eye_in_the_sky


This is a list of words and phrases that have a rhyming pattern similar to that of "eye in the sky", that is, a beginning, a two syllable space, and a rhyming end.

        ace in the space (a hidden, powerful asset)
        Ada from Decatur (the point of eight, in the game of craps)
        alone on the phone (waiting for someone to come back on the phone line)
        ants in the pants (eager; restless)
        ass in the grass (of soldiers actually deployed in the field)
        back in a crack (returning quickly)
        back of the pack (the slowest runners in a race)
        back of the pack (the less obvious choices)
[drop a] bag on the hag (perform a mercy killing)
        bag with a sag (an old or unattractive woman)
        baked in the cake (built in; automatically included)
        balls to the wall (desperate; all-out)
        Battle in Seattle (the riots in Seattle during the WTO 1999 meeting)
  [the] Bay of Biscay
        bear in the air (a policeman in a helicopter)
        bears on the stairs (a prison guard tier)
        beast of the east (the champion of an eastern sports league)
   [to] beat a retreat (to withdraw; to run away)
        best for the guest (the tradition of lavish treatment of guests)
        best of the rest (second best )
  [the] best of the west (the champion of a western sports league)
    [a] bitch of a pitch (an attempt to persuade a hostile audience)
    [a] blast from the past (an unexpected reminder of the past)
        boys and their toys (a dismissive description of male preoccupation with gadgets)
   [to] buff to the stuff (to claim stolen items as one's own)
        built to the hilt (well made)
        bummer in the summer (something that ruins a good time)
   [to] cheat and retreat (a strategy of cheating, but of backing
          down whenever caught)
        Chester the Molester (a child rapist)
        class over mass (describing magazines that appeal to an 
          elite audience rather than to the masses)
        clerk of the works (an architect's employee responsible for representing
          the interests of the client, such as quality and adherence to plans)
        clocks on your socks (referring to someone who wears expensive 
          or showy clothes)
        cock of the rock (a particular bird)
        cock of the rock (the most important person locally)
        cock of the walk ([imperfect rhyme] - the most important 
          person locally)
        compare and despair (the emotional distress that arises when
          meeting one's rivals)
        cored in his Ford (killed in an car accident)
        cracks in the fax (a broken fax machine)
        crap with the clap (hazardous waste)
        croak on the smoke (to die from lung cancer)
        crone on the phone (a persistent telemarketer)
        cruisin' for a bruisin' (making trouble)
        cruising for an oozing (masturbating)
        dare to compare (a confident assertion of superiority)
        dense at the fence (many planes waiting for departure)
    [a] dent in his tent (a noticeable skull depression)
        determination for the extermination (determine the cause of death)
   [to] dicker on the sticker (negotiate for a car sale)
   [to] die for a tie (characterizing the Korean War as one in which
          the US was not allowed to win)
        docs in a box (a walk-in emergency room)
        docs versus Glocks (nickname for a proposed Florida law
          that would ban doctors from discussing gun safety with patients)
        dolt on the colt (a poor horseback rider)
        down for the count (beaten; having lost the game)
   [to] dress for success (to wear clothes intended to impress)
        drip on the lip (a cold sore)
        drunk as a skunk (very drunk)
        dude with a tude (a person with an attitude)
        dumb as they come (the epitome of stupidity)
[the thin] edge of the wedge (a small thing that is the beginning of 
          something much larger)
        eighter from Decatur (the point of eight, in the game of craps)
        expire on the wire (to die, unable to contact 911)
        eye in the sky (a spy plane or spy satellite)
        eye to the sky (of a coil of steel, resting so that the
          central gap is facing upwards)
        eyes on the prize (to remain focussed on one's goal)
        eyes to the skies (with great ambition or foresight)
        fake it til you make it (describing a strategy by Internet startup
          companies to attract venture capitalists with fantastic
          statements, in the hope that sufficient funding and time will
          allow them to fulfil their promises)
        fall in the hall (rough seas)
        femur from a lemur (a bone graft from an animal)
    [a] fin on the skin (a wart)
        fire and rehire (a threat to fire and replace employees)
        four on the floor (referring to a 4 gear stick-shift 
          transmission in a car)
        four to the floor (referring to a kind of techno music having
          an unaccented 4/4 rhythm, with a drum stroke on every beat)
        fox in the box (a spring trap)
        free as the breeze ([imperfect rhyme] free; unpunished; unworried)
        fun in the sun (a vacation at the beach)
        funk in the trunk (music played from the trunk of a car)
        funk on a dunk (to joke; to act insincerely)

