dictionary
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Related to dictionary: thesaurus
a walking dictionary
A person who has a very large vocabulary or knows the definition of many words and who can recite them when asked. You should ask my brother what it means—he's a walking dictionary! Compared to most sixteen-year-olds, Sarah is a walking dictionary. She must read a lot in her spare time. What do I look like, a walking dictionary? How should I know how to spell "pneumococcal"?
See also: dictionary, walking
a walking encyclopedia
A person who has a very large and detailed knowledge of a diverse array of facts and who can recite them when asked. Lily's like a walking encyclopedia when it comes to reptiles. Compared to most sixteen-year-olds, Sarah is a walking encyclopedia. She must read a lot in her spare time. What do I look like, a walking encyclopedia? How should I know what T.S. Eliot's initials stand for?
See also: encyclopedia, walking
have swallowed a dictionary
To use an extensive vocabulary, especially by incorporating uncommon words into one's speech. That guy sounds like he's swallowed a dictionary—none of the kids can follow what he's saying.
swallow the dictionary
To have and utilize a very extensive vocabulary; to use a variety of long, complicated, or uncommon words in one's speech. She must have swallowed a dictionary, because it was very hard to follow along with all the big words she was throwing around. Why do you always have to talk to use like you swallowed a dictionary?
See also: dictionary, swallow
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
a walking dictionary
ora walking encyclopedia
If you describe someone as a walking dictionary or a walking encyclopedia, you mean that they know a lot of words or facts. She raised five of us on her own and she's a walking dictionary. He was a walking encyclopedia of music, full of wit and charm. Note: People sometimes use other words instead of dictionary or encyclopedia. He's a walking database on anything relating to insurance.
See also: dictionary, walking
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
have swallowed a dictionary
use long and obscure words when speaking. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
a walking ˈdictionary, encycloˈpedia, etc.
(informal) used to describe a human or living example of the thing mentioned: Geoff is a walking encyclopedia. He knows about everything. ♢ She’s a walking dictionary (= she knows a lot of words).See also: walking
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
swallow the dictionary
tv. to acquire an enormous vocabulary. (Usually in the past tense.) My uncle says I’ve swallowed the dictionary. That’s because I know so many big words.
See also: dictionary, swallow
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.