slip a cog
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Also, slip a gear or one's gears. Lose one's ability to reason soundly or make correct judgments, as in She must have slipped a cog or she would never have gone out barefoot in December, or What's the matter with him? Has he slipped his gears? These slangy usages allude to a mechanical failure owing to the cog of a gear or a gear failing to mesh. The first dates from about 1930, the variant from the 1960s.
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Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?
Words nearby slip a cog
slink away, slinky, slinter, sliotar, slip, slip a cog, slip carriage, slipcase, slip casting, slipcover, slipdress
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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