        go with the flow (to go along, not to make a fuss)
        goof in the roof (a cleft palate)
        grips on his hips (a bulging waistline)
        grunt on the front (cannon fodder; a lowly footsoldier)
[put a] gun on the num (a false arrest)
   [an] heir and a spare (referring to the dynastic expectation that a
          wife will provide two sons, after which her duty is done
    [a] hick from the sticks (a country bumpkin)
        hip to the whip (a sadist)
        hired to be fired (employees regarded as easy sacrifices in
          case of controversy or scandal)
[have a] hole in the bowl (for a ship to spring a leak)
        holes in the poles (a mocking name for the theory of John Cleves Symmes
          that the earth was hollow, and the interior was accessible through
          enormous openings at either pole.)
        holy guocamole! (an ironic expression of surprise)
        hoods in the woods (the Outward Bound program that takes city kids
          for excursions and adventures in the countryside)
   [by] hook or by crook (by any means possible)
[needs a] hose for his nose (has a badly running nose)
  [the] hostess with the mostest (a title given to Perle Mesta)
[three] hots and a cot (three meals a day and a place to sleep)
        hunk in the trunk (a shooting victim concealed in a car trunk)
        ice and a slice (to add ice and a slice of lemon to a drink)
        intent on the scent (tracking big game)
        isle of denial (a relatively rich area of New Orleans that was
          little affected by Hurricane Katrina)
        jelly on the belly (a description of an ultrasound scan)
[put the] jingle on a shingle (canceled a musical slogan)
        junk in the trunk (having commodious hindquarters; big-assed)
        junk on the bunk (a military inspection of one's belongings)
        kick in the dick (to physically subdue a suspect)
        knife in the wife (a violent domestic disturbance)
        Kojak with a Kodak (a policeman in a radar trap)
        large and in charge (to be the big boss)
        label on the table (a visitor's pass)
        late at the gate (of an airplane, late in arriving)
    [a] lay in the hay (a casual sexual encounter)
        lead in the head (accidentally shot while hunting)
        led by the head ()
        lickety split [imperfect rhyme] (just like that; immediately)
        local mediocal (a disparaging term for local police or officials)
        long for the dong (penis envy)
        look for the crooks (perform an activities check)
        lust in the dust (the nickname for the scandalous western
          "Duel in the Sun", and the name of a movie starring Divine)
        loose as a goose (uninhibited; goofy; wild)
        lost the defrost (a deicer malfunction)
        made in the shade (lucky; ahead of the game)
    [a] maid in the shade (female exhibitionist)
        man in the pan (medical lectures using dissected organs 
          as exhibits)
        master of disaster (a disparaging nickname for Louis Mountbatten
          during his time as a British Navy commander)
        mauser in the trouser (a concealed weapon)
        max and relax (settle down and relax)
    [a] mess on the stress (performing poorly on a stress test)
  [the] Mistake by the Lake (a nickname for Cleveland)
        mound of renown (a sexually available woman)
  [the] Mouth from the South (loudmouth Ted Turner's nickname)
        mouth going south (a harelip)
        muckety muck (a self important person; a random person)
        my way or the highway (do what I say, or leave!)
        name in the frame (a person under consideration)
  [the] name of the game (the actual meaning of something)
        News of the Screws (a nickname for "News of the World" that
          mocks its fascination with illicit intercourse)
        no eying if you ain't buying (no windowshoppers, please!)
        nurse and a purse (the goal of an older man in a retirement
          community, to find a woman who will care and support him)
        Okie from Muskogee (a 1969 hit by Merle Haggard)
        one for the thumb (the foolish Super Bowl slogan of the 
          Pittsburgh Steelers after four previous wins, expecting an
          easy fifth Super Bowl ring)
        ooze on a cruise (a spreading infection)
        ora et labora (work and pray, a motto of the Benedictine order)
        out and about (doing errands, shopping, or other activities 
          away from home)
        pay and display (a kind of parking meter which issues a ticket
          that must be displayed in the car window)
        pay to delay (an agreement by a pharmaceutical company with
          a patented medicine to pay another manufacturer so that the
          release of a generic rival will be delayed)
        pay to display (a system in which publishers pay bookstores
          to prominently display a given work)
        pedal to the metal (going as fast as one can)
        pie in the sky (unrealistic promises of rewards)
        pink in the sink (gum bleeding after tooth brushing)
[put the] plan in the can (cancel a campaign)
