| 单词 | to put one's finger in the dyke |
| 释义 | > as lemmasto put one's finger in the dyke u. to put one's finger in the dyke and variants: to take action to deal with a small problem or issue quickly in order to prevent it from becoming more serious; to attempt (often futilely) to stop a problem from escalating. In allusion to the tale of the Dutch boy (popularized in M. M. Doge’s Hans Brinker (1865)) who stops up a leaking dyke with his finger until help arrives.Frequently in extended metaphor. ΚΠ 1897 North-eastern Daily Gaz. (Middlesbrough) 19 Mar. 4/5 The entrance of those two outsiders within its walls would be like the leak, no bigger at first than one's finger in the dyke that keeps out the sea.] 1934 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 5 Oct. 6 FDR put his finger in the dike at just the right moment. 1956 A. Valentine Trial Balance vi. 122 Angus felt as though he were..trying to keep his finger in the dike of excellence against beating waves of mediocrity. 1972 Times 4 May 1/5 We're..trying to get the local government to form an emergency committee to keep essential services going... I've got my fingers in the dike, but I've got more holes than fingers. 2000 B. Bluestone & B. Harrison Growing Prosperity (2001) v. 153 That a purge of stock market values could lead to a worldwide recession, with only the Fed around to put its finger in the dike, is a pretty unsettling thought. 2014 Australian (Nexis) 4 Mar. 11 The Saturday Paper is there to be brandished in support of media diversity, not as a finger in the dike, holding back the tide of online media. < as lemmas |
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