[sit up]{v.} 1. To move into a sitting position. •/Joe sat up whenhe heard the knock on his bedroom door./ 2. To stay awake instead of going tobed. •/Mrs. Jones will sit up until both of her daughters get home from thedance./ •/We sat up until two A.M. hoping for news from Alaska./ 3.{informal} To be surprised. •/Janice really sat up when I told her thegossip about Tom./

[sit-up]{n.} A vigorous exercise in which the abdominal muscles arestrengthened by locking one’s feet in a fastening device and sitting upnumerous times. •/Do a few sit-ups if you want to reduce your waist./

[sit up and take notice]{v. phr.}, {informal} To be surprised intonoticing something. •/Grace had never impressed her teachers. Hearing thatshe had won the essay contest made them sit up and take notice./ •/George’ssudden success made the town sit up and take notice./

[sit up for]{v. phr.} To wait until after the usual bedtime forsomeone’s return. •/Mrs. Smith always sits up for her two daughters, nomatter how late it is./

[sit up with]{v. phr.} To be with; particularly to keep someone illcompany. •/Mrs. Brown sat up with her sick husband all night in the hospitalroom./

[sit well (with)]{v.} Find favor with; please. •/The reduced schoolbudget did not sit well with the teachers./

[sit with]{v.}, {informal} To be accepted by; affect. — Used ininterrogative sentences and in negative sentences modified by "well". •/Howdid your story sit with your mother?/ •/Bob’s poor sportsmanship doesn’tsit well with the coach./

[six] See: AT SIXES AND SEVENS, DEEP-SIX.

[six bits]{n.}, {slang} Seventy-five cents. •/"Lend me six bitstill Friday, Sam," said Jim. "I’ve spent all my allowance."/ Compare: TWOBITS.

[six of one and half-a-dozen of the other]{n. phr.} Two things thesame; not a real choice; no difference. •/Which coat do you like better, thebrown or the blue? It’s six of one and half-a-dozen of the other./ •/Johnnysays it’s six of one and half-a-dozen of the other whether he does the jobtonight or tomorrow night./

[size] See: CUT DOWN TO SIZE, PINT-SIZE.

[size up]{v.}, {informal} To decide what one thinks about(something); to form an opinion about (something). •/Give Joe an hour to sizeup the situation and he’ll tell you what to do next./ •/Our coach went toNew York to size up the team we’ll face in our homecoming game./ Compare:TAKE STOCK(2).

[skate] See: CHEAP SKATE.

[skate on thin ice]{v. phr.} To take a chance; risk danger,disapproval or anger. •/You’ll be skating on thin ice if you ask Dad toincrease your allowance again./ •/John knew he was skating on thin ice, buthe could not resist teasing his sister about her boyfriend./

[skating rink]{n.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon}Slippery road. •/Attention all units — there’s a skating rink ahead!/

[skeleton in the closet]{n. phr.} A shameful secret; someone orsomething kept hidden, especially by a family. •/The skeleton in our familycloset was Uncle Willie. No one mentioned him because he drank too much./

[skid lid]{n.}, {slang} A crash helmet worn by motorcyclists andrace drivers. •/How much did you pay for that handsome skid lid?/

[skid row]{n.} The poor part of a city where men live who have no jobsand drink too much liquor. •/That man was once rich, but he drank and gambledtoo much, and ended his life living on skid row./ •/The Bowery is New YorkCity’s skid row./

[skim the surface]{v. phr.} To do something very superficially. •/Heseems knowledgeable in many different areas but his familiarity is verysuperficial, since he only skims the surface of everything he touches./

[skin] See: BY THE SKIN OF ONE’S TEETH, GET UNDER ONE’S SKIN, JUMP OUT OFONE’S SKIN, KEEP ONE’S EYES PEELED or KEEP ONE’S EYES SKINNED, SAVE ONE’S NECKor SAVE ONE’S SKIN, WITH A WHOLE SKIN or IN A WHOLE SKIN.

[skin alive]{v. phr.} 1. {informal} To scold angrily. •/Motherwill skin you alive when she sees your torn pants./ 2. {informal} Tospank or beat. •/Dad was ready to skin us alive when he found we had ruinedhis saw./ 3. {slang} To defeat. •/We all did our best, but the visitinggymnastic team skinned us alive./

[skin and bones]{n.} A person or animal that is very thin; someonevery skinny. •/The puppy is healthy now, but when we found him he was justskin and bones./ •/Have you been dieting? You’re nothing but skin andbones!/

[skin-deep]{adj.} Only on the surface; not having any deep or honestmeaning; not really or closely connected with what it seems to belong to.•/Mary’s friendliness with Joan is only skin-deep./ •/Ralph crammed forthe test and got a good grade, but his knowledge of the lesson is onlyskin-deep./ Contrast: BRED IN THE BONE.

[skin off one’s nose]{n. phr.}, {slang} Matter of interest,concern, or trouble to you. Normally used in the negative. •/Go to Jake’sparty if you wish. It’s no skin off my nose./ •/Grace didn’t pay anyattention to our argument. It wasn’t any skin off her nose./ •/You could atleast say hello to our visitor. It’s no skin off your nose./

[skip] See: HEART SKIP A BEAT.

[skip bail] See: JUMP BAIL.

[skip it]{v. phr.}, {informal} To forget all about it. •/WhenJack tried to reward him for returning his lost dog, the man said to skipit./ •/I asked what the fight was about, but the boys said to skip it./

[skip out]{v.}, {informal} To leave in a hurry; especially aftercheating or taking money dishonestly; sneak away; leave without permission.•/The man skipped out of the hotel without paying his bill./ •/"How didyou get out of the house after supper, Harry? " "I skipped out!"/

[skirt around]{v. phr.} To avoid something. •/"Let’s not skirtaround the facts," said the attorney to his client. "You must tell me thetruth."/

[sky] See: OUT OF THE BLUE or OUT OF A CLEAR SKY or OUT OF A CLEAR BLUESKY, REACH FOR THE SKY.

[sky is the limit] There is no upper limit to something. •/"Buy me thefastest racehorse in Hong Kong," Mr. Lee instructed his broker. "Spend whateveris necessary; the sky is the limit."/

[slack off]{v. phr.} 1. To become less active; grow lazy. •/Sinceconstruction work has been slacking off toward the end of the summer, manyworkers were dismissed./ 2. To gradually reduce; taper off. •/Thesnowstorms tend to slack off over the Great Lakes by the first of April./

[slam] See: GRAND SLAM.

[slap down]{v.}, {slang} 1. To stop (someone, usually in a lowerposition or job) from doing or saying something, in a rough way or with ascolding; silence. •/When Billy talked back, the teacher slapped him down./2. To put a quick stop to; refuse roughly. •/The boss slapped down our ideaof taking a nap on the job every afternoon./

[slap in the face(1)]{n.} An insult; a disappointment. •/We feltthat it was a slap in the face when our gift was returned unopened./•/Doris thought it was a slap in the face when her boyfriend invited anothergirl to the dance./ Compare: KICK IN THE PANTS.

[slap in the face(2)]{v. phr.} To insult; embarrass; make feel bad.•/John slapped our club in the face by saying that everyone in it wasstupid./ •/I don’t want to slap her in the face by not coming to herparty./