Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a removable or hinged cover for closing the opening, usually at the top, of a pot, jar, trunk, etc.; a movable cover.
- an eyelid.
- a restraint, ceiling, or curb, as on prices or news.
- Slang. a hat, cap, or other head covering.
- (in mosses)
- the cover of the capsule; operculum.
- the upper section of a pyxidium.
- Slang. one ounce of marijuana.
verb (used with object), lid·ded, lid·ding.
- to supply or cover with a lid.
- blow/flip one’s lid, Slang. to lose control, especially to rage hysterically: He nearly flipped his lid over the way they damaged his car.Also flip one’s wig.
- blow the lid off, Informal. to expose to public view, especially to reveal something scandalous, illegal, etc.
noun
- a cover, usually removable or hinged, for a receptaclea saucepan lid; a desk lid
- short for eyelid
- botany another name for operculum (def. 2)
- slang short for skidlid
- US old-fashioned, slang a quantity of marijuana, usually an ounce
- dip one’s lid Australian informal to raise one’s hat as a greeting, etc
- flip one’s lid slang to become crazy or angry
- put the lid on informal
- Britishto be the final blow to
- to curb, prevent, or discourage
- take the lid off informal to make startling or spectacular revelations about
mid-13c., from Old English hlid “lid, cover, opening, gate,” from Proto-Germanic *khlithan (cf. Old Norse hlið “gate, gap,” Swedish lid “gate,” Old French hlid, Middle Dutch lit, Dutch lid, Old High German hlit “lid, cover”), from PIE root *klei- “to lean” (see lean (v.)), with here perhaps the sense of “that which bends over.” Meaning “eyelid” is from early 13c. Slang sense of “hat, cap” is attested from 1896. Slang phrase put a lid on “clamp down on, silence, end” is from 1906.
Also, flip one’s wig; flip out. React very strongly or wildly, as with anger, surprise, or excitement; also, go crazy. For example, I’m going to flip my lid if he doesn’t show up, or She really flipped out when she realized that she had won first prize, or I think Rob has flipped his wig. These slangy expressions, with their allusion to losing the top of one’s head, date from the 1930s and 1940s.
see blow the lid off; flip one’s lid; put the lid on.