1. If someone is all dressed up with nowhere to go or all dressed up with no place to go, they are wearing clothes suitable for going out somewhere special, but are not going anywhere. An unexpected houseguest forced Mike to postpone his date with Susan. Left all dressed up with nowhere to go, Susan felt embarrassed. Note: You can also say that someone is all dressed up and nowhere to go or all dressed up and no place to go. She sat there, not knowing what to do with herself. `I'm all dressed up,' she thought, `with no place to go.'

2. If someone is all dressed up with nowhere to go or all dressed up with no place to go, they are ready to do something but that thing is not happening. The end of the Cold War left Western troops all dressed up with nowhere to go. Note: You can also say that someone is all dressed up and nowhere to go or all dressed up and no place to go. For many of the commanders at sea, it was a classic `all dressed up and nowhere to go' scenario.