Idioms and Phrases (part 1)
Back out : to withdraw from a promise ,contract
Exm - I felt grieved when he backed out of his promise to help me.
Back up : to support; to sustain
Exm - He backed up his report relevant statistics.
Bear down upon : to approach threateningly
Exm - We struggled to balance the boat as a powerful wave bore down upon us.
Bear out: to support; to confirm ; to prove to be true.
Exm - The evidence does not bear out the charge levelled against him.
Bear up : to keep one's spirits up under adversity or affliction; to endure; to be firm
Exm - The soldiers posted at the borders have to bear up a many difficulties.
Bear on upon : to be relevant to
Exm - This argument does not bear upon the subject under discussion.
Bear with : to tolerate , to be patient with
Exm - I just cannot bear with his is irritable nature.
Beat down : to subdue; to crush
Exm - The police beat down the miscreants in two hours.
Beat up : to beat (a person) severely and thoroughly so as to cause him injury.
Exm - The torn clothes and the swollen face of the beggar clearly showed that he had been beaten up.
Blow down : to throw down (by the force of the wind)
Exm - The terrible gale blew down many a tall tree.
Blow out : to extinguish (a flame) by blowing:
Exm - The candle was blown out by the strong wind.
Blow over : to pass away without any injurious effect.
Exm- If you show a little perseverance, the opposition to your proposal will gradually blow over.
Blow up : 1.to explode ;
Exm - The mine blew up and all the labourers working inside were killed.
2.to reprimand or scold:
Exm - If you continue to be negligent, the teacher will blow you up.
Break away : to free oneself from restraint
Exm - He grabbed her but she managed to break away.
Break down : of a car , a piece of machinery, to go wrong so that it will not function.
Exm - The car broke down on our way to Mumbai.
Break in : to train and discipline
Exm - The manager did not believe in breaking the staff in gently.
Break into - 1.to enter forcibly and abruptly Exm - The burglars broke into his house this morning and took away all the valuables.
2. suddenly to start some activity :
Exm - On seeing the exceptionally short and fat man,they broke into loud laughter.
Break off - to end; to discontinue; to desist:
Exm - We had to break off our conversation when he arrived. She did not like his nature and broke off the engagement.
Break out - 1.to arise suddenly (of a war, a rebellion, a quarrel, etc.):
Exm - The report said that if a nuclear war broke out between India and Pakistan, it would take a toll of at least two million people.
2.to burst forth (epidemics, diseases, etc.): Exm - Dengue broke out in the entire NCR.
Break up- to disperse; to dissolve :
Exm - The college will break up for the Puja holidays on 25th October. The meeting will break up after the President has addressed the audience.
Break with : to discontinue with a practice or tradition :
Exm - Since independence, we have
been trying to break with class distinctions and gender discrimination.
2. to discontinue an association or friendship:
Exm - Gaurav has been so loyal and faithful to me that I find it difficult to break with him.
Bring about - to cause to happen:
Exm - I wish someone could bring about a reconciliation between the two partners.
Bring down - to cause to come down; to humble:
Exm - I do not think this government will be able to bring inflation down.
Bring out- 1.to reveal clearly:
Exm - A crisis often brings out the best in people.
2.- to publish:
Exm : A large number of novels are brought out every month.
Bring round- to persuade :
Exm : He finally brought his father round to his own point of view.
Bring up : to rear :
Exm - Those brought up in adversity are able to cope with life better.
Call at - to visit somebody's house, office, etc. :
Exm - He called at your house but you had
gone to the airport to see your friend off.
Call for : 1.to demand :
Exm - We hope another edition of this book will be called for very soon.
2.-to require :
Exm - Medical aid is immediately called for.
Call in : to summon; to enlist the services or the help of:
Exm - The doctor should be immediately called in.
Call out -1. to announce by calling or shouting :
Exam - The Manager called out to the peon that he was being immediately fired.
2.- to shout:
Exam - I called out to him but he disappeared in the dark.
Call upon - to order; to require :
Exam - I was unfortunately called upon to give evidence against him.
Call up - to rouse from slumber :
Exam - Your letter calls up many delightful memories of childhood.
Carry away -1. to take to another place; to remove :
Exam - The wounded soldiers were carried away to the hospital.
2.- to captivate:
Exam - The audience was carried away by the speaker's patriotic sentiments.
Carry off - 1.to kill :
Exam - Malaria carried off one-third population of the city.
2.- to win :
Exam - Vipansh carried off most of the prizes.
Carry on - to continue :
Exam - If you carry on working hard, your business will soon flourish.
Carry out - to perform; to complete :
Exam - The doctors are carrying out certain tests to find out what is wrong with her.
Carry through -1. to bring to a successful end :
Exam - Had I the perseverance to carry
the undertaking through, I would have been a good businessman.
2.- to support :
Exam - He is not very talented but his confidence will carry him through.
Cast aside - to reject; to throw aside as useless :
Exm - She cast aside all shame and eloped
with her boy friend.
Cast away - to throw aside :
Exm - You must cast away all your apprehensions and accept the offer.
