Color Idioms

**shirin71** · 07-28-2011 06:14 PM

white Idioms

as white as a ghost

- very pale because of fear or shock or illness
My sister became as white as a ghost when she saw the man at the window.

as white as a sheet

- very pale
I felt terrible this morning and in the mirror I looked as white as a sheet.

as white as the driven snow

- very white
The fur on the dog was as white as the driven snow.

black and white

- either good or bad, either one way or the other way, oversimplified
Our boss sees everything in black and white.

carte blanche

- the freedom or permission to do what you want (blanche means white in French)
The new manager was given carte blanche to change the policies in her department.

in black and white

- in writing, officially
I put down my complaint in black and white.

put (something) down in black and white

- to write the details of a contract or something on paper
I asked the buyer to put the offer to buy my car down in black and white.

raise a white flag

- to indicate that you have been defeated and that you want to give up
The soldiers raised a white flag and surrendered to the enemy.

wave a white flag

- to indicate that you have been defeated and that you want to give up
The soldiers were waving a white flag when they surrendered to the enemy.

white elephant

- a useless possession (that often costs money to maintain)
The new airport is a white elephant and nobody wants to use it.

white lie

- a harmless or small lie told to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings
I told my supervisor a white lie yesterday and said that I was sick when actually I was not.

white sale

- the selling of towels or sheets at a reduced price
We went to the white sale at the department store to buy some new sheets.

white-tie event/affair

- an event that requires guests to wear formal dress such as men wearing white bow ties with formal evening dress
I attended a white-tie dinner in honor of the president of our university.

whitewash (something)

- to cover up or gloss over faults or errors or wrongdoing
The government was accused of trying to whitewash the scandal about the illegal money.