close the door
v. phr.— «At 200 metres to go, with the peloton together as they approached the line, the Belgian Tom Boonen jumped a length clear, and McEwen sprinted hard to grab the favoured position, directly behind the leader, ready to pounce. But O’Grady had a similar idea. And as he moved alongside McEwen he “closed the door” in cycling parlance, by moving deftly to the left. Finding himself hopelessly blocked in, McEwen did the first thing that came to his head: he used it to try and force O’Grady out of the way, not once but twice.» —“Tour rider disqualified for head-butt” by Richard Moore in Tours, France Scotsman (Glasgow, Scotland) July 5, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...