[disappear] or [evaporate] or [vanish into thin air] {v. phr.} To disappear quickly, without leaving a trace. •/Money seems to disappear into thin air these days./ •/Jack just vanished into thin air before the meeting had started./

[discretion] See: THROW CAUTION TO THE WINDS also THROW DISCRETION TO THE WINDS.

[discretion is the better part of valor]{literary} When you are in danger or trouble, good sense helps more than foolish risks; it is better to be careful than to be foolishly brave. — A proverb. •/When you are facing a man with a knife, discretion is the better part of valor./

[dish] See: COVERED-DISH SUPPER.

[dish of tea] See: CUP OF TEA.

[dish out]{v.} 1. To serve (food) from a large bowl or plate. •/Ann’s mother asked her to dish out the beans./ 2. {informal} To give in large quantities. •/That teacher dished out so much homework that her pupils complained to their parents./ 3. {slang} To scold; treat or criticize roughly. •/Jim likes to dish it out, but he hates to take it./ Compare: HAND OUT.

[dish the dirt]{v. phr.}, {slang} To gossip, to spread rumors about others. •/Stop dishing the dirt. Sally, it’s really quite unbecoming!/

[disk jockey]{n.} An employee at a radio station or in a dance club who puts on the records that will be broadcast. •/Jack is working as a disk jockey at the local FM station./

[dispose of]{v.} 1. To throw away; give away, or sell; get rid of. •/John’s father wants to dispose of their old house and buy a new one./ •/The burglars had difficulty in disposing of the stolen jewelry./ 2. To finish. with; settle; complete. •/The boys were hungry, and quickly disposed of their dinner./ •/The committee soon disposed of all its business./ 3. To destroy or defeat. •/The champion disposed of the other fighter by knocking him out in the second round./ •/Our planes disposed of two enemy planes./

[dispute] See: IN DISPUTE.

[distance] See: KEEP AT A DISTANCE, KEEP ONE’S DISTANCE.

[ditch] See: LAST DITCH,

[dive] See: GO INTO A TAIL SPIN or GO INTO A NOSE DIVE.

[do] See: HAVE DONE, HAVE DONE WITH, HAVE TO DO WITH, LET GEORGE DO IT, LET ONE’S RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT ONE’S LEFT HAND IS DOING, LET’S DON’T, MAKE DO, WELL-TO-DO, WHAT’S UP or WHAT’S DOING.

[do a double take]{v. phr.}, {informal} To look again in surprise; suddenly understand what is seen or said. •/John did a double take when he saw Bill in girls' clothes./ •/When Evvie said she was quitting school, I did a double take./

[do a job on]{v. phr.}, {slang} To damage badly; do harm to; make ugly or useless. •/The baby did a job on Mary’s book./ •/Jane cut her hair and really did a job on herself./

[Doakes] See: JOE DOAKES.

[do a stretch]{v. phr.} To spend time in jail serving one’s sentence. •/Jake has disappeared from view for a while; he is doing a stretch for dope smuggling./

[do away with]{v.} 1. To put an end to; stop. •/The teachers want to do away with cheating in their school./ •/The city has decided to do away with overhead wires./ Compare: RID OF. 2. To kill; murder. •/The robbers did away with their victims./

[do by someone or something]{v.} To deal with; treat. — Used with a qualifying adverb between "do" and "by". •/Andy’s employer always does very well by him./

[do credit] or [do credit to] also ({informal}) [do proud] To add to or improve the reputation, good name, honor, or esteem of; show (you) deserve praise. •/Your neat appearance does you credit./ •/Mary’s painting would do credit to a real artist./

[doctor] See: JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED.

[doctor up]{v. phr.} To meddle with; adulterate. •/You don’t have to doctor up this basic salad with a lot of extras as I am trying to lose weight./

[do duty for]{v. phr.} To substitute for; act in place of. •/The bench often does duty for a table./

[Doe] See: JOHN DOE.

[doesn’t add up to a can of beans]{v. phr.} To be of little or no value. (Said of plans, ideas, etc.) •/"That’s a fairly interesting concept you got there, Mike, but the competition is bound to say that it doesn’t add up to a can of beans."/

[do for]{v.}, {informal} To cause the death or ruin of; cause to fail. — Used usually in the passive form "done for". •/The poor fellow is done for and will die before morning./ •/Andy’s employer always does very well by him./ •/If Jim fails that test, he is done for./

[dog] See: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, GO TO THE DOGS, HOT DOG, LEAD A DOG’S LIFE, LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE, RAIN CATS AND DOGS.

[dog days]{n. phr.} The hottest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (July and August). (The ancient Romans associated this time with the "Dog Star" — Sirius — which becomes visible in the heavens at this time of year.) •/"The dog days are upon us," John said. "It’s time to go swimming in the lake."/

[dog-eat-dog(1)]{n.} A way of living in which every person tries to get what he wants for himself no matter how badly or cruelly he must treat others to get it; readiness to do anything to get what you want. •/In some early frontier towns it was dog-eat-dog./

[dog-eat-dog(2)]{adj.} Ready or willing to fight and hurt others to get what you want. •/During the California gold rush, men had a dog-eat-dog life./

[doghouse] See: IN THE DOGHOUSE.

[dog in the manger]{n. phr.} A person who is unwilling to let another use what he himself has no use for. •/Although Valerie lives alone in that big house, she is like a dog in the manger when it comes to letting someone sharing it with her./

[dog one’s steps]{v. phr.} To follow someone closely. •/All the time he was in Havana, Castro’s police were dogging his steps./

[dog’s age] or [coon’s age] {n.}, {informal} A very long time. Usually used after "for" or "in" with a negative. •/Charlie Brown! I haven’t seen you for a coon’s age./ •/Father hasn’t had a night out with the boys in a dog’s age./ •/I waited for him for a dog’s age, but he didn’t come./ Syn.: MONTH OF SUNDAYS.

[dog’s life]{n. phr.} A life of misery, poverty, and unhappiness. •/Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, lived a dog’s life inside an empty barrel./

[do in]{v.}, {slang} 1. To ruin; destroy. •/Mr. Smith’s business was done in by a fire that burned down his store./ 2a. To kill; murder. •/The poor man was done in by two gangsters who ran away after the crime./ 2b. To make tired; exhaust. •/The boys were done in after their long hike./ Syn.: WEAR OUT(2). 3. To cheat; swindle. •/Mr. Jones was done in by two men who claimed to be collecting money for orphans and widows./

[doing] See: NOTHING DOING.

[do justice to]{v. phr.} 1. To do (something) as well as you should; do properly. •/Barbara had so many things to do that she could not do justice to her lessons./ •/The newspaper man did not do justice to the story./ 2. To eat or drink with enthusiasm or enjoyment. •/The boy did justice to the meal./

[dole out]{v. phr.} To measure out sparingly. •/Since the water ration was running low in the desert, the camp commandant doled out small cups of water to each soldier./