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.
(
geocities.com/francis_abraham/english) (
geocities.com/francis_abraham)