Is there such a thing as a thesaurus for phrases?

If there isn’t there should be.

No I don’t believe there is

Ask Jeruba, Harp, Marina, Breedmitch, (and jp for the vernacular).

What an excellent idea. I hope Jeruba tells us that such a thing exists!

Roget’s (the real Roget’s) Thesaurus contains phrases as well as single words. I still swear by the book—the original version organized according to Kant’s categories and not the so-called “dictionary” version—for all the insights into language it gives.

Also, there is Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable for the origin and meaning of phrasal expressions and idioms. It is British in origin but contains many expressions that Americans know and use. I’ve had to annotate mine a fair amount over the years, but I still love it as a source, especially because it explains what the expressions really mean as well as how we use them.

I wasn’t clear. I meant that instead of a formal book, our fluther Thesaurusanians can pull phrases from their enormous memory bank.

“You might like this website and email subscription of a phrase a week:” http://www.phrases.org.uk/a-phrase-a-week/subscribe.html

This seems to be a good site, especially for those learning to speak English.

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/