Midas
have the Midas touch
1. To have the ability to easily turn a large profit. (In Greek mythology, King Midas had the power to turn everything he touched to gold.) The new sales rep seemed to have the Midas touch, turning every lead she found into a sale.
2. To have the ability to produce successful results. The young football couch had the Midas touch as he led his undefeated team through a perfect season.
See also: have, Midas, touch
the Midas touch
Derived from the Greek myth of the king of Phrygia, Midas, who asked the gods to grant him the ability to turn whatever he touched to gold.
1. The ability to easily turn a large profit. The new sales rep seemed to have the Midas touch, turning every lead she found into a sale.
2. The ability to produce successful results. The young football couch had the Midas touch as he led his undefeated team through a perfect season.
See also: Midas, touch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
have the Midas touch
Fig. to have the ability to be successful, especially the ability to make money easily. (From the name of a legendary king whose touch turned everything to gold.) Bob is a merchant banker and really has the Midas touch. The poverty-stricken boy turned out to have the Midas touch and was a millionaire by the time he was twenty-five.
See also: have, Midas, touch
*tight as a drum
1. stretched tight. (*Also: as ~.) Julia stretched the upholstery fabric over the seat of the chair until it was as tight as a drum. The skin on his scalp is tight as a drum.
2. sealed tight. (*Also: as ~.) Now that I've caulked all the windows, the house should be tight as a drum. Your butterfly died because the jar is as tight as a drum.
3. and *tight as Midas's fist very stingy. (*Also: as ~.) He won't contribute a cent. He's as tight as a drum. Old Mr. Robinson is tight as Midas's fist. Won't spend money on anything.
See also: drum, tight
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
tight as a drum
Taut or close-fitting; also, watertight. For example, That baby's eaten so much that the skin on his belly is tight as a drum, or You needn't worry about leaks; this tent is tight as a drum. Originally this expression alluded to the skin of a drumhead, which is tightly stretched, and in the mid-1800s was transferred to other kinds of tautness. Later, however, it sometimes referred to a drum-shaped container, such as an oil drum, which had to be well sealed to prevent leaks, and the expression then signified "watertight."
See also: drum, tight
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
the Midas touch
the ability to make money out of anything that you undertake.In classical legend, Midas was a king of Phrygia (in Asia Minor) who had the power to turn everything he touched into gold.
See also: Midas, touch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
the ˈMidas touch
the ability to be very successful in making money: Stephanie has the Midas touch — she makes lots of money whatever she does.In Greek legend, whatever King Midas touched turned to gold.See also: Midas, touch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
Midas touch, the
The ability to make any undertaking extremely profitable. According to legend, Midas, King of Phrygia, asked the gods that everything he touched would turn into gold. Dionysus granted his request, but when the very food Midas wished to eat turned to gold, he asked the gods to take back their gift. Dionysus then ordered Midas to bathe in the River Pactolus, thereby washing away the gift. By the seventeenth century the idea was applied figuratively to any person with a gift for making money. See also rich as Croesus.
See also: Midas
tight as a drum
Close-fitting and taut. The analogy is to the skin of the drumhead, which is tightly stretched so that when it is struck the drum sounds as it should. This term was transferred in the nineteenth century to anything stretched taut; Thomas Hughes (Tom Brown’s School Days, 1857) described his hero as having eaten so much that “his little skin is as tight as a drum.” In succeeding years, however, the analogy itself was sometimes to a drum-shaped container for liquids, such as an oil drum, which of course must be well sealed to prevent leakage. Hence the expression “tight as a drum” also became synonymous with “watertight,” as in “The shelter they rigged up was as tight as a drum.”
See also: drum, tight
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- have the Midas touch
- golden touch
- have (the) golden touch
- a touch of (something)
- touch of
- touche
- Midas touch, the
- the Midas touch
- be, etc. in/out of touch
- be, keep, etc. in touch