WIND ROUND ONE'S FINGER: persuade somebody to do what one wants
through flattery, personal charm etc. Leela knew how to wind her
husband round her finger.
ABOUT
COCK SURE ABOUT: be confident. Sonali is cock sure about the success
of her film.
HANG ABOUT WITH: spend a lot of time with someone.She hang about with
her boy friend.
HET UP ABOUT: be worried or post. Hiren was het up about his employment.
HUNG UP ABOUT: be very worried and unhappy. He was hung up about his
handicapped daughter.
BE IN A QUANDARY ABOUT: not being able to decide. I was in a quandary
about which post to join.
SEND ABOUT HIS BUSINESS: tell to mind his business. She sent him about
his business because he was trying to interfere in the business.
SHUT UP ABOUT: be quiet about.I know you stood first in the class, but
now would you be shut up about it.
AGAINST
COME UP AGAINST: face a problem or difficulty. She had to come up
against a couple of problems.
CRY OUT AGAINST: oppose vehemently. The workers were crying out
against the new rules as they were against them.
KICK OUT AGAINST : react violently. People began to kick out against
the corruption.
PLAY OFF AGAINST: encourage to fight or quarrel. The clever fellow
made najma play-off aginst shobhana.
RUN UP AGAINST: face difficulties and problems suddenly, ran into. The
project ran up against a problem.
SET OFF AGAINST:match something against something else. He set off his
expenses against the one time income.
STAND OUT AGAINST:oppose something strongly. She alone stood out against dowry.
WAGE WAR AGAINST: start fight against. The woman waged a war against drinking.
AWAY
GROW AWAY FROM: begin to have less intimate relationship. While in New
York she grew away from her family in Delhi.
SHY AWAY FROM: move away from in shyness. She shied away from publicity.
STAY AWAY FROM: avoid meeting somebody. I have advised him to stay
away from a bad company.
GET AWAY FROM: start doing things in a different manner. he was
advised to get away from his image of villain in The films.
STEER AWAY FROM: avoid doing something or talking about it.he steered
away from The question i asked.
TAKE AWAY FROM: cause to leave. he was taken away from his home and family.
TURN AWAY FROM: lose interest in something or reject it.people are
turning away from traditional cinema houses.
DOWN
CUT DOWN ON: do less often. i have decided to cut down on my drinking.
PARADE UP AND DOWN: to walk around in a way that shows you want people
to notice and admire you.
PEG DOWN AT: hold prices etc at alow level. the rise in wages was
pegged at ten per cent.
PEG DOWN TO: make somebody commit herlself to a particular course of action.
PUT YOU DOWN AS: decide wrongly that somebody or something is of a
particular type. i put her down as one who shirks work.
SET DOWN AS: regard a person as a particular type. she set him down as
a thorough gentleman.
SETTLE DOWN TO: start giving your full attention. they settled down to
consider the problem.
SHOVE DOWN THE THROAT: repeat something to make somebody learn it. i
dislike science shoved down my throat.
TALK DOWN TO: talk in a way that show that you think yourself
superior. teachers should not talked down to their students.
WASH SOMETHING DOWN: drink something to help swallow food etc. he
washed down a lump of solid food with a glass of water.
FOR
COME IN FOR: blame or criticise. the party came in for severe
criticism for its stand on religious conversion.
HOLD OUT FOR: not to accept anything less than what you wanted. the
kidnapper is holding out for release of the foreign tourist.
LET IN FOR: involve somebody in something that causes problems. i become his
partner in the business but later to think, why have i let my self in for.
MAKE UP FOR: make a bad situation look better. the last scene made up
for the rest of the dull play.
A RAG FOR: in fashion, be very popular. There was a rage for bell-bottoms then.
SETTLE IN FOR: prepare oneself to stay at a place for a period of
time. the train was late by three hours, and so i settled in for a
wait for that period.
SPEAK UP FOR: speak in support of somebody.he spoke up for the
depressed classes of the society.i wish there was somebody to speak
for the senior citizens.
STAND OUT FOR: want to have something particular and refuse to accept
anything else. the stood out for the temple construction on the
disputed spot.
STAND UP FOR: defend forcefully any idead,principle etc.which you
favour and like. gandhiji always stood upfor non-violence.
STICK OUT FOR: keep demanding for.she stuck out for three advance
increments and finally got them .
STICK UP FOR: support and defend somebody or something.everybody tries
to stick up for his rights.
WATCH OUT FOR: to keep looking and waiting. watch out for her here.
INTO
BREAK INTO TEARS/CHEERS, LAUGHTER ETC: to start suddenly weeping,
laughing etc. on seeing her son on The victory stnad, The moTher broke
into cheers.
