba—from one end of the land to the other (originally of biblical Palestine): Having visited the most remarkable places from Dan to Beersheba , he finally returned home after some eleven months. from Land’s End to John o’ Groats—(UK) from one end of Great Britain to the other: Every well-known branded article (as advertised on television) costs precisely the same from Land’s End to John o’ Groats . Note: Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase from China to Peruall over the world: The invention of radio meant that people from China to Peru could learn of an event soon after it happened. from hand to hand • hand-to-hand from hand to hand — pass from one person to a series of other persons: The book traveled from hand to hand until it got back to its owner. hand-to-hand —(of fighting ) at close quarters; man to man: This excellent manual on combat hand-to-hand fighting still holds up today. from hand to mouth • from mouth to mouth from hand to mouth—(in the phrase “live from hand to mouth”) have just enough money to live on: With farmers liv- ing from hand to mouth , it is difficult to expect them to take to organic cultivation. from mouth to mouth —(of a tale, rumor, etc.) pass from one person to a series of other persons: Xavier’s name was repeated from mouth to mouth with cries of vengeance. from nose to tail • nose to tail from nose to tail —(usually of animals) as measured from one extremity to the other: A full grown mule deer measures about sixty five inches from nose to tail . Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase from head to foot—(also: from top to toe) 1. all over a person’s body: Women covered from head to foot can be seen shopping next to the mini-skirted Russian women. 2. in every way; in all respects: A gentleman? … That he is, from head to foot . nose to tail —(of motor vehicles) traveling or placed very close behind one another: Traffic stood nose to tail right the way down the Strand. from out to out • from space to space from out to out—in total external length or breadth: The extreme length of the building, from out to out , is 96 feet, and the extreme width 51 feet. from space to space —at (regular) intervals: A heavy balustrade is ornamented from space to space with huge grotesque figures of animals. from the bottom up • from the ground up from the bottom up—from the very beginning; from start to finish: I started out sweeping the floors and learned everything from the bottom up . from the ground up—completely; entirely: Let me tell you right here that whatever I may or may not be, I am an Amer- ican from the ground up . from the floor • from the top from the floor(of questions, remarks, etc.) delivered by rank and file members, as opposed to a governing body: The amendments from the floor were sufficiently substantial to make the final version a fair representation of majority opin- ion. from the top—(of a piece of music) played from the earliest – 127 – from the floor