net

all is fish that comes to his net

A phrase that describes one's ability to make use of anything available. I don't know how Chris fixed his car with the few tools he had with him at the time, but he's so smart like that—all is fish that comes to his net.
See also: all, come, fish, net, that

cast (one's) net wide

To consider a variety of options. I always encourage my students to cast their nets wide when contemplating potential careers.
See also: cast, net, wide

cast (one's) net wider

To broaden one's search or criteria for something, thus giving oneself more options. A: "I don't know why John has only applied to Ivy League schools when he only has average grades." B: "I know, I've told him to cast his net wider."
See also: cast, net, wider

find the net

In sports that use netted goals (e.g., soccer, hurling, hockey, etc.) or hoops (e.g., basketball), to score a goal or point by sending the ball or puck into the net. Their offense played brilliantly today, but they just weren't able to find the net often enough to secure a win.
See also: find, net

net result

The outcome after everything—good and bad—has been taken into account. I know we've had to make some unsavory choices to get here, but if the net result is a benefit to the world, then isn't that worth it in the end? Once you factor in income tax, offset by your business deductions, the net result should be a sizable chunk of money.
See also: net, result

safety net

A collection of resources available for use in case of problems, often financial ones. With the unpredictability of freelance work, I always make sure I have money in my savings account as a safety net. Cuts to welfare are just one example of how society's safety net has been weakened.
See also: net, safety

slip through the net

To go unnoticed or undealt with; to be unintentionally neglected or ignored, especially in a corporate, political, or social system. With other issues like drug addiction and unemployment taking priority for the government, the welfare of children in the foster system very often slips through the net. We were all so busy drawing up the contracts for this new deal that the appreciation dinner we'd promised to our interns simply slipped through the net.
See also: net, slip, through

spread (one's) net wide

To consider a variety of options. I always encourage my students to spread their nets wide when contemplating potential careers.
See also: net, spread, wide

surf the net

To browse the various content of the Internet. With the ubiquity of affordable smartphones and computers, everyone from seniors to preschoolers is able to surf the net these days. I just worry that he spends too much time surfing the net alone instead of hanging out with other kids his age.
See also: net, surf

work without a net

To take action that is risky or otherwise does not utilize or rely on things that provide safety. Your company doesn't have insurance? Personally, I would never work without a net like that. I used to be afraid of giving up my day job to pursue my art professionally, but working without a net has been freeing. I feel like I finally have enough time and energy to truly tap into my creativity.
See also: net, without, work
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

surf the Net

to browse around in the contents of the Internet. I spend an hour a day or more surfing the Net.
See also: net, surf
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

cast your net wider

or

cast the net wider

COMMON If you cast your net wider or cast the net wider, you include a larger number of people or things, especially when considering or choosing someone or something. The easiest way to find members is through friends of friends but if you want to cast the net wider, put an ad in your local bookshop. We will cast the net wider to look at other factors too. Note: You can also say that you cast your net wide, meaning that you include a large number of people or things. Clarke, as director of training, decided to cast the net wide in the search for the best candidates. England's selectors have been careful to cast their net wide to prepare for the World Cup. Note: The verb spread is sometimes used instead of cast. Ferguson advised him to spread the net wide in his search for players. Police had searched the local area and found nothing so they were spreading their net wider.
See also: cast, net, wider

slip through the net

BRITISH
COMMON
1. If someone or something slips through the net, they are not helped or noticed by the people or system that should protect or deal with them. Somehow, these children have managed to slip through the net of health service providers. Faulty tests may mean infected animals are slipping through the net. Despite being the female lead in the most successful film of 1989, Kensit seemed to slip through the net of casting directors. Note: You can also say fall through the net with the same meaning. Doctors are concerned that patients will fall through the net under the new system.
2. If someone who is behaving illegally slips through the net, they avoid being noticed and caught by the system that is meant to catch them. Police admit that under the new system, the killer would probably still have slipped through the net.
3. If illegal goods slip through the net, they are not found by the system which is meant to discover them. A shipment of 44 kilos of cocaine slipped through the customs net at Gatwick. Note: The usual American expression is fall through the cracks.
See also: net, slip, through
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

