foam
foam at the mouth
1. Literally, to produce foam from one's mouth, as due to a disease or other ailment. All of a sudden she collapsed in a fit, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
2. Figuratively, to be viciously and uncontrollably angry or upset. The protesters had formed outside the courthouse, foaming at the mouth as the alleged murderer made his way up the steps.
See also: foam, mouth
foam up
To achieve a foamy, sudsy, or frothy consistency. The soap started to foam up once I mixed it with water.
See also: foam, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
foam at the mouth
1. Lit. to create froth or foam around the mouth, as with some diseases. The poor dog was foaming at the mouth and looked quite dangerous. What does it mean when a cow foams at the mouth?
2. Fig. to be extraordinarily angry. She was almost foaming at the mouth when she heard about the cost of the car repairs. Walter was foaming at the mouth with rage.
See also: foam, mouth
foam up
[for something, such as soap or milk] to make foam or lather. Milk will foam up when it is boiled. The boiling soup foamed up and slopped over the pot.
See also: foam, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
foam at the mouth
Be extremely angry, as in She was foaming at the mouth over the judge's ruling. This hyperbolic term uses the verb foam in the sense of "froth at the mouth," a usage generally applied to animals such as horses and dating from about a.d. 950. [1400s]
See also: foam, mouth
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
foam at the mouth
orfroth at the mouth
1. If someone foams at the mouth or froths at the mouth, they are very angry. Stewart was still foaming at the mouth about the incident when we spoke. The mere mention of `political correctness' is enough to cause journalists to froth at the mouth.
2. If someone foams at the mouth or froths at the mouth, they are very excited about something. The news that the team's top player is up for sale at the end of the season has got Premier League bosses foaming at the mouth in excitement. A new vintage home store has got A-list celebrities frothing at the mouth with excitement. Note: To foam or froth at the mouth literally means to produce a lot of foam or froth in the form of saliva. This is associated especially with having the disease rabies.
See also: foam, mouth
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
foam at the ˈmouth
(informal) be extremely angry: He stood there foaming at the mouth. I’ve never seen anybody so angry.If an animal foams at the mouth, it has a mass of small bubbles in and around its mouth, especially because it is very ill or angry.
See also: foam, mouth
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
foam up
v.
To become more foamy: Shaving cream foams up when you spray it from the can.
See also: foam, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
foam
n. beer. All the guy thinks about is foam.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
foam at the mouth, to
To express fury, to rage uncontrollably. Dogs afflicted with rabies foam at the mouth, their saliva forming a frothy substance, and also behave crazily. The analogy to extreme human anger was drawn as far back as the fifteenth century, and has been a cliché since the mid-nineteenth century. Washington lrving used the expression in Salmagundi (1807–08): “I expected every moment to see them fall down in convulsions and foam at the mouth.” Isaac Disraeli (father of Benjamin) used it more figuratively still in a piece of literary criticism: “A tedious invective, foaming at the mouth of its text with quotations and authorities” (Curiosities of Literature, 1817).
See also: foam
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- foam at the mouth
- foam at the mouth, to
- froth
- froth at the mouth
- the cure is worse than the ailment
- the cure is worse than the disease
- a treatment worse than the disease
- ailment
- cure
- disease