image
be the (very) image of (someone)
To look exactly like someone else. Wow, you are just the very image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name.
See also: image, of
be the spit and image of (someone)
To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spit and image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spit and image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: and, image, of, spit
be the spitten image of (one)
old-fashioned To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitten image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spitten image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: image, of, spitten
be the spitting image of (one)
To look exactly like or bear a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitting image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there is the spitting image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: image, of, spit
graven image
An image of an idol, especially a carving or sculpture, that one worships (something that was expressly forbidden in the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God). Many residents have described the statues as graven images of the country's sordid past issues of slavery and racism.
See also: graven, image
image of health
One who is or looks especially healthy, robust, of full of vitality. My grandmother is nearly 70 and smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, but somehow she's still the image of health. It's amazing how having a bit of a tan can make someone an image of health.
See also: health, image, of
the living image of (someone or something)
1. One who looks exactly like someone else. Wow, you are just the living image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name.
2. Someone or something that represents or is the embodiment of something. Nanotechnology has advanced far more rapidly than any could have predicted, and she is the living image of this growing field. Working-class citizens are continuing to reject the current political establishment for being out of touch with ordinary people's lives, and this election result is the living image of that defiance.
See also: image, living, of
the spit and image of (one)
A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spit and image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spit and image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: and, image, of, spit
the spitten image of (one)
old-fashioned A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitten image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spitten image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: image, of, spitten
the spitting image of (one)
A person who looks exactly like or bears a very strong resemblance to one. Wow, you are just the spitting image of your mother! I was about to call you by her name. That guy over there looks like the spitting image of someone I went to high school with.
See also: image, of, spit
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
*spit and image of someone
and *the spitting image of someonethe very likeness of someone; a very close resemblence to someone. (*The second version is a frequent error. *Typically: be ~; look like ~.) John is the spit and image of his father. At first, I thought you were saying "spitting image."
See also: and, image, of, spit
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
spitting image
A precise resemblance, especially in closely related persons. For example, Dirk is the spitting image of his grandfather. This idiom alludes to the earlier use of the noun spit for "likeness," in turn probably derived from an old proverb, "as like as one as if he had been spit out of his mouth" (c. 1400). The current idiom dates from about 1900.
See also: image, spit
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
the spitting image
If you say that one person is the spitting image of another, you mean that the first person looks exactly like the second. He is the spitting image of his father. Now Nina looks the spitting image of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Note: People occasionally use the spit and image or the dead spit to mean the same thing. Six-month-old Caleb is the spit and image of his daddy. He was handsome — the dead spit of Tikhonov, the film actor. Note: The origin of this expression is uncertain, but it may have developed from `spirit and image'. If one person was the spirit and image of another, they were alike both in character and physical appearance.
See also: image, spit
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
a graven image
a carved representation of a god used as an object of worship.This expression is from the second of the Ten Commandments: ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’ (Exodus 20:4).
See also: graven, image
the living image of
an exact copy or likeness of.See also: image, living, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
be the image of somebody/something
,be the living/spitting/very image of somebody/something
be very similar to, or look exactly like somebody/something else: She’s the spitting image of her mother.See also: image, of, somebody, something
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
spitting image, the
An exact resemblance, usually said of parent and child or other close relatives. This term comes from the earlier spit and image, which, since spit meant “likeness,” was redundant. Nevertheless, it was widely used from the late nineteenth century on, and by the mid-twentieth century, probably through mispronunciation or misspelling, was converted to the current cliché.
See also: spit
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- be the image of somebody/something
- be the (very) image of (someone)
- be the spit and image of (someone)
- be the spitting image of (one)
- be the spitten image of (one)
- be the dead spit of (someone)
- be the spit of
- be the spit of (one)
- for all the world as if/though...
- exactly right