present participle of pick up what someone is putting down

To lock someone up in prison indefinitely.

(slang, derogatory, Canada, US, vulgar) To be oblivious to the real state of things, from either stupidity or stubbornness.

(rare) Synonym of snitches get stitches

(idiomatic, often humorous) Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that he or she could not make a living from it.

Alternative form of pull oneself up by one's bootstraps

Alternative form of put two and two together and make five

Spending time with undesirable people will cause one to take on their undesirable traits.

(astronomy) Synonym of my very educated mother just served us nine pumpkins

It is easy to lose sight of one's initial objective, becoming caught up in subtasks or in tasks only tangentially related to the original goal.