[ante up] , To produce the required amount of money in order to close a transaction; to pay what one owes. * /"I guess I'd better ante up if I want to stay an active member of the Association", Max said./
[ants in one's pants] , Nervous over-activity; restlessness. * /Jane can not sit still; she has ants in her pants./ * /You have ants in your pants today. Is something wrong?/
[a number] A rather large number; numbers. - Used when there arc more than several and fewer than many. * /The parents were invited to see the program, and a number came./ * /We knew the Smiths rattier well; we had visited them a number of times./ - Used like an adjective before "less", "more". * /We have not set up enough folding chairs; we need a number more./ Compare: QUITE A FEW.
[any] See: HARDLY ANY or SCARCELY ANY.
[any number] , A large number; many. * /There are any number of reasons for eating good food./ * /Don't ask George what his excuse is. He can invent any number./ Compare: A LOT, A NUMBER, GOOD MANY.
[any old how] / [any old way] , Doing something in a casual, haphazard, or careless way. * /"John," the teacher said, "you can't just do your homework any old way; you must pay attention to my instructions!"/
[any port in a storm] Any help is welcome in an emergency. - A proverb. * /The motel we stopped in was nothing to brag about, but we were so exhausted that it was a clear case of any port in a storm./
[anything] See: HAVE NOTHING ON or NOT HAVE ANYTHING ON, IF ANYTHING.
[anything but] Quite the opposite of; far from being. * /I don't mean he's lazy - anything but!/ * /The boys knew they had broken the rules, and they were anything but happy when they were called to the office./
[anything like] or [anywhere near] Nearly. - Used in negative, interrogative, and conditional sentences, often in the negative forms "nothing like" or "nowhere near". * /It's not anything like as hot today as it was yesterday./ * /Do you think that gold ring is worth anywhere near a hundred dollars?/ * /Today's game was nowhere near as exciting as yesterday's game./ * /Studying that lesson should take nothing like two hours./
[anywhere near] See: ANYTHING LIKE or ANYWHERE NEAR.
[any which way] See: EVERY WHICH WAY.
[apart] See: JOKING ASIDE or JOKING APART, POLES APART, TELL APART.
[apart from] or [aside from] Beside or besides; in addition to. * /The children hardly see anyone, apart from their parents./ * /Aside from being fun and good exercise, swimming is a very useful skill./ Syn.: EXCEPT FOR, OUTSIDE OF.
