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not hurt a fly
Idioms and Phrases
Also, not hurt a flea . Not cause harm to anyone, be gentle and mild, as in Paul's the kindest man—he wouldn't hurt a flea , or Bert has a temper but it's all talk; he wouldn't hurt a fly . Both fly and flea are used in the sense of “a small insignificant animal.†[Early 1800s]Example Sentences
“He’s spent 46 years in prison … and has not hurt a fly,†said Woods’ attorney, Dominique Banos, CNN reported.
Neighbors who live in the retirement community where the discovery was made said that Sourone-Mathers was a "very nice person" who would not "hurt a fly."
“You must mean Ben,†said Frank, his voice quite easy now, “he always potters about on the shore. He’s quite a nice fellow, you need never be frightened of him. He would not hurt a fly.â€
Ciccolo’s mother has said her son “would not hurt a fly.â€
"He would not hurt a fly," Imam Akonjee's nephew Rahi Majid, told the newspaper.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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