Cast down - dejected:
Exm - The defeated candidate looked cast down after the declaration of the results.
Cast off - to discard (garments) :
Exm - Shall I give the servant the old shirt you have cast off?
Catch up with - to overtake; to draw level Exm - Last week I had to stay late at the office to catch up with some pending files.
Come about - to happen; to occur :
Exm - How did this state of things come about.
Come across - to meet by chance :
Exm - I came across an old friend of mine while having a stroll on the seashore.
Come by - to obtain :
Exm - How did she come by that beautiful pearl necklace?
Come in for - to receive :
Exm - If you persist in your mischiefs, you will come in for heavy thrashing.
Come out - 1.to appear.
Exm - The new edition of this book will come out in December.
2.to attain a specified place or position at the result of an examination or competition
Exm - He came out second in the 400 m hurdles race.
3.to put forward (a proposal, a suggestion, etc.) (In this sense, come out is always
followed by with).
Exm - He came out with the proposal that an export division should be added to the firm.
Come into - to inherit (money , property, etc.) :
Exm - At his father's death, he came into a
large fortune but squandered it away only in a few months.
Come of : to issue from :
Exm - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came of a rich and noble family.
Come off : 1.to take place :
Exm - The prize distribution came off on Tuesday last.
2. to turn out successful :
Exm - His speeches at the conference always came off beautifully.
Come round : - to recover from illness :
Exm- You need not worry. Her injury is minor. She will soon come round.
2.to change to opposite view :
Exm : He came round to my view only after I had explained to him the point of my argument.
Come over - to come; to pass from one side to another:
Exm - Why don't you come over to my
house one of these days?
Come to - to amount to:
Exm - The price of the necklace came to three thousand rupees.
Come up to - to be equal to :
Exm - I regret to say that you have not come up to my expectations.
Come upon - to find by accident :
Exm - I came upon some very interesting advertisements in the matrimonial columns of the newspaper.
Cry down - to deprecate; to make little of : Exm - You must not unnecessarily cry down the conduct of others.
Cry out against - to complain loudly against:
Exm - The opposition parties cried out against the frequent scams afflicting the UPA Government
Cut down - to reduce :
Exm - He has taken some concrete measures to cut down his expenditure.
Cut off - to kill :
Exm - Many a man is cut off in the prime of his life.
Cut out - designed for :
Exm - You were cut out to be a lecturer in a college.
Cut up - unhappy :
Exm - She was terribly cut up on hearing the news that her brother had lost his life in an air crash.
Draw up - to compose or to draft:
Exm - Urvashi drew up the draft and gave it to her father.
Drop in - to visit casually :
Exm - On my way to the college, I dropped in at Mira's place.
Drop off - to decrease in number :
Exm - This used to be our most popular club; but its membership has recently dropped off.
Drop out - As the race progressed, many children dropped out.
Enter into - to begin (conversation, business, etc.)
Exm - The assembled guests entered into a discussion on the current fashion in hair style.
Enter upon - to begin a period, etc.).
Exm - With this victory, England entered upon a new era in the history of cricket.
Fall back- to mode to retreat
Exm - On seeing the armed guards, the civilians fell back.
Fall back on - to make use of in an emergency :
Exm - When the business failed, we had
to fall back on our savings.
fall in - to take places in runks; to stand in a line or due order :
Exm - The captain ordered his men to fall in at once.
Fall in with - to agree:
Exm - You will find it difficult to persuade your partners to fall in with your project.
Fall off - to withdraw ; to drop off :
Exm - Some of our subscribers have fallen off. Friends fall off in adversity.
Give away - to distribute :
Exm - The Principal gave away the prizes to the prize-winners.
Give in - to surrender; to yield.
Exm - I gave in to their repeated requests and accepted the offer.
Give up - to abandon:
Exm- I have given up driving since I got involved in that accident.
Fall out - to quarrel :
Exm - It was wrong on his part to fall out with his parents and leave home.
Fall through - to fail to materialise :
Exm - The project was very good but it fell through for want of funds.
Fall under - to come under :
Exm - This colony does not fall under my jurisdiction.
Get along - to prosper; to progress; to proceed :
Exm - Well, doctor, how is your patient getting along? It is simply impossible to get along with him.
Get at - to suggest:
Exm - Do you understand what the poet is getting at in these lines?
Get away with - to escape:
Exm - Many people do not pay any taxes at all, still they get away with it.
Get on -1. to succeed:
Exm - A man of his talents is sure to get on in this world.
2- to fare :
Exm - How are you getting on these days?
Get on with - to live pleasantly together, to progress
Exm - How are you getting on with your studies?
Get into - to be involved in
Exm - It is easy to get into scandals but hard to come out unscathed.
Get over- to recover from; to overcome :
Exm - It took him years to get over the shock of his wife's death.
Get through - 1.to finish :
Exm- I can get through a lot more work if I am able to do it my way.
2.- telephone :
Exm- I tried to telephone her but could not get through.
Give way - 1.to yield:
Exm- I found him so determined that I had to give way.
2.- to collapse; to break :
Exm- There was a terrible storm and the house gave way.