BURST INTO FLAMES: to start burning at once. The effigy of ravana
Then burst into flames.
FLY INTO RAGE/PANIC: becme suddenly very angry/panicky. An explosion
in The neighbourhood flew him into panic.
OPEN OUT INTO: become wider and merge into something else. The path
opens out into a vallly beyond that sharp turn.
MAKE UP INTO: to make dress. she made The length of silk up into a gown.
PLAY INTO HANDS: act to somebody's advantage. he played into our
rival's hands by not supporting us.
forest, his heart sank into his boots.
OUT
BREAK OUT IN: to have rashes, sweat etc. long walk in The sun made her
break out in sweat.
CALL OUT FOR: a strong need for a particular action. Communal hatred
calls out for public condemnation.
FALL OUT WITH: be no longer a friend. Godavari fell out with her own
sister Ganga.
GET OUT OF: have pleasure in something. she gets much pleasure in something.
GET OUT OF: be rid of somework.he wanted to get out of The work of dusting.
GET OUT OF: stop doing something. she got out of her habit of nail-biting.
GROW OUT OF: stop practising a bad habit. The child has grown out of
sucking its thumb.
GROW OUT OF: become too big for cloThes with The passage of time. she
soon grew out of her cloThes.
HOLD OUT HOPE: said when something is likely to have good results. The
talks between The government and The rebels hold out hope of some
agreement.
HOLD OUT ON: refuse to give information. The woman held out on The police.
KEEP OUT OF: avoid involving persons in something unpleasant. It
helped Raman keep out of danger.keep away from.
LASH OUT AT: speak angrily to someone. The master lashed out at his servant.
LEAVE IT OUT: aske somebody to stop lying. leave it out, will you.
LISTEN OUT FOR: listen attentively for some unexpected sound. listen
out for The knock on The door.
LOOK OUT FOR: pay attention to things around kand spot a perso or
thing you want. i was looking out for my friend at The railway
platform.
LOSE OUT TO: be a failure because someone else has succeeded. indian
companies are loosing out to multinational companies.
MAKE OUT A CHEQUE: to write a cheque. i requested him to make out a
cheque for rs5,000.00 towards final payment.
PEG OUT A CLAIM: mark with pegs The boundaries of a piece of land.
They pegged out Their claim in The forest land.
PULL OUT THE STOPS: use all The power, resources etc. They pulled out
all The stops to increase sales and profitability.
PULL OUT OF: recover from. he was seriously ill but soon pulled out of it.
PUL OUT OF: made to withdraw, retire. he pulled out of The match at
The eleventh hour.
PUT OUT OF: to stop somebody from being in a work. The injury put him
out of action.
REACH OUT A HAND: to move your hand to grasp something. he reached out
his hand to grab a scyThe.
REASON OUT OF: persuade by logical arguments. she reasoned him out of
his decision to leave The country.
RUN OUT OF: force a person to leave. The landlady ran The tenant out.
SCRATCH EYES OUT: make a violent attack.she was angry and tried to
scratch her servant's eyes out.
SHAKE OUT OF: affect a change in a way of life.The challenge shook him
out in The party.
SNAP OUT OF: come out of an unpleasant mood, get rid of depression
etc.snap out of your sense of gloom.
START OUT OF: wake up suddenly from.The coming of The teacher started
The class out of lethargy.
STAY OUT OF: not be involved in something. she stayed out of The deliberations.
STAY OUT OF: not ot enter a place. he was orderd to stay out of The building.
TALK OUT OF: persuade somebody not to do a particular work. naina
talkedher friend out of leaving The job.
WANT OUT OF: want to be free from. i wanted out of The tangle.
BE WASHED OUT: not to begin or continue because of rain. The first
hour's game was washed out.
OVER
BUBBLE UP OVER: to show your feelIngs In a very excIted state.He
bubbled over wIth new Ideas about fIre-safety.
HAND OVER TO: to gIve power and responsIbIlIty. He handed over The
charge to hIs successor.
PASS ONE'S EYE OVER: scan, look through casually.He passed hIs eye
over The document.
SHED TEARS OVER: express regrets or grIef. sHe sHed profuse tears over
hIs death.
TO
AGREE TO DIFFER: not to have the same opinions or view. They agreed to
differ on the question of child labour.
BEG TO DIFFER: say that you do not agree. i beg to dffer on this question.
BORE TO DEATH/TEARS: make a person very bored. his oft repeated jokes
bored me to death.
BOUND TO HAPPEN: most likely to take place. he suffered from a
terminal disease and died last night. it was bound to happen.
