[clothes] See: BEST BIB AND TUCKER or SUNDAY-GO-TO-MEETING CLOTHES.

[clothing] See: WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING.

[cloud] See: EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING, IN THE CLOUDS, ON CLOUD NINE, UNDER A CLOUD.

[clover] See: FOUR-LEAF CLOVER, IN CLOVER or IN THE CLOVER.

[club] See: CHRISTMAS CLUB.

[cluck and grunt]{n.}, {slang}, {avoid it in restaurants} The familiar restaurant dish of ham and eggs; since ham is made of pork (and pigs grunt) and eggs come from hens (which cluck.) •/"I am sorry I can’t fix you an elaborate meal, but I can give you a quick cluck and grunt."/

[clutch] See: RIDE THE BRAKE.

[coal] See: CARRY COALS TO NEWCASTLE, HAUL OVER THE COALS or RAKE OVER THE COALS, HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON ONE’S HEAD.

[coast is clear] No enemy or danger is in sight; there is no one to see you. •/When the teacher had disappeared around the corner, John said, "Come on, the coast is clear."/ •/The men knew when the night watchman would pass. When he had gone, and the coast was clear, they robbed the safe./ •/When Father stopped the car at the stop sign, Mother said, "The coast is clear on this side."/

[coat tail] See: ON ONE’S COAT TAILS.

[cock] See: GO OFF HALF-COCKED also GO OFF AT HALF COCK.

[cock-and-bull story]{n. phr.} An exaggerated or unbelievable story. •/"Stop feeding me such cock-and-bull stories," the detective said to the suspect./

[cockeyed]{adj.} Drunk; intoxicated. •/Frank has been drinking all day and, when we met, he was so cockeyed he forgot his own address./

[cocksure]{adj.} Overconfident; very sure. •/Paul was cocksure that it wasn 't going to snow, but it snowed so much that we had to dig our way out of the house./

[C.O.D.]{n. phr.} Abbreviation of "cash on delivery." •/If you want to receive a piece of merchandise by mail and pay when you receive it, you place a C.O.D. order./

[coffee break]{n.} A short recess or time out from work in which to rest and drink coffee. •/The girls in the office take a coffee break in the middle of the morning and the afternoon./

[coffee hour]{n.} A time for coffee or other refreshments after a meeting; a time to meet people and have refreshments. •/After the business meeting we had a coffee hour./ •/The Joneses had a coffee hour so their visitor could meet their neighbors./

[coffee table]{n.} A low table used in a living room. •/There were several magazines on the coffee table./

[coffin nail]{n.}, {slang} A cigarette. •/"I stopped smoking," Algernon said. "In fact, I haven’t had a coffin nail in well over a year."/

[cog] See: SLIP A COG or SLIP A GEAR.

[coin money] or [mint money] {v. phr.}, {informal} To make a lot of money quickly; profit heavily; gain big profit. •/Fred coined money with many cigarette vending machines and juke boxes./

[cold] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD, BLOW HOT AND COLD, CATCH COLD or TAKE COLD, IN COLD BLOOD, OUT COLD, OUT IN THE COLD, PASS OUT(2), STONE-COLD, STOP COLD, THROW COLD WATER ON.

[cold cash] or [hard cash] {n.} Money that is paid at the time of purchase; real money; silver and bills. •/Mr. Jones bought a new car and paid cold cash for it./ * •/Some stores sell things only for cold cash./ Compare: CASH ON THE BARRELHEAD.

[cold comfort]{n.} Something that makes a person in trouble feel very little better or even worse. •/When Tim lost the race, it was cold comfort to him to hear that he could try again in two weeks./ •/Mary spent her vacation sick in bed and Jane’s letter about her trip was cold comfort./

[cold feet]{n. phr.}, {informal} A loss of courage or nerve; a failure or loss of confidence in yourself. •/Ralph was going to ask Mary to dance with him but he got cold feet and didn’t./

[cold fish]{n.}, {informal} A queer person; a person who is unfriendly or does not mix with others. •/No one knows the new doctor, he is a cold fish./ •/Nobody invites Eric to parties because he is a cold fish./

[cold-shoulder]{v.}, {informal} To act towards a person; with dislike or scorn; be unfriendly to. •/Fred cold-shouldered his old friend when they passed on the street./ •/It is impolite and unkind to cold-shoulder people./ Compare: BRUSH OFF(2), HIGH-HAT, LOOK DOWN ONE’S NOSE AT.

[cold shoulder]{n.}, {informal} Unfriendly treatment of a person, a showing of dislike for a person or of looking down on a person. — Used in the cliches "give the cold shoulder" or "turn a cold shoulder to" or "get the cold shoulder". •/When Bob asked Mary for a date she gave him the cold shoulder./ •/The membership committee turned a cold shoulder to Jim’s request to join the club./

[cold snap]{n.} A short time of quick change from warm weather to cold. •/The cold snap killed everything in the garden./

[cold turkey]{adv.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. Abruptly and without medical aid to withdraw from the use of an addictive drug or from a serious drinking problem. •/Joe is a very brave guy; he kicked the habit cold turkey./ 2. {n.} An instance of withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, or cigarette smoking. •/Joe did a cold turkey./

[cold war]{n.} A struggle that is carried on by other means and not by actual fighting; a war without shooting or bombing. •/After World War II, a cold war began between Russia and the United States./

[collar] See: HOT UNDER THE COLLAR, ROMAN COLLAR, SAILOR COLLAR.

[collective farm]{n.} A large government-run farm made by combining many small farms. •/The Russian farmers used to live on collective farms./

[collector’s item]{n.} Something rare or valuable enough to collect or save. •/Jimmy’s mother found an old wooden doll in the attic that turned out to be a collector’s item./

[College Boards]{n.} A set of examinations given to test a student’s readiness and ability for college. •/John got a high score on his College Boards./ •/College Boards test both what a student has learned and his ability to learn./

[color] See: CHANGE COLOR, GIVE COLOR TO or LEND COLOR TO, HAUL DOWN ONE’S COLORS, HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR, NAIL ONE’S COLORS TO THE MAST, OFF-COLOR or OFF-COLORED, SAIL UNDER FALSE COLORS, SEE THE COLOR OF ONE’S MONEY, SHOW ONE’S COLORS, WITH FLYING COLORS.

[color guard]{n.} A military guard of honor for the flag of a country; also: a guard of honor to carry and protect a flag or banner (as of a club). •/There were four Marines in the color guard in the parade./ •/Bob was picked to be a color guard and to carry the banner of the drum corps at the football game./

[color scheme]{n.} A plan for colors used together as decoration. •/The color scheme for the dance was blue and silver./ •/Mary decided on a pink and white color scheme for her room./

[comb] See: FINE-TOOTH COMB.

[come] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST, CROSS A BRIDGE BEFORE ONE COMES TO IT, EASY COME — EASY GO, FIRST COME — FIRST SERVED, GET WHAT’S COMING TO ONE, HAVE IT COMING, HOW COME also HOW’S COME, IF WORST COMES TO WORST, JOHNNY-COME-LATELY, KNOW ENOUGH TO COME IN OUT OF THE RAIN, KNOW IF ONE IS COMING OR GOING, LOOK AS IF ONE HAS COME OUT OF A BANDBOX, SHIP COME IN.

[come about]{v.} To take place; happen, occur. •/Sometimes it is hard to tell how a quarrel comes about./ •/When John woke up he was in the hospital, but he didn’t know how that had come about./