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If 食って掛かる is one word meaning "to lash out at someone" or perhaps closer in
figurative language, "to bite someone's head off," how should I think of the
掛かる? If I want to understand the logistics behind this word, perhaps I can
imagine it as "to be hit with someone's bite," wherein 掛かる provides the "to be
hit with" meaning? Is this the right way to think of 掛かる here?
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2012-06-08T04:49:45.233
5767
2012-06-09T00:42:23.650
706
question
words
Questions on the figurative meaning of 食って掛かる
掛る means "to be hung on, get involved into, bite into, get locked, lean on."
食って掛かる's literal meaning is something like "bite on and get locked on it (for
fighting mode)".

Obviously, 食って掛かる is not a single word. It should be called an idiom.
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2012-06-08T05:51:56.137
5768
2012-06-09T00:42:23.650
2012-06-09T00:42:23.650
5767
answer