slip (or fall) through the net

escape from or be missed by something organized to catch or deal with you.
1977 Margaret Drabble The Ice Age Britain is, after all, a welfare state, and not many slip through its net.
See also: net, slip, through

surf the net

move from site to site on the Internet.
Surf here comes from channel-surfing , the practice of switching frequently between channels on a television set in an attempt to find an interesting programme.
See also: net, surf
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

cast/spread your net ˈwide

consider a wide range of possibilities or cover a large area, especially to try to find somebody/something: Unless we spread our net a bit wider, this company will never get enough business.
See also: cast, net, spread, wide

slip through the ˈnet

when somebody/something slips through the net, an organization or a system fails to find them/it and deal with them/it: We tried to contact all former students, but one or two slipped through the net.
See also: net, slip, through
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

net result

n. the final result after all the assets and liabilities have balanced out. I don’t care about the little things. What is the net result?
See also: net, result

surf the net

tv. to browse through the offerings of the internet. He surfs the net for three hours each evening.
See also: net, surf
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • beck and call
  • 57
  • Heinz
  • Heinz 57
  • Heinz 57 (variety)
  • Heinz 57 variety
  • et tu, Brute?
  • short hairs
  • sure as eggs is eggs
  • (as) sure as eggs (is eggs)
References in periodicals archive
Grace Poe came in at ninth spot with a net worth of P93,039,921.54.
Villar, Pacquiao still richest senators
Amateur Category Net: Mohammad Adnan (WWG, 137); Captain Alam Afzal PN (MGGC, 140).
CNS Golf Cup continues
Weight of a net depends partly on the denier and partly on the number of stitches per square meter or net.
To net or not to net: bird netting is aggravating but effective; what growers should look for
Nationwide, regional and Internet banks remained net buyers for the 10th consecutive week.
Nonresidents remain net stock buyers for 12th straight month
Valuation events: In the proposed regulations, Treasury and the Service requested comments on the type of events that should give rise to a re-determination of a disregarded entity's value once net value is initially determined.
Final regs. on treatment of disregarded entities under Sec. 752
The financial management and development committee had alerted CoGS to the "potential suspension" of the Letting Down the Nets work due to lack of funds.
ABC storefront will close: CoGS throws lifeline to stewardship initiative
Earnings can be measured by net income, pretax income, net cash flow, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), or earnings before interest, taxes, or depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
What's your company worth?
FreePress.Net provides the latest news articles on net neutrality.
Ask FERF about ... net neutrality
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings reported a second-quarter net loss of $26.4 million, widened from a net loss of $1.67 million in the year-ago quarter.President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said the carrier's earnings were affected negatively by rising fuel costs and an "increase in competitor capacity" on both inter-island flights and transpacific routes.
Airline Finance News - North America
Whoever manages the family's finances should use a financial calculator, run the numbers, and keep track of your net worth by writing out your assets and liabilities and calculating the difference.
The $5 million retirement plan: focusing on a positive net worth is leading the Thomas family to early retirement
Net earnings equals payroll disbursements less personal share of employment taxes, plus other labor income and proprietors' income.
Boom time for earnings
He casts his gentle net of words here and there: "Come follow me.
Shore leave: in the midst of the business of our lives, can we drop our nets and follow Jesus' invitation? (testaments)
In 2000, in Intermet Corp., 209 F3d 901, the Sixth Circuit had determined Treasury regulations sections 1.1502-11 and 1.1502-21 allowed net operating losses to be carried back for 10 years to the extent consolidated product liability losses exceeded the consolidated net operating loss.
Consolidated carryback of product liability expenses
The differential is especially egregious when there are cross-payments due -- which may net to zero (or even result in the taxpayer's being a net creditor of the government) -- and yet those payments create an interest charge to the taxpayer.
TEI comments on clarification of interest netting rules
THE TERM "NET.ART" is less a coinage than an accident, the result of a software glitch that occurred in December 1995, when Slovenian artist Vuk Cosic opened an anonymous e-mail only to find it had been mangled in transmission.
Web Work: A HISTORY OF INTERNET ART