city

Related to city: City College

(some city's) finest

The police force of a particular city. New York's finest were able to apprehend the thief.
See also: fin

(you) can't fight city hall

You cannot defeat or prevail over a bureaucratic system or its rules. You might as well pay those parking tickets now because you'll never win in court. You can't fight city hall, after all.
See also: city, fight, hall

a great city, a great solitude

proverb A reference to the intense loneliness that one can feel in a city, even while surrounded by people. I thought my depression would get better once I moved to the bustling city, but I actually feel worse. I guess it's true what they say—a great city, a great solitude.
See also: great

Barf City

Someone or something that is very unpleasant or repulsive. "Barf" is a slang term meaning "vomit." I'm not going to prom with that zit-faced nerd! Barf City! A: "Mom wants us to spend all day cleaning out the garage." B: "Ugh, Barf City."
See also: barf, city

cardboard city

An area heavily populated by homeless people (who sometimes use cardboard for warmth or makeshift shelter). Our local government does little to help the cardboard city, and it just keeps growing in size.
See also: city

city slicker

A derisive term for a city dweller who is assumed to be (or actually is) completely ignorant of life in a rural setting, and/or suave and deceptive. Look at that fool city slicker—he has no idea how to get that horse to listen to him. Don't let that city slicker con you out of all your hard-earned money!
See also: city, slicker

fat city

1. A secure and pleasant situation, often financially. (The phrase can also be capitalized, as if "Fat City" were an actual place.) Grandpa will be living in fat city once his pension checks start rolling in.
2. Referring to being fat or obese. My New Year's resolution is to get out of fat city, so I've started working with a dietician.
See also: city, fat

go fight city hall

One cannot defeat or prevail over a bureaucratic system or its rules (despite the connotation of the phrase as an encouragement of action). Good luck fighting those parking tickets—you might as well go fight city hall!
See also: city, fight, go, hall

marble city

1. A cemetery. (A reference to headstones and monuments.) My wife and I went to book a plot of land in the marble city for when the time comes.
2. A yard or other area featuring many statues. The site on the outskirts of the city is a bizarre little marble city where the stone visages and iconography of the former regime have been preserved for future generations to learn about.
See also: city, marble

marble orchard

1. A cemetery. (A reference to headstones and monuments.) My wife and I went to book a plot of land in the marble orchard for when the time comes.
2. A yard or other area featuring many statues. The bizarre site on the outskirts of the city is a marble orchard where the visages and iconography of the former regime have been preserved in stone.
See also: marble, orchard

sanctuary city

A US city that protects undocumented immigrants through limited involvement or cooperation with federal immigration regulations or authorities. Primarily heard in US. That new immigration law threatens to jeopardize sanctuary cities.
See also: city

The City that Never Sleeps

A nickname for New York City. As I stood amidst the bright lights and bustling crowds of Times Square, I could see why they call it The City that Never Sleeps.
See also: city, never, Sleep, that

the Eternal City

Rome, Italy. The celebrated singer is traveling to the Eternal City for a performance at the Vatican for the Pope himself!
See also: city, eternal
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

city slicker

someone from the city who is not familiar with country ways. Them city slickers think we're stupid just because we talk different. The city slicker didn't know the first thing about fishing for trout.
See also: city, slicker

(You) can't fight city hall.

Fig. There is no way to win in a battle against a bureaucracy. Bill: I guess I'll go ahead and pay the tax bill. Bob: Might as well. You can't fight city hall. Mary: How did things go at your meeting with the zoning board? Sally: I gave up. Can't fight city hall.
See also: city, fight, hall
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

can't fight City Hall

Unable to overcome bureaucratic rules, as in Brad couldn't get a permit without going through channels-you can't fight City Hall! This term transfers the seat of city government to a more general sense of bureaucracy in any sphere. [Mid-1800s]
See also: city, fight, hall

fat city

Also, Fat City. A condition or circumstance marked by considerable prosperity or having a superior advantage. For example, With that new job she'll be in fat city. [Slang; 1960s] Also see easy street.
See also: city, fat
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the Eternal City

a name for the city of Rome.
See also: city, eternal

marble orchard

a cemetery. informal humorous
See also: marble, orchard
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

Barf City

n. someone or something disgusting or undesirable. (Barf = vomit.) The guy is so gross! Just plain Barf City!
See also: barf, city

cement city

n. a cemetery. I’m too young to end up in cement city.
See also: cement, city

fat city

1. n. a state of wealth and comfort; easy street. She’s living in fat city ever since she inherited her fortune.
2. n. fatness (expressed as a place). I’ve had it with fat city. I’m going on a diet.
See also: city, fat

