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