corridors of power
corridors of power
The places or positions occupied by those with authority, especially in the upper levels of government. I want to be in the corridors of power someday—I'm sick of having to take orders from other people.
See also: corridor, of, power
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
corridors of power
The offices of powerful leaders. For example, As clerk to a Supreme Court justice, Jim thought he'd get his foot inside the corridors of power . This term was first used by C.P. Snow in his novel Homecomings (1956) for the ministries of Britain's Whitehall, with their top-ranking civil servants. Later it was broadened to any high officials.
See also: corridor, of, power
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
the corridors of power
the senior levels of government or administration, where covert influence is regarded as being exerted and significant decisions are made.This expression comes from the title of C. P. Snow 's novel The Corridors of Power ( 1964 ). Although most usual with power , the phrase can be more specifically applied to the most influential levels of the hierarchy within a particular place or organization, especially when they are regarded as operating covertly. The French word coulisse (meaning ‘the wings in a theatre’ and ‘corridor’) has a similar figurative sense of the corridor as a place of negotiation and behind-the-scenes scheming.
See also: corridor, of, power
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
the corridors of ˈpower
the places where important decisions in government are madeThis expression comes from the title of a book by C.P. Snow, published in 1964.See also: corridor, of, power
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
corridors of power
The places or positions from which people in authority wield power.
See also: corridor, of, power
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
corridors of power
The highest echelons of government bureaucracy. This term was coined in the 1956 novel Homecomings by C. P. Snow, who later used it as the title of another novel, Corridors of Power (1964). By that time Snow realized it had become a cliché, but said, “If a man hasn’t the right to his own cliché, who has?” (quoted by William Safire, New York Times, May 14, 2000). However, it is heard less often today.
See also: corridor, of, power
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- Corridor
- the corridors of power
- however
- as much as
- popcorn
- (as) busy as popcorn on a skillet
- (as) busy as a one-armed paperhanger (with an itch)
- hanger
- itch
- paperhanger