I looked in the fridge, but it was Mother Hubbard.
Mother Hubbard
idiomEmpty.
Origin
disputed originFrom "Old Mother Hubbard", a nursery rhyme.
We wanted to make dinner, but the pantry was Mother Hubbard, so we had to order pizza.
Upon opening the cupboards to prepare a meal for his guests, he found them entirely Mother Hubbard, leaving him with no choice but to visit the market.
- 01
and his mother
Serves as an intensifier for an inclusive noun or phrase such as everyone, anyone, each someone or all someones.
- 02
be mother
To pour out tea for others.
- 03
like mother, like daughter
A daughter takes after her mother.
- 04
mother hen
An outspoken and overprotective woman or person dealing with others' affairs; especially, an assertive matriarch.
- 05
mother lode
Any source of valuable or useful material.
- 06
mother of all
Used before a plural noun to form a compound noun having the sense of: the greatest or largest of (its kind); the most epic example of (its kind).
- 07
patience of Mother Teresa
A great deal of patience.
- 08
refrigerator mother
An emotionally frigid mother, who does not exhibit normal care or love for her child or children.