gentleman

a gentleman and a scholar

cliché Someone (usually a male, due to the gender implication of "gentleman") who is admirable or of high esteem. Although used sincerely as a compliment, it is generally bombastic and lighthearted in nature. Thank you for helping me move into the new house, you are truly a gentleman and a scholar.
See also: and, gentleman, scholar

a scholar and a gentleman

Someone (usually a male, due to the gender implication of "gentleman") who is admirable or of high esteem. Although used sincerely as a compliment, it is generally bombastic and lighthearted in nature. Thank you for helping me move into the new house, you are truly a scholar and a gentleman.
See also: and, gentleman, scholar

break it up

To stop a fight, especially a physical altercation. Often used an imperative addressing those fighting. Whoa, break it up, you two! When the teacher saw the two boys shove each other, she came running over to try to break it up.
See also: break, up

gentleman of the four outs

An upstart. The four "outs" in question (that the person is living without) are manners, money, credit, and wit. I can't stand the young new partner at the firm—I can see that he's a gentleman of the four outs.
See also: four, gentleman, of, out

gentleman's agreement

A legally non-binding arrangement that is guaranteed only by a verbal or mutually understood agreement by the parties involved. Though my father left me his entire estate in his will, I made a gentleman's agreement with my brother to share the wealth equally between us.
See also: agreement

gentleman's pact

A legally non-binding arrangement that is guaranteed only by a verbal or mutually understood agreement by the parties involved. Though my father left me his entire estate in his will, I made a gentleman's pact with my brother to share the wealth equally between us.

ladies and gentlemen

A phrase typically used to address a crowd or audience consisting of men and women. Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention to the main stage for the start of our show! Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?
See also: and, gentleman, lady

man/woman/gentleman/lady of leisure

Someone who has enough money that they do not need to work for a living, and therefore can spend their time however they please. The group mostly consists of ladies of leisure who use their time, money, and influence to help charity causes. I tried my hand at a variety of professions, but in the end, the life that suits me best is that of a man of leisure.
See also: gentleman, lady, leisure, man, of, woman

the little gentleman in the velvet coat

obsolete, literary A humorous name for the mole. The ground was dotted with tiny hills. "What is it that made these?" I asked my uncle. "Why, the little gentleman in the velvet coat," he replied, suppressing a smile.
See also: coat, gentleman, little, velvet
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

break it up

see under break up.
See also: break, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a gentleman's agreement

or

a gentlemen's agreement

A gentleman's agreement or a gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement that is not written down but in which people trust one another to do what they have promised. We had no contract; it was done by a gentleman's agreement. I'm hoping we can come to a gentlemen's agreement, Colonel.
See also: agreement
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a gentleman's agreement

an arrangement or understanding which is based on the trust of both or all parties, rather than being legally binding.
1991 Charles Anderson Grain: Entrepreneurs There had been a ‘gentleman's agreement’ by the Grain Growers not to enter the markets of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's predecessor.
See also: agreement

the little gentleman in the velvet coat

the mole. humorous
This expression was a toast used by the Jacobites, supporters of the deposed James II and his descendants in their claim to the British throne. It referred to the belief that the death of King William III resulted from complications following a fall from his horse when it stumbled over a molehill. The phrase is found in various other forms, including the wee gentleman in black velvet .
See also: coat, gentleman, little, velvet
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

a ˌgentleman’s aˈgreement

(also a ˌgentlemen’s aˈgreement) an agreement, a contract, etc. in which nothing is written down because both people trust each other not to break it: ‘Why don’t you tell him you don’t want to sell it now?’ ‘I can’t possibly. It was a gentleman’s agreement and I must keep to it.’
See also: agreement
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

gentleman and a scholar, a

Well behaved and well educated. This term dates from the days when only well-born boys and men (or those who entered a religious order) received any education at all. Its earliest appearance in print was in George Peele’s Merrie Conceited Jests of 1607 (“He goes directly to the Mayor, tels him he was a Scholler and a Gentleman”). It probably was close to being a cliché by the time Robert Burns used it jokingly in his The Twa Dogs (1786): “His locked, letter’d braw brass collar shew’d him the gentleman an’ scholar.”
See also: and, gentleman
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

a gentleman and a scholar

A complimentary term for a person, especially one who has done you a favor. Back in the era when courteous behavior and academic achievement were prized far more highly than they are today, acknowledging a kindness, such as holding the door or relinquishing a place on line so that someone else could get a taxi, would be met with a smile, a nod, and the phrase, “You are a scholar and a gentleman.”
See also: and, gentleman, scholar
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • a gentleman and a scholar
  • gentleman and a scholar, a
  • scholar
  • (Do) (you) come here often?
  • Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!
  • a sight to behold
  • do not pass Go, do not collect $200
  • do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars
  • 200
  • (you) can't please everyone
References in classic literature
'The kind and blessed gentleman which is so amny parents to you, Oliver, when you have none of your own: are a going to 'prentice you: and to set you up in life, and make a man of you: although the expense to the parish is three pound ten!--three pound ten, Oliver!--seventy shillins--one hundred and forty sixpences!--and all for a naughty orphan which noboday can't love.'
Bumble instructed Oliver that all he would have to do, would be to look very happy, and say, when the gentleman asked him if he wanted to be apprenticed, that he should like it very much indeed; both of which injunctions Oliver promised to obey: the rather as Mr.
Oliver Twist Or The Parish Boys Progress
Thou'st no delight in following the hounds as an Englishwoman should have,' said the gentleman. 'See to this here.
'He's an idiot, the woman says,' observed the gentleman, shaking his head; 'I don't believe it.'
Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty
'That night, after we had went to bed, I said to Gentleman, "Gentleman," I says, "what's going to be done about this?
'"Things is running our way," says Gentleman to me, after one of these meetings.
The Man Upstairs and Other Stories
'Never, my dear,' returned the old gentleman, 'except when he went to Margate one Saturday with Mr Tomkinley that had been a teacher at that school he went to, and came back upon the Monday; but he was very ill after that, you remember, my dear; it was quite a dissipation.'
In all other respects, in the neatness of the dress, and even in the club-foot, he and the old gentleman were precisely alike.
The Old Curiosity Shop
It was put an end to by the fair gentleman, in his own pleasant way.
I Say No
Now, Sir, come along;' and the stout gentleman extended his arm, and pulled first Mr.
Pickwick acknowledged the compliment, and cordially shook hands with the stout gentleman in the top-boots.
The Posthumous Papers Of The Pickwick Club
Yesterday some foreign fishermen came to sell their fish here; they were lodged yonder among the Scots; that is to say, on the road the general took with this gentleman, to go to the abbey, and to return from it.
"No, but I repeat it was one of them who lighted the general and this gentleman to the abbey, and Digby assures us that the general had strong suspicions concerning those people.
Ten Years Later
The former victor lay breathless on the ground, and the vanquished gentleman had recovered breath enough to thank Mr Jones for his seasonable assistance; he received likewise the hearty thanks of the young woman present, who was indeed no other than Miss Nancy, the eldest daughter of the house.
And now the young gentleman, whose name was Nightingale, very strenuously insisted that his deliverer should take part of a bottle of wine with him; to which Jones, after much entreaty, consented, though more out of complacence than inclination; for the uneasiness of his mind fitted him very little for conversation at this time.
The History of Tom Jones a Foundling