DOWN GRADE TO: to move a person to lower position. narain was down
graded to assitant manager.
MEANT TO BE: an event that was certain to happen. they saw each other
and fell in love instantly and were married soon. it was meant tobe.
PICTURE TO ONESELF: imagine, bring to mind. you can very well picture
to yourself the beauty of the himalayas be reading this article.
PREDISPOSE TO: make somebody inclined to do something. he was
predisposed to spiritualism from his young days.
PULL TO PIECES: break apart into pieces. the wolves pulled the dead
buffalo to pieces.
PULL TO PIECES: criticise vehemently, find faults in. they tried to
pull his theory to peices.
PUT TO DEATH: execute somebody officially. the robber was finally put to death.
PUT TO GOOD USE: use well. she puts her money to good use by investing
it in government in bonds.
PUT TO FLIGHT: cause to flee. the panic put them to flight.
PUT TO SHAME: make somebody appear trivial. her performance would put
your mind to your business.
RAGS TO RICHES: become very rich after starting your life as a very
poor person. itis story of going from rags to riches.
RAZE TO THE GROUND: reduce to rain. the blazing fire razed the shops
to the ground.
REDUCE TO ORDER: organise, arrange well. it is all so confusing reduce
ti to sme order.
RISE TO THE OCCASION: show strength etc, which fit a particular
occasion or challenge. During the Pak invasion, the whole nation rose
to the occasion.
RISE TO ONE'S FEET: stand up. He rose to his feet to address the
Parliament of Religions.
RISE TO THE TOP: Hitler rose to the top in politics.
SEND TO BED: make somebody go to bed. she sent the child to bed.
SING TO SLEEP: cause to sleep by singing.she sang the baby to sleep.
TICKLE TO DEATH: amust greatly,please much. his funny jokes tickled
the children to death.
UPTO
COME UPTO: meet the expectations. his achievemtns have come up to expectations.
FACE UPTO: deal with a problem. Problem have to be faced upto.
LEAD UPTO: caust to happen. the stories and events lead up to climax.
GIVE UP TO: devote all of your time to something. He gave himself up
to the service of the poor villagers.
LIVE UP TO: be true to expectations. The party failed to live up to
people's expectations.
LOOK UP TO: admire and respect somebody. I look up to my teacher.
MATCH UP To: be good enough. She matched up to our requirements.
MEASURE UP TO: be good enough. I hope the new assistant will measure
upto his responsibilites.
PLAY UP TO: behave very politely. leaders try to play up to with the
people in election days.
STAND UP TO: survive a crisis and remain unharmed.how many of us can
stand up to such ordeals.
WAKE UP TO: become aware of. i woke up to the problem, however late.
WITHOUT
DO WITHOUT: manage without something. she had no money and so she had
to do without it.
MANAGE WITHOUT: be unable to succeed in the absence of something. i
cannot manage without newpaers.
GO WITHOUT: do without something, do without. i had to go without lunch.
RECKON WITHOUT: not to include in one's plans, not taken into
consideration.She arranged a picnic reckoning without the possibility
of a thunder storm.
FIT IN WITH: be totally fit and suitable. Old fashioned ornaments do
not fit in with modern fashion.
KEEP TO ONESELF: to keep a secret. Keep this information to yourself.
PUT THROUGH THE MILL: give severe practical training. she was put
through the mill before her posting here.
KICK OUT AGAINST: react violently. People began to kick out against
the corruption.
BOUND TOWARDS:moving in a particular direction. the balll came
bounding towards her and hit on the head.
BRUSH PAST: pass by someone quickly. she, once my secretary, brushed
past me in the conference.
COME ONTO:start discussing, enter a state. the speaker requested the
actor to come on to the stage.
SEE BEYOND:foresee,understand future events. you should see beyond
short terms gains.
*GIVE WAY:tootna. the rope gave way when the boys were pulling it.
SPLIT OPEN:break along a straight line. the pod would split open when dry.
JUST AS: equally as. It is just as good as I thought.
KNOW AS:called a particular name. the author was known as Palak.
*MAKE DO:to manage
*MAKE FUN OF:laugh
*MAKE HASTE:hurry up
POKE FUN AT: mock at, ridicule. They poked fun at his ugly appearance.
RIDE AT ANCHOR: float on water. The ship rode at anchor in the sea.
EAVES DROP ON: listen secretly. she is in the habit of eaves dropping
on our conversation.
GET ON AT: criticise somebody. he is in the habit of getting on at others.
PLACE PRESSURE ON: put pressure on. they placed pressure on the
president to expedite the matter.
PREY ON MIND: to make somebody worried. the ugly incident preyed on puja's mind.
