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to be cut out for: to have the necessary skills or talent for
The idiom is most often used in the negative or in questions.
- John is certainly not cut out for the work of a trial lawyer.
- Are you certain that you are cut out for that kind of job.
to throw out: to discard; to remove by force; to refuse to consider, to reject
- Instead of throwing out our paper waste in the office, we should recycle it.
- When a fight broke out between two people on the dance floor, the management threw them out.
- The judge threw the case out because there was insufficient evidence to try the defendant successfully.
to throw up: to erect or construct quickly; to vomit
- The Red Cross threw up temporary shelters for the homeless victims of the earthquake.
- The ill patient is unable to digest her food properly, so she is throwing all of it up.
to clear up: to make understandable; to become sunny
- The teacher tried to clear up our confusion about the meaning of the difficult paragraph in the reading.
- It's rather cloudy this morning. Do you think that it will clear up later?
to slow down: to go, or cause to go, more slowly
This idiom can be used both with and without an object.
- The car was going so fast that the motorist couldn't slow it down enough to make the sharp curve.
- You're eating too fast to digest your food well. Slow down!
- Slow up a bit! You're talking so quickly that I can't catch on well.
to dry up: to lose, or cause to lose, all moisture; to be depleted
- Every summer the extreme heat in this valley dries the stream up.
- All funds for the project dried up when the local government faced budget crisis.
to dry out: to lose, or cause to lose, moisture gradually; to stop drinking alcohol in excess
- Martha hung the towel outside on the clothesline in order to dry it out.
- Some people go to alcohol recovery centers in order to dry out.
to be up to (something): to be doing something; to be planning or plotting something, scheming
The first definition usually takes the form of a question.
- Hi, Jake. I haven't seen you in a long time. What have you been up to?
- Those boys hiding behind the building must be up to something bad.
to beat around the bush: to avoid discussing directly, to evade the issue
- Our boss beats around the bush so much that no one in the office knows exactly what he wants us to do.
- Instead of beating around the bush, Melinda explained her objection in very clear terms.
to come to an end: to end, to stop
This idiom is used with finally and never when some activity lasts too long.
- The meeting finally came to an end at ten o'clock in the evening.
- Even though my friend seemed to enjoy the movie, I thought that it would never come to an end.
to put an end to: to cause to end, to terminate in a definite manner
- The dictatorial government put an end to organized opposition in the country by making it illegal to form a political party.
- It may never be possible to do away with all forms of prejudice and discrimination in the world.
to get even with: to seek revenge, to retaliate
- Bill has had it in for his boss for a long time. He told me he's planning to get even with his boss by giving some company secrets to a competitor.
- I want to get even with Steve for beating me so badly in tennis last time. The scores were 6-1 and 6-2.
to fool around: to waste time; to joke, not to be serious
- The teacher got angry because her students were fooling around and couldn't finish their work before the end of class.
- Sometimes I wish that Pat would stop fooling around so much and talk about something more interesting to others.
to look out on: to face, to overlook
- We really enjoy our new apartment that looks out on a river.
- Their rear window looks out on a lovely garden.
to stir up: to cause anger; to create (trouble or difficulty)
- The senseless murder of a small child stirred up the whole neighborhood.
- The boss is in a bad mood today so don't stir her up with any more customer complaints.
to take in: to visit in order to enjoy; to decrease the size of clothes; to deceive, to fool
- We decided to take in Toronto on our trip to Canada, and that is where we took in the most memorable outdoor stage play we have ever seen.
- Lois lost so much weight that she had her skirts and slacks taken in by her tailor.
- The fraudulent investment advisor took everyone in with his sincere manner and generous promises. Most investors lost all their money.
to go through: to undergo, to experience; to consume, to use
The first definition is used when someone is having some hardship or difficulty.
- I can't believe what she went through to get that job. She had four interviews with the hiring committee in one week!
- Frank said that they had gone through all the toilet paper in the house, but Steve couldn't believe that they had used it all up.
to go without saying: to be known without the need to mention
This idiom occurs with a that-clause, often with the pronoun it as the subject.
- It goes without saying that you shouldn't drive quickly in bad weather.
- That he will gain weight if he continues to eat and drink so much goes without saying.
to put (someone) on: to mislead by joking or tricking
This idiom is usually used in a continuous tense form. A noun object must divide the idiom.
- Don't worry. I wouldn't expect you do all that work by yourself. I'm just putting you on.
- Jack can't be serious about what he said. He must be putting us on.
to keep one's head: to remain calm during an emergency
- When the heater caused a fire, Gloria kept her head and phoned for assistance right away; otherwise, the whole house might have burned down.
- When the boat starting sinking in heavy seas, the crew members kept their heads and led the passengers to the lifeboats.
to lose one's head: not to think clearly, to lose one's self-control
- When Mel saw a god in the street right in front of his car, he lost his head and drove onto the sidewalk and into a tree.
- If the politician hadn't gotten stirred up and lost his head, he never would have criticized his opponent unfairly.
narrow-minded: not willing to accept the ideas of others (the opposite of narrow minded is broad-minded)
- Narrow-minded people tend to discriminate against groups of people with which they have nothing in common.
- Ted is so broad-minded that he has almost no standards by which he judges others.
to stand up: to withstand use or wear; to fail to appear for a date or social engagement
- My old car has stood up well over the years. I haven't had any major problems at all.
- Janet was very angry because her new boyfriend stood her up on their second date. She waited over an hour for him before returning home.
to get the better of: to win or defeat by gaining an advantage over someone
- Jim doesn't seem very athletic at tennis, but if you're not careful, he'll get the better of you.
- Lynn gets frustrated when Bruce gets the better of her in arguments. No matter what she says, he always has a clever response.
to break loose: to become free or loose, to escape
- During the bad storm, the boat broke loose from the landing and drifted out to sea.
- One bicyclist broke loose from the pack of racers and pulled ahead towards the finish line.
on edge: nervous, anxious; upset, irritable
- Cynthia was on edge all day about the important presentation she had to give to the local citizens group.
- I don't like being around Jake when he's on edge like that. Someone should tell him to calm down and relax.
to waste one's breath: not be able to convince someone
This idiom is used when someone is wasting time trying to convince another person. The idiom to save one's breath is related and means not to waste effort trying to convince someone.
- Don't argue with Frank any longer. You are wasting your breath trying to get him to agree with you.
- I have already decided what I'm going to do. You can't change my mind, so save your breath.
to cut short: to make shorter, to interrupt
- The moderator asked the speaker to cut short his talk because there wasn't much time remaining for questions from the audience.
- We were very unfortunate when we received bad news from home that forced us to cut our trip short.
to step in: to become involved or concerned with something; to enter a place for a brief time
- When the children started fighting on the play-ground, a teacher had to step in and stop the fight.
- The supervisor asked one of the employees to step in her office for a moment.
- Would you step into the hallway so that I can show you the information posted on the bulletin board?
to step down: to retire or leave a top position, to resign
- Next May the principal will step down after thirty-five years of service to the school.
- The angry shareholders wanted the company president to step down because of the stock scandal.
to step on: to treat severely, to discipline; to go faster, to work more quickly
For the second definition, the idiom is followed by the pronoun it.
- Sometimes it's necessary to step on children when they do something dangerous.
- We're going to be late for the movies. You'd better step on it!