boot

boots and all completely. Australian & New Zealand informal

1947Dan DavinThe Rest of Our Lives The next thing he'll do is counter-attack, boots and all.

the boot is on the other foot the situation has reversed.

☞ A North American variant is the shoe is on the other foot.

die with your boots on: seedie.

fill someone's boots: see fill someone's shoes atfill.

fill your boots: seefill.

get the boot be dismissed from your job or position. informal

☞ Get the boot comes from the idea of being literally kicked out, as does give someone the boot. A facetious expansion of this idiom is get the Order of the Boot.

hang up your boots: seehang.

lick someone's boots: seelick.

put the boot in treat someone brutally, especially when they are vulnerable. British informal

☞ The literal sense is 'kick someone hard when they are already on the ground'.

seven-league boots the ability to travel very fast on foot.

☞ This phrase comes from the fairy story of Hop o' my Thumb, in which magic boots enable the wearer to travel seven leagues at each stride (a 'league' is an old measure of length, equal to about three miles).

shake in your boots: see shake in your shoes atshake.

to boot as well; in addition. informal

☞ Boot here has nothing to do with footwear but comes from an Old English word meaning 'good, profit, or advantage'. It survives for the most part only in this phrase and in bootless meaning 'unavailing or profitless'.

2014JayneOur Great Southern Land I have really got to applaud the builders next door; … they've restumped the house while extending it and have done a bloody ripper of a job to boot.

too big for your boots: seebig.

tough as old boots: seetough.

you can bet your boots: seebet.

your heart sinks into your boots used to express a feeling of sudden sadness or dismay.