Headstone City

n. a cemetery. Our house is just one block after the large Headstone City on the left.
See also: city

marble orchard

and Marble City
n. a cemetery. I already bought a little plot in a marble orchard. There is a huge Marble City south of town.
See also: marble, orchard

Marble City

verb
See marble orchard
See also: city, marble

You can’t fight city hall

sent. You cannot fight a bureaucracy. You can’t fight city hall. Pay the parking ticket and forget it.
See also: city, fight, hall
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

can't fight City Hall, one/you/they

An ordinary person cannot overcome bureaucracy. The term is American in origin, for it is mainly in the United States that the seat of a city government is called City Hall (and has been since the late seventeenth century). The idea of combating the city bureaucracy is believed to date from the nineteenth century, when Tammany Hall was a powerful political machine that controlled the New York Democratic Party and, in effect, the city government.
See also: city, fight, one

city slicker

A smart, sophisticated urbanite. This American colloquialism, dating from the 1920s, is presumably taken from the adjective “slick” in the sense of smooth and plausible. The cliché gained renewed currency with two motion pictures, City Slickers (1991) and its 1994 sequel. The first film, which won Jack Palance an Oscar for best supporting actor, concerns three city-dwelling friends who sign up for a two-week cattle drive.
See also: city, slicker

fat city

Prosperous circumstances. This slangy Americanism originated about the middle of the twentieth century and is on its way to becoming a cliché. “This last jump in the Dow average has put Mr. Welch in fat city” (Boston Globe, 1987).
See also: city, fat

you can't fight City Hall

See can't fight city hall.
See also: city, fight, hall
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

go fight city hall

The futility of challenging entrenched politicians or establishment. Although sounding like a call to action, the phrase means that any effort to succeed against bureaucracy is doomed to failure. It was popularized, although not coined, in the book Go Fight City Hall by Ethel Rosenberg, who with her husband Julius was later executed after being convicted of spying for Russia.
See also: city, fight, go, hall
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • (some city's) finest
  • finest
  • set a thief to catch a thief
  • boys in blue
  • men (and women) in blue
  • men in blue
  • catch (one) in the act
  • catch in the act
  • catch somebody in the act
  • caught in the act
References in classic literature
I loathe also this great city, and not only this fool.
Woe to this great city!--And I would that I already saw the pillar of fire in which it will be consumed!
Thus Spake Zarathustra
And then the great gate in the city wall opposite the platform of Hortan Gur swung suddenly wide.
Thar Ban and another by the side of the rostrum had been the first to note the coming of Carthoris, and it was with them he battled for possession of the red girl, while the others hastened to meet the host advancing from the beleaguered city.
Thuvia Maid of Mars
He showed us all that was of interest in his great city.
He showed us the heating system that stores the sun's rays in great reservoirs beneath the city, and how little is necessary to maintain the perpetual summer heat of the glorious garden spot within this arctic paradise.
Warlord of Mars
Mass together all the telephones of London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffleld, Bristol, and Belfast, and there will even then be barely as many as are carrying the conversations of this one American city.
Between seven and eight twenty-five thousand people have called up twenty-five thousand other people, so that there are as many people talking by wire as there were in the whole city of New York in the Revolutionary period.
History of the Telephone
We march to conquer the Emerald City -- to dethrone the Scarecrow King -- to acquire thousands of gorgeous gems -- to rifle the royal treasury -- and to obtain power over our former oppressors!"
The Marvelous Land of Oz
Then into the expectant hush came a great crash and uproar, the breaking down of the Brooklyn Bridge, the rifle fire from the Navy Yard, and the bursting of bombs in Wall Street and the City Hall.
The War in the Air
It wouldn't do to have everyone live in the Emerald City, you know, for some must plow the land and raise grains and fruits and vegetables, while others chop wood in the forests, or fish in the rivers, or herd the sheep and the cattle."
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
On the arrival of Tom and his friends at the Indian's hut, Goosal told, in language which Professor Bumper could understand, the ancient legend of the buried city as he had had it from his grandfather.
Tom Swift In The Land Of Wonders
As we have just said, each of these three great divisions of Paris was a town, but too special a town to be complete, a city which could not get along without the other two.
Notre Dame de Paris
From this point of vantage he saw that the city was long and narrow, and that while the outer walls formed a perfect rectangle, the streets within were winding.
Tarzan the Untamed
They had difficulty in negotiating some of the doorways, but as the buildings fronting the city's principal exposures were all designed upon a magnificent scale, they were able to wriggle through without sticking fast; and thus we finally made the inner court where I found, as I had expected, the usual carpet of moss-like vegetation which would prove their food and drink until I could return them to their own enclosure.
Princess of Mars