PUT A BAN ON: not to allow, prohibit. they put a ban on smoking in public.
PUT ON EMPHASIS: put stress on something. the speaker put emphasis on
perseverance.
PLACE ON ONE SIDE: put on one side. rahman placed his sitar on one side.
PLACE STRAIN ON: put a strain on. rising prices have placed a strain on income.
RAISE FORM THE DEAD: restore to life, revivify. christ is believed to
have the powers of raising people from the dead.
RAISE A GLASS: drink a toast. they raised their galsssed to their host.
RAISE HAT TO: show admiration or approval. she raised her hat to the
war hero. we should raised out hats to out warriors.
SET ON FIRE: cause to burn. some miscreants set the shop on fire.
SET ON FIRE: cause great excitement. her beauty set his imagination on fire.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: sing a predetermined agreement. i had to sign
on the dotted line.
SKATING ON THIN ICE: do something that may end you in trouble. do you
think i was skating on thin ice if i told them to be more sincere.
STEP ON SOMEBODY'S TOES: behave without any regard for the feeling and
sentiments of other people.he was very sensible and never tired to
step on anybody's toes.
ZERO IN ON: aim at a target with precision. the missile were zeroed
in on this man.
ZERO IN ON: concentrate all you attention on a problem etc. finally
the police zeroed in on this man.
QUIRK OF FATE: something that happenes by chance and has effect on
future events. It was a quirk of fate that he was unable to board The
ill-fated plane.
RAY OF HOPE: a source of some comfort in difficult times. They saw a
ray of hope in The promising land.
GET OFF ON: become excited about something. during a football match
he got off on it.
LIVE OFF The LAND: geet food from grwoing plants, vegetables etc. They
lived off The land They possessed.
SHUFFLE OFF ONTO: try to pass blame or responsibity for something onto
his assistant.
WASH HANDS OFF: say or show that one no longer wants to be responsible
for. She waShed her hads off The matter.
WALK OFF WITH: carry away. some body walked off with my rain coat.
WIPE OFF The MAP: obliterated,erased, removed. a violent earthquake
wiped The village off The map.
SEND AHEAD OF: send somebody in advance. He sent his assistent ahead of himself.
STAY AHEAD OF: be in a better position in competition.By dint of hard
work he could stay ahead of all others.
GO ALONG WITH: agree with somebody.I was glad to go along with darwin.
GO ALONG WITH: accept and obey a rule. I had promised to go along with
the contract.
KNOCK AROUND WITH: spend spare time with friends. We knocked around
with our relations.
GET BACK INTO: start doing something again. Ramesh got back into
medical practice.
GET BACK TO: contact someone again on phone. Radha got back to her
friend to inform her about the marriage.
GO BACK ON: not to keep a word or promise. A gentleman would never go
back on his word.
GO BACK OVER: re-consider something. He declined to go back over his word.
GO BACK TO: start doing your work again. She went back to bed after lunch.
PUT BACK INTO: use profits for further progress. They put back the
money inthe business.
PUT BACK ON: put on a dress again. She took off her scarf and then
after a few minutes put it back on.
THROW BACK AT: remind a mistake etc. What is the use of throwing back
her failure at?
*HOLD FORTH ON: give opinion on something. he held forth on the
problem of child-marriage.
READ BETWEEN THE LINES: know the implied meaning. I was able to read
between the lines of the letter that all was not so well.
BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON: born in a rich family.Narendra was born with
a silver spoon in his mouth.
SEIZE WITH BOTH HANDS: grasp an opportunity etc. She seized the
opportunity to head the goverment with both hands.
COME UNDER FIRE: to be criticized.The government has come under fire
for its decision to close the mines.
BE WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE: something forgotten and not worth worrying
about. It is all water under the bridge now.
BARK UP THE WRONG TREE: to have a wrong conception or idea. Narendra
was barking up the wrong tree by thnking that he could be bailed out
by his relatives.
BRUSH UP ON: improve your knowledge. leela borrowed the books from the
library to brush up on her knowledge about the blackholes.
CAUGHT UP IN: be in a situation that prevents you from moving. i was
caught up in a traffic jam.
HOLD UP AS: to use as an example. The institution is being held up as
an example fo excellence.
PARADE UP AND DOWN: to walk around in a way that shows you want people
to notice and admire you.
PEN IN UP: restrict the movement or freedom, enclose ina pen. The
cattle were penned in.
PLUCK UP COURAGE: make yourself bold aand do something you are afraid
of doing. he plucked up courage and asked for a rise in salary.
PUSH UP DAISIES: be dead and in grave. the died fighting bravely and
are now pushing up daisies.
