Idioms
break off end As a result of the recent, unprovoked attack, the two countries {broke off} their diplomatic relations.
bring up raise, initiate The country commissioner {brought up} the heated issue of restricting on-street parking.
call on ask The teacher {called on} James to write the equation on the blackboard.
call on visit The new minister {called on} each of the families of his church in order to become better acquainted with them.
care for like Because Marita doesn't {care for} dark colors, she buys only brightly colored clothes.
care for look after My neighbors asked me to {care for} their children after school.
check out borrow books, etc., from a library I went to the library and {checked out} thirty books last night for my research paper.
check out investigate The photocopy machine is not working properly. Could you {check out} the problem?
check out of leave We were told that we had to {check out of} the hotel before one o'clock, or else we would have to pay another day.
check up on investigate The insurance company decided to {check up on} his driving record before insuring him.
close in on draw nearer, approach In his hallucinatory state, the addict felt that the walls were {closing in on} him.
come along with accompany June {came along with} her supervisor to the budget meeting.
come down with become ill with During the summer, many people {come down with} intestinal disorders
count on depend on, rely on Maria was {counting on} the grant money to pay her through graduate school.
do away with eliminate, get rid of Because of the increasing number of problems created after the football games, the director has decided to {do away with} all sports activities.
draw up write, draft (such as plans or contracts) A new advertising contract was {drawn up} after the terms had been decided.
drop out of quit, withdraw from The organization has done a great deal to prevent young people from {dropping out of} school.
figure out solve, decipher, interpret, understand After failing to {figure out} his income tax return, Hal decided to see an accountant.
find out discover Erin just found {found out} that her ancestors had come from Scotland, not Ireland.
get by manage to survive Despite the high cost of living, we will {get by} on my salary.
get through finish Jerry called for an earlier appointment because he {got through} with his project sooner than he had expected.
get through manage to communicate It is difficult to {get through} to someone who doesn't understand your language.
get up arise Pete usually {gets up} early in the morning, but this morning he overslept.
get up organize Paul is trying to {get up} a group of square dancers to go to Switzerland
give up stop, cease Helen {gave up} working for the company because she felt that the employees were not treated fairly.
go along with agree Mr. Robbins always {goes along with} anything his employer wants to do.
hold on to gasp, maintain Despite moving to the Western world, Mariko {held on to} her Oriental ways.
hold up rob at gunpoint The convenience store was {held up} last night.
hold up endure or withstand pressure or use Mrs. Jones {held up} very well after her husband's death.
hold up stop Last night's freeway traffic {held up} rush hour traffic for two hours.
keep on continue I {keep up} urging Rita to practice the violin, but she doesn't heed my advice.
look after care for After my aunt had died, her lawyer {looked after} my uncle's financial affairs.
look into investigate Lynnette is {looking into} the possibility of opening a drugstore in Dallas as well as in Fort Worth.
pass out distribute The political candidate {passed out} campaign literature to her coworkers.
pass out faint The intense heat in the garden caused Maria to {pass out}.
pick out select, choose The judges were asked to {pick out} the essays that showed the most originality.
point out indicate Being a professional writer, Janos helped us by {pointing out} problems in our style.
put off postpone Because Brian was a poor correspondent, he {put off} answering his letters.
run across discover While rummaging through some old boxes in the attic, I {ran across} my grandmother's wedding dress.
run into meet by accident When Jack was in New York, he {ran into} an old friend at the theater.
see about consider, attend to My neighbor is going to {see about} getting tickets for next Saturday's football game.
take off leave the ground to fly Our flight to Toronto {took off} on schedule.
take over for substitute Marie had a class this afternoon, so Janet {took over for} her.
talk over discuss The committee is {talking over} the plans for the homecoming dance and banquet.
try out test General Mills asked us to {try out} their new product.
try out audition for a play Marguerite plans to {try out} for the lead in the new musical.
turn in submit The students {turned in} their term papers on Monday.
turn in go to bed After a long hard day, we decided to {turn in} early.
watch out for be cautious or alert While driving through that development, we had to {watch out for} the little children playing in the street.
