Essential Idioms

By ROBERT J. DIXSON - Powered By Eduhyme.com

Page 9 (249 to 279)

to keep in touch with: to maintain contact with

  • You can telephone me every few days, and in that way we can keep in touch with each other.
  • He promised to stay in touch with us while he was abroad. However, we were very disappointed that he never did get in touch with us.

to name after: to give the same name as another

  • Helen's parents named Helen after her grandmother.
  • My grandson is named after Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States.

to hold on: to grasp tightly or firmly; to wait, to be patient

The second definition is often used when someone is talking on the telephone.

  • The little girl held on to her mother's hand and refused to let go as they walked through the large crowd of people.
  • (on the telephone) Could you please hold on a moment while I get a pencil and paper?
  • Come on, Mike, hold on. I can't get ready so quickly.

to stop by: to visit or stop somewhere briefly in order to do something

  • James had to stop by the registrar's office to submit a transcript request form.
  • Let's stop by the supermarket and pick up a few grocery items.

to drop (someone) a line: to write a note to someone

  • As soon as I get to Florida, I'll drop you a line and tell you about my new job.
  • If you have time, drop me a line now and then while you're traveling.

to come across: to meet or find unexpectedly; to be perceived or judged as

  • While Cheryl was cleaning the attic, she came across some very old coins. It took her by surprise to run across something like that.
  • Jeff's boss comes across as a tough, unpleasant person, but actually Jeff says that he is a good employer.
  • Some people come off quite differently than they really are.

to stand for: to represent, to signify; to tolerate

The second definition is usually used in a negative sense.

  • On the American flag, each start stands for one of the fifty states, and each stripe stands for one of the original thirteen colonies of the 1800s.
  • The citizens wouldn't stand for the increase in crime in their city, so they hired more police officers and built another jail.

to stand a chance: to have the possibility of accomplishing something

This idiom is often used with an adjective such as good or excellent. It also occurs in the negative, sometimes with the adjective much.

  • The New York baseball team stands a good chance of winning the World Series this year.
  • Because John doesn't have any previous work experience, he doesn't stand a chance of getting that job.
  • The woman injured in the serious train accident doesn't stand much chance of surviving.

to take pains: to work carefully and conscientiously

  • She takes pains to do everything well; she's our best employee.
  • He took great pains with his last assignment because he needed to get an excellent grade to pass the class.

to look on: to watch as a spectator, to observe

  • Hundreds of people were looking on as the police and firefighters rescued the passengers in the wrecked train.
  • I stayed with my son at his first soccer practice and looked on as the coach worked with the boys.

to look up to: to admire, to respect greatly

  • Children will most certainly look up to their parents if the children are brought up well.
  • Everyone looks up to the director of our department because he is a kind and generous person.

to look down on: to feel superior to, to think of someone as less important

  • People who are in positions of power should be careful not to look down on those who work for them.
  • Why does Alma look down on Mario just because his family is so poor?

to take off: to leave the ground (for airplanes); to leave, often in a hurry

The noun form takeoff derives from this idiom.

  • The plane took off over an hour late. The passengers had to buckle their seatbelts during takeoff.
  • Do you have to take off already? You just arrive an hour ago!

to pull off: to succeed in doing something difficult; to exit to the side of a highway

  • The group of investors pulled off a big deal by buying half the stock in that company. I wonder how they pulled it off before the company could prevent it.
  • The motorist pulled off when the police officer turned on the red lights and the siren.

to keep time: to operate accurately (for watches and clocks)

This idiom is usually used with adjectives such as good and perfect.

  • Although this is a cheap watch, it keeps good time.
  • The old clock keeps perfect time; it's never fast or slow.

to make do: to manage, to cope

This idiom is used when a person must accept a substitute that is not the most suitable.

  • Pearl doesn't have a clean blouse so she has to make do with the one she wore yesterday.
  • During difficult economic times, many people have to make do with less.

to give birth to: to bear a human being or animal

  • Jane's mother has just given birth to twin girls.
  • The zoo's Siberian tiger just gave birth to a baby cub.

close call: a situation involving a narrow escape from danger

  • Bob, that car nearly hit us! What a close call.
  • We had a close call when a small fire in our kitchen almost spread to the rest of the house.

to get on one's nerves: to annoy or disturb

  • Laura loves to talk to anyone. Sometimes her chatter really gets on my nerves.
  • Jack asked his neighbor to turn down the stereo because it was bugging him and he couldn't concentrate.

to put down: to suppress, to quell; to criticize unfairly

  • The police arrived just in time to put down the disturbance before it got very serious.
  • Fred tries his best at playing tennis. You shouldn't put him down like that.

to go for: to be sold at a certain price; to seek or strive for

  • This dress probably goes for about $50, don't you think?
  • Peter was going for first place in the swim meet, but he wasn't able to do better than third place.

to go in for: to have as an interest, such as a sport or hobby

  • Hal goes in for tennis while his wife goes for painting and sculpture.
  • What sports are you into? I don't have any time to get into sports.

to stay up: to remain awake, not to go to bed

  • I want to stay up tonight and watch a late movie on TV.
  • He stays up every night until after one o'clock, preparing his homework.

to stay in: to remain at home, not to go out

An idiom with the opposite meaning is to stay out.

  • On a rainy day, I like to stay in and read.
  • Young people are able to stay out late at night and get very little sleep.

to take over: to assume control or responsibility for; to do or perform again

  • That large investment company specializes in taking over smaller businesses that are in financial trouble.
  • Most students didn't do well on the important test, so the instructor let them take it over.
  • Little Mickey didn't have much chance to hit the baseball during practice, so the coach let him take his turn over.

to show up: to appear, to arrive; to be found or located

  • It really gets on my nerves that Ursula shows up late for every meeting.
  • Willie hopes that the watch he lost last Sunday shows up soon.
  • We've looked everywhere for that book, but it hasn't turned up yet.

to clean out: to empty, to tidy by removing; to steal, to rob; to buy or purchase all of something

  • It's time for you to clean out your closet so that you can store more things in there.
  • A burglar entered my apartment while I was gone and cleaned me out. He took over $200 in cash and jewelry.
  • Thousands of shoppers cleaned out the store that had gone bankrupt and was selling all its remaining products at very reduced prices.

to knock out: to make unconscious; to impress or attract greatly

This idiom can be made into the noun form knockout for both definitions.

  • The prizefighter knocked out his opponent with one punch in the first five seconds of the first round. It was the fastest knockout in boxing history.
  • Linda's beautiful appearance and slender figure really knock me out. Isn't she a real knockout tonight?

to knock one self out: to work very hard (sometimes too hard) to do something

A reflexive pronoun must divided the idiom.

  • She really knocked herself out trying to pass that difficult class.
  • Don't knock yourself out during practice. Save your strength for the competition later.

to carry out: to accomplish, to execute

  • It's easy to write down a plan for losing weight, but much harder to carry it out.
  • Charles promised to go through with his plan to enroll in graduate school and get an advanced degree.

to run into: to meet someone unexpectedly; to crash or collide into

  • It was a shock to run into an old friend from high school recently.
  • The drunk driver was slightly injured when he ran into a telephone pole.

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