PULL UP SOCKS: become more alert and active. they need to pull up
their socks to remain in competition.
ROLL UP SLEEVES: prepare for some hard work. he rolled his sleeves up
and began sawing.
A ROUND UP: a brief summary. The sports round up followed the news.
RUB UP THE RIGHT WAY: treat in a careful way. she rubbed up the child
the right way.
RUB UP THE WRONG WAY: treat clumsily.l she rubbed him up the wrong way.
SCREW UP COURAGE : make oneself hold. he screwed up his courage and
dived into the river.
SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT: mpake improvement or leave the job.the
management asked the worker to shape up or ship out.
THROW UP THE SPONGE: admit defeat. he was working against great odds
but never thought of throwing up the sponge.
WORK UP AN APPETITE: make yourself hungry by taking physical
exercise. he worked up an appetite by palying football.
WHOOP IT UP: enjoy yourself very much. they whooped it up on christmas.
FURIOUS AT/WITH:full of mich anger. The husband became furious with his wife.
KEEP PACE WITH: to move as fast as another person. Salary and costs
have failed to keep pace with each other.
LOSE PATIENCE WITH: get angry, be annoyed. She often loses patience
with her servant.
PLY WITH QUESTIONS: keep asking questions. Children ply their parents
with questions.
LEAP OUT AT: something written that becomes suddenly very striking.
The images contained in the poem leapt out at me.
LIES AT HEART: to be the most important thing. Do you know what lies
at her heart.
OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS: the situation when your plan is not more useful.
Overtaken by events he abandoned his plan.
SHAKE BY THE HANDS: shake hand with somebody. i shook him by the hand.
JUMP FOR JOY: be very happy. She jumped for joy at her brilliant success.
LOOKING FOR TROUBLE: behavingin a way that invites troubles and
problems. surely you are looking for trouble if you defend terrorists.
RIDE FOR A FALL: to do something carelessly resulting in failure. he
rode for a fall and suffered losses.
WEEP FOR JOY: with happiness. The news of success make him weep with joy.
SIFT OUT FROM: separate one thing from oThers.you need to sift out
truth from The lies.
START FROM SCRATCH: start from The very beginning. he started his
business from The scratch and became a business tycoon.
*BEAR IN MIND: dhyan rakhna. for successs,you must bear in mind my
advice in future.
LOOK DOWN UPON: we should not look down upon the poor.
LEFT OVERS: the food that remains uneatern after a mea. the left overs
were given to the beggars.
LOOK STRAIGHT THROUGH: look ata particular person without showing that
you have seen or recognised him/her. gloria looked striaght through
me.
LUMP TOGETHETR: to consider different people or things as single type.
Many issues got lumped together.
MARRY BENEATH: marry someone who islower than you in rank or pretige.
the pricess married beneath herself.
LIE LOW: remain hidden. the enemy is lying low.
BE MISTRESS OF: be in control of, be highly skilled at something. she
appeared to be the mistress of thre whole affair.
NAME AFTER: give the same name to somebody or something as the other
person or thing. The city was named after the famous revolutionary.
NICE TO KNOW: said to signify that you feel happy when you know about
something. it was nice to know more about her.
NIP IN THE BUD: to prevent something from developing into a problem.
They were trying to go on strike but the management nipped it in the
bud.
NOMINATE TO DO: suggest somebody to perform something. we want to
nominate joshi to represent our case.
PUSH PART: push out of the way. joy tried to push past her.
STEP INTO SOMEBODY ELSE'S SHOES: take responsibilits form somebody
else. she stepped into The shoes of her boss.
*PULL OUT OF:withdraw of
*PUT UP WITH: sahna,stay. hari is tired of his friend. so he cannot
put up with him any more.
QUERY WHETHER: to express doubt if something was true or not. she
querried whether what I said was authentic or not.
RING SOUND:telephone one address after the other. she rang around
several dealers to buy a computer.
ROMP HOME:win easily.i never hoped that our team would romp home.
TAKE BREATH AWAY: be surprised and become speechless. the
extraordinary charm of the hills took my breath away.
TAKEN ABACK:shocked and surprised. shcoked and surprised. the raid
took him aback.
VASCILLATE BETWEEN : undecided as which of the two things to choose.
intense love and deep hatred- these were the two emotions between
which he was vascillating.
THROW OVERBOARD:reject completely. the communists threw everything
religious overboard.
WALKED ABROAD: spread far and wide. the plague had walked abroad.
GET BEYOND:make steady progress. parnita soon got beyond basics of the
computers.
GO AFTER:try to get something particular. she went after a film career.
GO BEYOND:to exceed a limit. the strike may go beyond tommorrow.
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