Definify.com

Definition 2024


more_than_one_can_shake_a_stick_at

more than one can shake a stick at

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

more than one can shake a stick at (comparative form only)

  1. Occurring in abundance; of a large quantity; many.
    • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, ch. 16:
      "[L]aziness, cousin, laziness,—which ruins more souls than you can shake a stick at."
    • 1883, Edward Payson Roe, His Sombre Rivals: A Story of the Civil War, ch. 39:
      "[H]e's laid out more 'Federates dan he can shake a stick at."
    • 1910, Jack London, Burning Daylight, ch. 16:
      "I've got more companies than you can shake a stick at. There's the Alameda & Contra Costa Land Syndicate, the Consolidated Street Railways, the Yerba Buena Ferry Company, the United Water Company, the Piedmont Realty Company, the Fairview and Portola Hotel Company, and half a dozen more that I've got to refer to a notebook to remember."
    • 2004 Aug. 15, Ben Stein, "For Sale: The Ultimate Status Symbol," New York Times, (retrieved 12 June 2014):
      There are more billionaires than you can shake a stick at.

Usage notes

  • The modified noun is placed between more and than.

Translations