idiom

Term
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spur of the moment
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Terms in this set (140)
spur of the moment
spontaneous;y or impulsively; without prior planning
elephant in the room
something that is very apparent that no one is talking about
with child
pregnant
chicken out
to refuse to do something as a result of fear
across the board
to affect everything within a group
abide by the rules
to accept to follow a law, ruling; to comply with
carry on doing something
to continue
test the waters
to check the likelihood of success before proceeding
pan out
to yield good results; to turn out well
account for something
to explain; to provide an explanation for
give it awayto reveal (information that was supposed to be kept secret)follow suitto do the same; to follow the example set by someone elsegrow out ofto become too large for something; to outgrow, to develop on the basis of somethingback up datato make an electronic copy as security in case the original is damaged o deletedknow the ropesto understand how things are done in a particular placeback someone into a cornerto put someone or oneself into a position where there is no way out and no room to maneuverhave second thoughtsto reconsiderlook after a childto take care oflook forward to an eventto anticipate something with pleasurelook into somethingto investigate; to seek information aboutcut a person some slackto give someone a break,to be understandingfirst-rateof high qualityoff basemissing the point, not understandingtouch base withcheck in withkeep one's options opento avoid doing anything that might rule out a future course of actionbring the facts home to someoneto make the reality of something clearbring new information to lightto reveal; to uncoversee the lightto finally realize something after serious considerationlook upto show signs of improvementlook something upto seek information about something in a reference worklook up to someoneto have respect and admiration for someonegive someone free reinto put few restrictions on the behavior of someonerein someone into control someone's behavior closelygive her story the benefit about the doubtto assume that a person or statement is truthful until proven otherwisehold one's ownto perform reasonably well in a challenging situationhold one's tongueto stay silent; to refrain from speakingbring something to mindto be reminiscent of something; to remindset the record straightto correct a false story; to provide accurate informationuse up a resourceto consume something completelysize up the competitionto evaluate or assessBack downTo give up, to walk away fromBack offLeave alone, let it beSeeing thingsSeeing something that is not really hereSecond natureSomething that comes naturallyHave one's hands tiedTo be restricted; to be prevented from doing somethingLower the barTo reduce standards so that it is easier to succeedFlare upTo erupt or break out; to recurAsk after someoneTo inquire about the well-being of someoneHold swayTo dominate; to have great influenceGo through with somethingTo perform an action as planned; to carry outEnd upTo come eventually to a particular situation or placeLay claim to propertyTo assert that one has the right to something; to claim ownership ofCross one's mindTo occur to oneHold on toTo keep or retainHold outTo resist or endure in a challenging situationLeave no stone unturnedTo look everywhere; to attempt everythingCross pathsTo meet by chanceRun into someoneTo meet someone by chanceHave one's work cut out forTo have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish somethingGet one's act togetherTo prepare oneself to accomplish something; to get organizedon occasionsometimeson the dotat the exact timeback to the drawing boardto start from the beginningthird degreeintense interrogationdrop byto make a short, usually unannounced visitdrop in onto make a short, usually unannounced, visit to a personhave one's hands fullto be very busy; to have a lot to dogo wrongto cause a failure; to go amisserr on the sideto act in a reserved manner to prevent issueall kidding asideto be serioustake one's timeto proceed slowly; to avoid rushingtighten one's beltto take extreme measures in order to economize; to cut backtouch on a subjectto address a topic brieflysee eye to eyeto have similar opinions; to understand each otherhave a sayto have a degree of influence or powercherry-pickto take only the most desirable items available from a among a selectionso someone goodto have a beneficial effect on someonenarrow down a listto reduce the number of options in a selectiondraw a blankto be unable to remember or responddo one's bestto try as hard as possiblepull the plugto end somethingpull someone'slegto joke or trick someonesix feet underdeceased, deadbend the truthto alter or withhold informationthrow down the gauntletto issue a challengethrow in the towelto accept defeat; to surrenderthrow someone to the wolvesto leave someone to face criticism or challenges alone; to abandon someonefill someone into inform someone fully; to give someone the detailsfill in for someoneto replace or substitute fortake someone's placeto replace or substitute for (someone)come to grips with a challenging conceptto become capable of dealing with or understandingstay out of a disputeto avoid getting involved inwear thinto become less effective due to oversuespeak out on the controversial issueto express one's opinions openlythink upto invent; to make uptake advantage of someone or somethingto exploit someone, to utilize or avail oneself of somethingcarry out ordersto obey; to put into actionmeet someone halfwayto compromise with someonemeet one's matchto find one's equalkeep a low profileto avoid getting attention or publicitypiece of cakesomething that is easyslap on the wristminor punishmenttaste of your own medicinetreatment similar to how you have been treating peoplea picture is worth a thousand wordsyou can learn more from a single picture than from many wordsget a message acrossto expressget away with a crimeto manage escape the consequences of an actionthink on one's feetto react quickly and effectively without prior preparationwash one's hands ofto no longer be responsible for or involved with something; to dissociate oneself fromsettle forto accept less than desired or expectedcast doubt on somethingto make something appear doubtful or dubiousmake a point of doing somethingto make a deliberate effort to do somethingmake doto manage without something important; to get bymake sureto be certain; to conformkeep an eye on somethingto watch; to monitorget over a setbackto recover from; to bounce back fromtake someone's word for itto believe someone without additional evidencetake a breakto take a rest; to stop an activity temporarilydraw the lineto set a limit about how far one is willing to gothink better ofto decide against doing something after thinking about it more; to reconsidermake senseto be reasonable or logicalat the drop of a hatin a momentan arm and a lega large amount of moneybend over backwardto be overly accommodating, to do a large amount for someonecross your fingersa gesture made for good luckthink someone overto consider something carefullythink twiceto consider carefully before making a decisionget rid of somethingto discard or eliminateget the best of someoneto defeat or outwitget to the bottom of a mysteryto uncover the truth aboutget underwayto begin; to startmince worksto avoid directly saying something which might upset or offendjump on the bandwagonto take up an activity or idea that is suddenly very popularmake good on a promiseto follow through onmake off withto take or steal somethingstand for somethingto support or advocate a believe or principle, to be an abbreviation ofstand up for someoneto defend; to advocate forstand outto be conspicuous; to attract attentionwind downto slow down, to draw a closewind up somewhereto find oneself in a place or situation; to arrive or end upkeep at a taskto continue to do; to persist or persevere with