Misused
angel a spiritual or heavenly being noun
angle a figure formed by two lines meeting at a common point noun
cite quote as an example verb
site location noun
sight aim of a gun or telescope noun
sight view noun
sight see verb
costume clothing; typical style of dress noun
custom a practice that is traditionally followed by a particular group of people noun
decent respectable or suitable adjective
descent downward motion noun
descent lineage noun
dessert the final course of a meal, usually something sweet noun
desert a hot, dry place noun
desert abandon verb
later a time in the future or following previous action adverb
latter last of two things mentioned adjective
loose opposite of tight adjective
lose to be unable to find something verb
lose opposite to win verb
passed past tense of pass: to elapse verb
passed past tense of pass: to go by or beyond verb
passed past tense of pass: to succeed verb
past a time or event before the present adjective
past time before the present noun
peace harmony or freedom from war noun
piece part of a whole noun
principal director of a secondary or elementary school noun
principal main or most important adjective
principle fundamental rule or adherence to such rule noun
quiet serene, without noise adjective
quite completely adverb
quite somewhat or rather adverb
quit stop verb
stationary non-moveable, having a fixed location adjective
stationery special writing paper noun
than conjunction used in unequal comparisons conjunction
then a time following a previously mentioned time adverb
their plural possessive adjective adjective
there location away from here adverb
there used with the verb "be" to indicate existence adverb
they're contraction of "they are" pronoun
to toward; until; as far as preposition
two number following one noun
too excessively adverb
too also adverb
weather atmospheric conditions noun
whether if, indicates a choice conjunction
whose possessive relative pronoun pronoun
who's contraction of "who is" pronoun
your possessive of "you" adjective
you're contraction of "you are" pronoun
Phrasal
bring about to cause to happen
bring out to publish
bring up on to review
call on to visit
come by to acquire; to get
come down with to contract; to catch
count on to thrust
depend on to thrust
rely on to thrust
cut down to reduce
fall for to be fooled
find fault with to criticize
get across to make an idea understood
get away from to escape
get rid of to discard
go over to review
hand out to distribute
help out to aid
jack up to elevate
keep on to continue
keep up to continue
lay aside to save
look up to to respect
make fun of to gibe; to joke
muster up to gather; to assemble
preside over to have charge of
pull through to get well
put off to postpone
put up with to tolerate
round up to capture
run into to meet by chance
set up to establish
show up to arrive
speak out to declare one's opinions
take after to look or behave like
take pride in to be satisfied
throw away to cause to lose; to discard
throw out to cause to lose; to discard
turn down to decline; to refuse
turn out to manufacture
turn to to ask for help
wear out to make useless by wear; to consume
Related
accept to take what is given verb
except excluding or omitting a thing or person preposition
access availability; way of gaining entrance noun
excess abundant; superfluous adjective
excess extra amount noun
advice opinion given to someone, counseling noun
advise act of giving an opinion or counsel verb
affect to produce a change in verb
effect end result of consequence noun
effect to produce as a result verb
again repetition of an action, one more time adverb
against in opposition of someone or something preposition
against next to; adjacent preposition
already an action that happened at an indefinite time before the present adverb
all ready prepared to do something noun + adjective
among shows a relationship or selection involving three or more entities preposition
between shows a relationship or selection involving only two entities preposition
beside next to preposition
besides in addition to; also; moreover preposition
aside to one side adverb
compare show similarities verb
contrast show differences verb
consecutive indicates an uninterrupted sequence adjective
successive indicates a series of separate events adjective
considerable rather large amount or degree adjective
considerate thoughtful; polite adjective
credible believable adjective
creditable worthy of praise adjective
credulous gullible adjective
detract take away or lessen the value of person or thing verb
distract cause a lack of mental concentration on what one is doing verb
device an invention or plan noun
devise invent; create; contrive verb
elicit draw out; evoke verb
illicit unlawful adjective
emigrant one who leaves one's own country to live in another noun
immigrant one who comes to a new country to settle noun
example anything used to prove a point noun
sample a representative part of a whole noun
formerly previously adverb
formally an elegant way of dressing, usually a tuxedo for men and a long gown for women adverb
formally properly; officially adverb
hard difficult adjective
hard opposite of soft adjective
hardly barely; scarcely adverb
helpless unable to remedy(an animate thing is helpless) adjective
useless worthless; unserviceable adjective
house refers to the building or structure noun
home refers to the atmosphere or feeling of domestic tranquillity found in the house noun
imaginary something not real that exists in one's imagination adjective
imaginative showing signs of great imagination adjective
immortal incapable of dying adjective
immoral against the moral law; bad, evil adjective
implicit understood, but not specifically stated adjective
explicit expressed in a clear and precise manner adjective
industrial pertaining to industry adjective
industrious diligent, hard working adjective
inflict impose something unwelcome verb
afflict cause physical or mental pain verb
inspiration stimulation to learn or discover noun
aspiration ambition; desire; goal noun
aspiration expulsion of breath noun
intelligent possessing a great deal of mental ability adjective
intelligible clearly; easily understood adjective
intellectual any person who possesses a great deal of knowledge adjective
intellectual wise adjective
intense extreme adjective
intensive concentrated adjective
late not punctual adverb
late no longer living adjective
lately recently adverb
learn obtain knowledge verb
teach impart knowledge verb
lend give something for temporary use with the promise of returning it verb
loan give something for temporary use with the promise of returning it verb
borrow receive something for temporary use with the promise of returning it verb
liquefy change to watery or liquid state verb
liquidate eliminate; get rid of; change to cash verb
lonely depressed feeling as a result of abandonment or being alone adjective
alone physical state of solitude; unaccompanied adjective
near used to indicate a place not too far distant preposition
nearly almost adverb
observation act of paying attention to or being paid attention noun
observance act of following custom or ceremony noun
prosecute torture; harass verb
prosecute in legal terms, to bring suit against or enforce a law through a legal process verb
precede to come before verb
proceed continue an action after a rest period or interruption verb
quantity used in non-count nouns to indicate amount; bulk noun
number used with count nouns to designate individual amount noun
remember to recall or think of again verb
remind to cause (someone) to remember; to bring into (someone's) mind verb
sensible having good judgment adjective
sensitive excitable; touchy; easily affected by outside influences adjective
special that which receives a lot of attention because of a distinct characteristic adjective
especially particularly adverb
use act of putting into practice or service; application noun
usage way in which something is used noun
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