        pork on the fork (dirty silverware)
        pox in the box (a yeast infection)
        prone to be cloned (a record likely to be pirated)
        retreat and defeat (the Republican characterization of the
          Democrat's demand to pull out of Iraq)
        risk it for the biscuit (to dare to do something for the reward)
        roaming in the gloaming (a style of limp romanticism, 
          specifically referring to
          certain sappy movies directed by Robert Redford)
    [a] rock in his clock (suffering from a heart blockage)
        rocket in the pocket (a concealed weapon)
        room in the tomb (a vacancy in drug treatment center)
[put a] rope on the pope (made a false arrest)
[put a] round in the hound (to accidentally shoot one's hunting dog)
  [the] rumble in the jungle (one of Mohammed Ali's boxing matches, 
          in Zaire)
        rumplety thump (muddled; untidy)
  [the] sage on the stage (a demeaning reference to teaching 
          by lecture)
        scorched by his torch (an arsonist killed by his own fire)
        screwed, blued, and tattooed (in a very bad way)
        scum in the gum (having a deep pocket of gum disease)
        set and forget (referring to systems where some control
          can be automatically set)
        set it and forget it (descriptive of an automatic process)
        seven come eleven (a craps-shooter's plea for good luck)
        sevens and elevens (a satisfactory situation)
        sew a new row (reattach a skin flap)
        sham abraham (a beggar who poses as a crazy person)
 [like] shite from a height (how something that is lifeless 
          will drop)
        shoot in my boot (an exclamation of joy)
   [to] shop til you drop (to go on a shopping spree)
        short and distort (a strategy of shorting a stock and then 
          trying to drive it down)
   [to] shuffle off to Buffalo (to depart)
        sign of the times ([imperfect rhyme] something emblematic of
          the current age)
        Singapore Sling (an alcoholic drink)
        skunks in the bunks (inspection time at a summer camp)
        slant on the plant (an industrial security problem)
        sleep with the sheep (a budget motel)
        slippery dip (sauciness; cheekiness; a children's slide)
  [the] sliver by the river (a neighborhood of New Orleans along
          the Mississippi river)
        snatch and dispatch (to trap and kill small animals)
        snug as a bug in a rug (warm, safe and comfortable)
        son of a gun (a polite form of "son of a bitch", as in,
          "Well I'l be a son of a gun!")
        souls to the polls (a church-sponsored trip to the electoral polls)
        sound as the pound (safe; reliable; sure)
        source of the horse (a synthetic heroin lab)
        Spam in a can (dead, particularly of astronauts)
        spastic with the plastic (a spree shopper)
   [to] sport a report (to spread information or gossip)
        stab at the tab (do a credit check)
        static in the attic (a bad telephone connection>
    [a] steal of a deal (an extremely favorable offer)
        stone to the bone (admirable in every respect)
        stuck in the muck (for a boat to run aground)
        stress and duress (respectable forms of coercion by interrogators)
        sty in the eye (poor visibility)
        styling and profiling (posing as a cool, sophisticated person, 
          and wearing the appropriate clothes to match)
        sub on the stub (an artificial limb)
        table in the stable (a booth at a truck stop restaurant)
        talkety talk (talk)
        test on arrest (a policy of automatic DNA testing upon arrest)
        three and a tree (the kind of cliched college advertisements that
          show three students of varying ethnicity and gender under a tree)
        three on the tree (a kind of gear shift)
        tomb in the womb (barren)
   [no] tone on the phone (a dead telephone line)
        top of the pops (the highest rated song on the "pop" chart)
        tore up from the floor up (in complete disarray)
        under the gun (facing a deadline or threat)
        up your nose with a rubber hose (an insult)
        Versailles in the sky (Donald Trump's apartment in Trump Tower, New York)
   [to] wag the red rag (to chat)
        welt on the belt (a beeper)
   [to] wait at the gate (to set out a lure for game)
        warm for her form (sexually excited)
[if it's] yellow let it mellow (a euphemism used during a California
          water shortage, advising people not to flush the toilet if
          it only contained urine)
        yakety yak (a description of ceaseless chatter)
      

Looking for a home:

        kick against the pricks (to rebel against correction or oppression;
          Surprisingly, this phrase is Biblical in origin, Acts of the Apostles,
          Chapter 9, Verse 5: "And he said, Who art thou, Lord?  And the Lord
          said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee
          to kick against the pricks.")
        fried, dyed, and laid on the side (descriptive of a
          particular hair style)
        


Last modified on 09 June 2022.