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Phrase(s): breathe down someone’s neck
1. Fig. to keep close watch on someone; to watch someone’s activities intently. (Alludes to someone standing very close behind a person.) • I can’t work with you breathing down my neck all the time. Go away. • I will get through my life without your help. Stop breathing down my neck. 2. Fig. [for someone or something] to represent an approaching deadline. • The project deadline is breathing down my neck. • The due date for this paper is breathing down my neck.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs