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cry bloody murder
Fig. to scream as if something very serious has happened, especially unnecessarily. Now that Bill is really hurt, he's crying bloody murder. There is no point in crying bloody murder about the bill if you knew the restaurant was expensive.
get away with murder
1. Lit. to commit murder and not get punished for it. (See also
get away with something.)
Don't kill me! You can't get away with murder! 2. Fig. to do something very bad and not get punished for it. That guy always gets away with murder—just because he's cute. You will spoil your son if you let him get away with murder. You should punish him for his back-talk.
get away with someone or something
to escape, taking someone or something with one. The kidnapper got away with little Brian. The burglars got away with a lot of cash and some diamonds.
get away with something
and get by with somethingto do something and not get punished for it. (See also
get away with murder)
You can't get away with that! Larry got by with the lie.murder on something
very destructive or harmful to something. Running a marathon is murder on your knees. This dry weather is murder on my crops.
Murder will out.
Prov. Murder will always be discovered.; A bad deed will be found out. Horace thought he had disposed of his victim in such a way that no one would ever discover his crime, but murder will out.
scream bloody murder
and yell bloody murderFig. to complain bitterly; to complain unduly. When we put him in an office without a window, he screamed bloody murder. There is something wrong next door. Everyone is yelling bloody murder.
get away with something
to avoid blame, punishment, or criticism for doing something bad She cheated on the test and thought she could get away with it.
Usage notes: often in the form get away with it, as in the example
get away with murder
to not be punished for bad behavior It seems to me that kids these days really get away with murder in the classroom.
scream bloody murder
to shout or to complain very loudly
Sometimes the baby screams bloody murder when we give her a bath. I'm so frustrated with the telephone company, I want to scream bloody murder. Usage notes: sometimes holler bloody murder and yell bloody murder, with the same meaning
get away with murder
(informal) to be allowed to do things that other people would be punished or criticized for Dave gets away with murder because he's so charming.
I could murder something.
(British informal) something that you say when you want a particular kind of food or drink very much I'm starving. I could murder a curry.
scream blue murder
(British, American & Australian informal) also scream bloody murder (American & Australian informal) to shout or to complain very loudly Readers screamed blue murder when the price of their daily paper went up. Someone took the child's ice cream away and he started screaming bloody murder.
get away with
1. Escape the consequences or blame for, as in Bill often cheats on exams but usually gets away with it. [Late 1800s]
2. get away with murder. Escape the consequences of killing someone; also, do anything one wishes. For example, If the jury doesn't convict him, he'll have gotten away with murder, or He talks all day on the phone-the supervisor is letting him get away with murder. [First half of 1900s]
murder will out
Certain news cannot be suppressed, as in He's being charged with embezzlement and fraud-murder will out, you know. This expression already appeared in Chaucer's The Nun's Priest's Tale: "Murder will out that we see day by day." [Late 1300s]
scream bloody murder
Angrily protest as loudly as possible, as in When Jimmy took her teddy bear, Lauren screamed bloody murder, or Residents are screaming bloody murder about the increase in property taxes. The scream here may be either literal (as in the first example) or figurative, which is also true of invoking murder as though one were in danger of being killed. Versions of this term, such as cry murder, date from the 1400s.
murder
and slaughter tv. to overwhelm; to beat someone in a sports contest. We went out on the field prepared to slaughter them. The murdered us in the second half.
scream bloody murder
tv. to scream very loudly; to complain or protest loudly. She screams bloody murder every time I get near her.
get away with murder
Informal To escape punishment for or detection of an egregiously blameworthy act.
murder will out
Secrets or misdeeds will eventually be disclosed.