To work out: to exercise; to develop, to devise (a plan).
-Jane works
out at the fitness center every other morning before going to school.
-The advertising department worked out a plan to increase company sales.
-We couldn't come up with a good
plan for solving the problem, but we agree to work
it out at a later date.
To back up: to drive or go backwards; to defend, to
support; to return to a previous thought.
-I couldn't back my car up because
there was a bicycle in the driveway behind me.
-Ursula asked her friends to back her up when she
went to court to fight a ticket for an illegal lane change on the highway.
-Wait a minute. Could you back up and say that
again?.
To back out: to drive a vehicle out of a parking space; to
withdraw support, to fail to fulfill a promise or obligation.
-The parking lot attendant had
to back another car out
before he could get to mine.
-We were all ready to sign the
contracts when one of the parties to the agreement backed
out.
To have one's heart set on: to desire greatly, to be
determined to.
-She has
her heart set on taking a trip abroad. She's been thinking about if for
months.
-Todd has
his heart set on going to medical school and becoming a doctor.
To buy up: to buy the complete stock of.
-Before the hurricane struck,
residents bought up all the food and water in
local stores.
-The government plans to buy up all surplus grain in order to stabilize the
prize.
To buy out: to purchase a business or company; to
purchase all of a person's chares or stock.
-Larger companies often buy out smaller companies that are having financial
difficulties.
-Mr. Lee has been trying for
come time to buy his partner out so that he can control the company by himself.
To sell out: to sell all items; to arrange for the sale of
a company or business.
-That store is closing its doors
for good and is selling out everything this
weekend.
-If my new business enterprise
is successful, I'll sell it out for a few million dollars.
To catch on: to become popular or widespread; to
understand, to appreciate a joke. This idiom is often used with the preposition
to for the second definition.
-Fashions of the past often catch on again among young people.
-When the teacher speaks quickly
like that, can you catch on easily?.
-His joke was very funny at the
time, but when I told it to others later, nobody seemed to catch on. I had to
tell the joke again before anyone could catch on to
it.
To be cut out for: to have the necessary skills or talent for.
This idiom is most often used in the negative or in questions.
-John is
certainly not cut out for the work of a trial
lawyer.
-Are you certain that you are cut out for that kind of job?.
To throw out: to discard; to remove by force; to refuse to
consider, to reject.
-Instead of throwing out our paper waste in the office, we should
recycle it.
-When a fight broke out between
two people on the dance floor, the management threw
them out.
-The judge threw the case out
because there was insufficient evidence to try the defendant successfully.
To throw up: to erect or construct quickly; to vomit.
-The Red Cross threw up temporary shelters for the homeless victims
of the earthquake.
-The ill patient is unable to
digest her food properly, so she is throwing all
of it up.
To clear up: to make understandable (also: to straighten out); to become sunny.
-The teacher tried to clear up confusion about the meaning of the difficult
paragraph in the reading.
-It's rather cloudy this
morning. Do you think that it will clear up
later?.
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