in bed with
20
8.6
- idiom
- Literature
:
estar en connivencia con
- He didn't realize he was in bed with a criminal organization until it was too late.
- get in bed with
- find in bed with
- caught in bed with
I don't think that they're in bed with big pharma.
- I don't think that they're in bed with big pharma.
- What she needs to understand and she doesn't see is who she gets in bed with could destroy that.
- I mean, his, his fucking campaign manager Manafort was completely in bed with Russians.
- You know, that place where everyone goes on holidays, persecutes Christians wildly in bed with ISIS.
Examples
-
It's despicable how much the media is in bed with Obama and covers up his lies for him.
Blog text (33) -
The paper killed it because the owner was in bed with the mayor.
-
Do you think employee unions are in bed with politicians and giving themselves a huge benefit?
Blog text (24) -
I agree that Monsanto is in bed with the government, but the problem is the government.
Blog text (9) -
The military and police are in bed with the Zetas.
Blog text (19) -
His agenda has, for years, appeared to be in bed with big ag, et al.
Blog text (7) -
I'm in bed with Yugorsky on this gasoline deal.
-
The NSA's been in bed with the entire telecommunications industry since the '40s.
Fiction book (1998) -
The lobbyist was clearly in bed with the politicians, influencing decisions for her own benefit.
-
After the scandal broke, it was revealed that the corporation was in bed with corrupt officials.
Synonyms
17
7.6
Secretly working together to do something dishonest
Antonyms
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase evokes the literal sense of being 'in bed with' someone (a close or sexual association), so there is a clear motivating connection to the constituent words; however the specialized meaning of collusion or corrupt partnership is a figurative, culturally-specific extension that a B1 learner who only knows the parts is unlikely to predict reliably. Because the collusion sense is motivated by the literal words but requires metaphorical/idiomatic interpretation, it is partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
The idiom in bed with comes from the picture of two people in bed together, a private and very close situation. If someone is in bed with a person or group it suggests they are secretly close or 'colluding with' them, so today it means 'working together in secret' or having an improper partnership.