Idioms and phrasal verbs - intermediate (oxford word skills) | Quizlet

lose face

be less respected or look stupid because of sth you have done

turn a blind eye (to sth)

pretend not to see or notice sth, usually sth bad

out of the blue (informal)

suddenly and unexpectedly

in the distance

far away, but able to be seen or heard

without fail

always (two words)

if all else fails

used to say what sb can do if nothing else they have done is successful

that/it depends

used to say that you are not certain about sth because other things have to be considered.

steer/stay clear of sth/sb

(to) take care to avoid sth or sb, because it or they may cause problems

why/how/where/who etc. on earth (informal)

used to emphasize a question when you're angry or surprised or cannot think of an obvious answer

be in/get into a state (informal)

be/become anxious or upset

make sense

be a practical and logical thing to do/ have a clear meaning

how come (informal)

used to ask the reason for sth which is surprising

like mad (informal)

very fast, hard, much, etc (syn. flat out)

take advantage of sth

make good use of sth

(verb-based idioms) change your mind

change your decision or opinion about sth

(verb-based idioms) get nowhere

make no progress, or have no success

(verb-based idioms) be supposed to do sth

you should do it because sb told you to do it, or because it is your responsibility to do it (syn. be meant to do sth)

(prepositional phrases) in that case

used to say what will happen, or what you will do, as a result of a particular situation

(prepositional phrases) in charge (of sb/sth)

having control or command (of sb.sth)

(noun phrases) a piece of cake (informal)

a thing that is very easy to do

(noun phrases) a stone's throw (informal)

a short distance

(sayings/proverbs) famous last words

used when you think sb is speaking with too much confidence about sth that they think will happen

(sayings/proverbs) better late than never

it is better to arrive late than not at all

bright and early

early in the morning

more or less

almost or approximately

(idiomatic phrasal verbs) get through (to sb)

make contact with sb by phone

(idiomatic phrasal verbs) laugh sth off

joke about sth to show you think it is not serious or important

(exclamations or short spoken phrases) don't ask me (informal)

used to say that you don't know the answer to sth (syn. search me)

thank heavens

used to say you are pleased and relieved about sth

check in

to go to a desk in a hotel, an airport, etc. and tell an official there that you have arrived

look up (informal)

(of a business, sb's situation, etc) get better

show up (informal)

arrive in a place where sb is waiting for you

look sth up

look for information in a book or online

make sth up

invent a story or an explanation for sth

try sth on

put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits or looks good on you

look into sth

investigate and try to discover the facts about sth, e.g. a crime, a problem

come across sth/sb

meet sb or find sth by chance

stand for sth

represent or mean

go out with sb

spend time with sb and have a romantic relationship with them

cut back on sth

reduce the amount of sth that you eat, spend, use, etc.

take off

(of a plane) leave the ground

take sth off

remove (a piece of clothing)

drag on

continue for too long

carry on (doing sth)

continue with an activity for a period of time

keep on doing sth

repeat sth many times, often in an annoying way

stay on

continue enjoying yourself, studying, or working in a place, often after others have left

drive on

to continue driving

goes on

continues, without changing

went on (and on) about

talking about sth for a long time in a boring way

go on to

pass from doing sth to doing sth else (syn. move on to sth)

see sb off

to go to an airport, train station etc to say goodbye to someone

cut sth off

(often passive) separate sth from sth else, so it is difficult to leave or enter

go off

to leave a place, especially in order to do something

mess about/around (with sth) (informal)

1 spend time doing sth or repairing sth in a relaxed way

2 do sth or use sth in a careless or annoying way

laze around/about

relax, enjoy yourself, and do nothing

lie around/about

(of a number of things) be left in a place, usually untidily or where they shouldn't be

hang around/about (informal)

spend time in a place doing nothing

clear off (informal)

go away (often used angrily as a command)

go through

look at, check, or discuss sth carefully

lived through

experience and survive sth very difficult

flicked through

look through sth quickly, without reading it

looked through

look at the pages of sth, reading it only in part

sleep through

continue sleeping while there is a lot of noise around you

bring it back/ bring me back

return to this place with sth that you have taken or borrowed/ return sb to a place, usually by car

sent sth back

return sth by post, messenger, waiter...

phone sb back

return sb's phone call (syn. ring sb back)

paid sb back

return to sb the money that you borrowed from them

The alarm goes off at 5.00

alarm starts ringing

the lights suddenly went off

the lights stopped working

the bomb went off

a bomb exploded

i put my best suit on

dressed myself (opp. take sth off)

he put the light on

syns. turn sth on, switch sth on: he ... the light

i put on a lot of weight last year

became fatter

the car broke down

the car stopped working

she broke down at the news

started crying

the sun's going down

disappearing below the horizon (opp. come up)

prices went down

the prices became lower (opp. go up)

i can't do this zip up

i can't fasten this

they're doing the flat up

redecorating

when did they turn up?

when did they arrive?

look! my ring's turned up!

be found by chance: look! my ring ...

they tied him up

tied his arms so that couldn't move: they ... him

she's tied up at the moment

very busy (used in the passive): she .... at the moment

in vain

unsuccesful, of no value

first of all

before doing anything else

go over/through sth

look at, check, or discuss sth carefully

leave sth out

not do sth, e.g. an exercise (leave sb out = not include sb)

rub sth out

Remove marks made by a pencil, chalk, etc. using a rubber.

take it in turns

do sth one after another so that everyone has an opportunity to do it

swap places (with sb)

take sb's seat or position so they can take yours

finish sth off

do the last part of sth

call it a day (informal)

decide to stop what you are doing (often work)

put sth away

put sth where you usually keep it, especially after using it

hand sth in

to give sth to sb in a position of authority

hand sth out

to give something to each person in a group or place (syn. give sth out)

hand sth round

pass sth, especially food or drink, to people in a group

take sth seriously

think that sth is important and should be given careful attention

in rough

if you write sth .... , you do it for a first time without worrying about mistakes because you will write it correctly after

cross sth out

to draw a line through something you have written, usually because it is wrong

it's no good (doing sth)

it will have no positive result (syn. it's no use (doing sth)