take a leaf out of someone's book
take a leaf out of (someone's) book
To do something in the way someone else would do it; to behave or act like someone else. I think I'm going to take a leaf out of your book and start going for a run first thing in the morning. Our youngest son was always very placid as a baby, but now that he's getting older, he's begun taking a leaf out of our older boy's book.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
take a leaf out of someone's book
Imitate or follow someone's example, as in Harriet took a leaf out of her mother's book and began to keep track of how much money she was spending on food . This idiom alludes to tearing a page from a book. [c. 1800]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
take a leaf out of someone's book
ortake a leaf from someone's book
COMMON If you take a leaf out of someone's book or take a leaf from their book, you copy them, usually because they were successful when they acted in that way. Note: The `leaf' in the last two expressions is a page of a book. Hollywood celebs should take a leaf out of Michael Douglas's book and make sure their websites are interesting and attractive. You're working too hard. Take a leaf from my book and relax!
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
take a leaf out of someone's book
closely imitate or emulate someone in a particular way. 1999 London Student Maybe the other colleges should take a leaf out of Imperial's book and try pub games instead of sports.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
take a leaf out of someone's book, to
To imitate someone; to follow someone’s example. Literally, this expression alludes to either vandalism (tearing a page from a book) or plagiarism (copying someone else’s work). The figurative use of the term, which dates from about 1800, is much less nefarious. B. H. Malkin used it in his translation of Gil Blas (1809), “I took a leaf out of their book,” meaning simply, “I imitated them,” or “I followed their example.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer