cream off
phr. v..phr. v.. to take the best parts, people, or money from a group for yourself.
phr. v.. to remove the most desirable or profitable elements from a larger group or fund, often in an unfair or opportunistic manner.
The company tries to cream off the best graduates every year.
Corrupt officials were caught trying to cream off a percentage of the disaster relief funds.
By offering elite scholarships, the private institution effectively creams off the highest-achieving students from the public school system.
- Particles
- off
- Separability
- optional
- Pattern
- cream + off + object
usually takes a direct object representing the best part of a group or a sum of money.
anchor this to the literal image of removing cream from the top of milk; it implies that what is being taken is the 'top' or 'best' layer.
They creamed the best students off.They creamed off the best students.While technically separable, this phrasal verb is almost always used in the inseparable form to keep the idiomatic meaning clear.