[prevail upon] or [prevail on] {v.} To bring to an act or belief;cause a change in; persuade. •/He prevailed upon the musician to entertaininstead of the absent speaker./ •/He prevailed upon me to believe in hisinnocence./

[prey on] or [prey upon] {v.} 1. To habitually kill and eat; catchfor food. •/Cats prey on mice./ 2. To capture or take in spoils of war orrobbery. •/Pirates preyed on American ships in the years just after theRevolutionary War./ 3. To cheat; rob. •/Gangsters preyed on businesses ofmany kinds while the sale of liquor was prohibited./ 4. To have a tiring andweakening effect on; weaken. •/Ill health had preyed on him for years./•/Business worries preyed on his mind./

[prey on one’s mind]{v. phr.} To afflict; worry. •/He couldn’t sleepbecause his many debts were preying on his mind./

[price on one’s head]{n. phr.} Reward offered to anyone who catches athief or a murderer. •/The hotel manager learned that the quiet man takenfrom his room by the police was a murderer with a price on his head./

[prick] See: KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS.

[prick up one’s ears]{v. phr.}, {informal} To come to interestedattention; begin to listen closely; try to hear. •/The woman pricked up herears when she heard them talking about her./

[pride] See: SWALLOW ONE’S PRIDE.

[pride must take a pinch] One must endure the minor pains and hardships oneencounters while being made pretty. — A proverb. •/"Mother," Sue cried,"stop pulling my hair!" "Just a moment, young lady," the mother answered, whilecombing her hair. "Don’t you know that pride must take a pinch?"/

[pride oneself on]{v. phr.} To be proud ot, take satisfaction in; bemuch pleased by. •/She prided herself on her beauty./ •/He prided himselfon his strength and toughness./ Compare: PLUME ONESELF.

[print] See: FINE PRINT, IN PRINT, OUT OF PRINT.

[private] See: IN PRIVATE.

[private eye]{n.}, {colloquial} A private investigator; adetective. •/Buddy Ebsen played a private eye on "Bamaby Jones."/

[progress] See: IN PROGRESS.

[promise] See: AS GOOD AS ONE’S WORD, LICK AND A PROMISE.

[promise the moon]{v. phr.} To promise something impossible. •/Apolitician who promises the moon during a campaign loses the voters'respect./ •/I can’t promise you the moon, but I’ll do the best job Ican./ Compare: ASK FOR THE MOON.

[proof of the pudding is in the eating] Only through actual experience canthe value of something be tested. — A proverb. •/He was intrigued by the adsabout the new high mileage sports cars. "Drive one, sir," the salesman said."The proof of the pudding is in the eating."/

[prune] See: FULL OF BEANS or FULL OF PRUNES.

[psyched up]{adj.}, {informal} Mentally alert; ready to dosomething. •/The students were all psyched up for their final exams./

[psych out]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. To find out thereal motives of (someone). •/Sue sure has got Joe psyched out./ 2. To goberserk; to lose one’s nerve. •/Joe says he doesn’t ride his motorcycle onthe highway anymore because he’s psyched out./ •/Jim psyched out and robbeda liquor store, when he has all he needs and wants!/

[Public] See: JOHN Q. PUBLIC.

[public] See: AIR ONE’S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC or WASH ONE’S DIRTY LINEN INPUBLIC, IN PUBLIC, IN THE PUBLIC EYE.

[public-address system]{n.} A set of devices for making a speaker’svoice louder so that he can be heard by more people. •/The public-addresssystem broke down during the senator’s speech./ •/The news was announcedover the public-address system./

[public enemy]{n. phr.} A famous criminal. •/Al Capone of Chicagoused to be Public Enemy Number One during prohibition./

[public speaker]{n.} A person who speaks to the public. •/A publicspeaker must appeal to all kinds of people./

[puffed up]{adj.} Elated; proud; conceited. •/Just because Bobinherited some money from his father is no reason for him to act so puffedup./

[pull] See: LONG HAUL or LONG PULL.

[pull a fast one]{v. phr.} To gain the advantage over one’s opponentunfairly; deceive; trick. •/When Smith was told by his boss that he might befired, he called the company president, his father-in-law, and pulled a fastone by having his boss demoted./

[pull a long face] See: LONG FACE.

[pull date]{n.}, {informal} The date stamped on baked goods, dairyproducts, or other perishable foods indicating the last day on which they maybe sold before they must be removed from the shelves in a retail store.•/This pie is way past the pull date — small wonder it’s rotten./

[pull down]{v.}, {informal} 1. To catch (a ball) after a hard run.•/The outfielder pulled down a long drive to center field./ 2. To earn.•/Mr. Blake pulls down $500 a week./ •/John pulled down an A in algebraby studying hard./ Compare: HAUL DOWN.

[pull down about one’s ears] or [pull down around one’s ears] See:ABOUT ONE’S EARS.

[pull in] See: HAUL IN.

[pull in one’s horns] or [draw in one’s horns] {v. phr.},{informal} 1. To reduce your boasts; calm down from a quarrel; back down ona promise. •/He said he could beat any man there single-handed, but he pulledin his horns when Jack came forward./ 2. To cut back from one’s usual way ofliving; reduce spending or activities; save. •/After the business failed,Father had to pull in his horns./ •/As one advances in years, it is prudentto pull in one’s horns more and more as to physical activity./

[pull off]{v.}, {informal} To succeed in (something thoughtdifficult or impossible); do. •/Ben Hogan pulled off the impossible bywinning three golf tournaments in one year./ •/The bandits pulled off adaring bank robbery./ Compare: PUT ACROSS(2).

[pull one’s chestnuts out of the fire] To do someone else a great favorwhich they don’t really deserve, doing oneself a disfavor in the process.•/Small countries often have to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for theirmore powerful neighbors./

[pull oneself together]{v. phr.} To become calm after being excited ordisturbed; recover self-command; control yourself. •/It had been a disturbingmoment, but he was able to pull himself together./

[pull oneself up by the bootstraps] or [pull oneself up by one’s ownbootstraps] {adv. phr.} To succeed without help; succeed by your ownefforts. •/He had to pull himself up by the bootstraps./

[pull one’s leg]{v. phr.}, {informal} To get someone to accept aridiculous story as true; fool someone with a humorous account of something;trick. •/For a moment, I actually believed that his wife had royal blood.Then I realized he was pulling my leg./ •/Western cowboys loved to pull astranger’s leg./ Compare: STRING ALONG. — [leg-pulling] {n.}•/Strangers were often fooled by the cowboys' leg-pulling./

[pull one’s punches]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. Not to hit as hard asyou can. •/Jimmy pulled his punches and let Paul win the boxing match./ 2.To hide unpleasant facts or make them seem good. — Usually used in thenegative. •/The mayor spoke bluntly; he didn’t pull any punches./ Contrast:STRAIGHT PROM THE SHOULDER.