CPE (5) Flashcards
cheat someone out of something
to prevent somebody from having something, especially in a way that is not honest or fair
Ex: They cheated him out of his share of the profits.
check in
-to go to a desk in a hotel, an airport, etc. and tell an official there that you have arrived
Ex: Please check in at least an hour before departure.
-to leave bags or cases with an official to be put on a plane or train
Ex: We checked in our luggage and went through to the departure lounge.
check out
-to be found to be true or acceptable after being examined
Ex: The local police found her story didn’t check out.
*check out of/from: to pay your bill and leave a hotel, etc.
Ex: Guests should check out of their rooms by noon.
*check somebody/something out
-to find out if something is correct, or if somebody is acceptable
Ex: The police are checking out his alibi.
-to look at or examine a person or thing that seems interesting or attractive
Ex: Check out the prices at our new store!
*check something out: to borrow something from an official place, for example a book from a library
Ex: The book has been checked out in your name.
-check out (something): to take the items you have bought, esp. in a large food store, to an area where you pay for them
Ex: I had already checked out when I remembered that we were out of milk.
check up on
-to try to discover what someone is doing in order to be certain that that person is doing what they should be doing:
Ex: My mum checks up on me most evenings to see that I’ve done my homework.
-to find out what someone is doing in order to make certain that the person is behaving correctly or legally:
Ex: Dad is always checking up on me to make sure I’m doing my homework.
outgoings
amounts of money that regularly have to be spent, for example to pay for heating or rent
cut something back/cut back on something
-to reduce something, spend less, do less, or use less of something
Ex: If we don’t sell more we’ll have to cut back production.
to cut back on spending
-to make a bush, etc. smaller by cutting branches off
(Reduce spending (giảm tiêu xài, cắt giảm chi phí), Reduce consumption (giảm lượng tiêu thụ)
cut down on
-cut somebody down: to kill somebody
Ex: He was cut down by an assassin’s bullet.
-cut something down: to make something fall down by cutting it at the base
Ex: Some trees had been cut down.
-cut something down (to…) | cut down (on something): to reduce the size, amount or number of something
Ex: We need to cut the article down to 1 000 words.
(Bring down by cutting (chặn đổ), Reduce the amount of something (cắt giảm)
cut in
-cut in (on somebody/something): to interrupt somebody when they are speaking
Ex: She kept cutting in on our conversation.
cut off
- cut sb/sth off: to interrupt somebody who is speaking on the phone by breaking the connection
Ex: We were cut off in the middle of our conversation.
-cut somebody/something off (from somebody/something): to prevent somebody/something from leaving or reaching a place or communicating with people outside a place
Ex: The army was cut off from its base. - cut something off something: to remove something from something larger by cutting
Ex: He had his finger cut off in an accident at work.
-to block or get in the way of something
Ex: They cut off the enemy’s retreat. - if a place is cut off, people cannot leave it or reach it
Ex: In winter, the town is often cut off by snow.
cut out
-cut somebody out (of something): to not allow somebody to be involved in something
Ex: Don’t cut your parents out of your lives.
-cut something out: to leave something out of a piece of writing, cloth etc.
Ex: I would cut out the bit about working as a waitress.
draw in
-If days, evenings, or nights draw in, it becomes darker earlier because autumn or winter is coming.
Ex: The nights/days are drawing in.
draw on/upon sth
-to use a supply of something that is available to you
Ex: Americans are spending more than they earn, drawing on savings and building up debt to do so.
draw something out
-to make something last longer than usual or necessary
Ex: She drew the interview out to over an hour.
draw up
-if a vehicle draws up, it arrives and stops
Ex: The cab drew up outside the house.
drop by/in | drop in on somebody | drop into something
-to pay an informal visit to a person or a place, to come for a visit, esp. without having received an invitation for a specific time:
Ex: Sorry we’re late—we dropped into the pub on the way.
drop off
-If the amount, number, or quality, level, price, value of something drops off, it becomes less
Ex: Traffic in the town has dropped off since the bypass opened.
drop out (of something)
-to no longer take part in or be part of something
Ex: He has dropped out of active politics.
-to leave school, college, etc. without finishing your studies
to drop out of school/college
Ex: She started a degree but dropped out after only a year.
eat into something
-to use up a part of something valuable, especially somebody’s money or time
Ex: Those repair bills have really eaten into my savings.
fall back
-to move back suddenly from someone or something, often because you are frightened:
Ex: She fell back in horror/disgust.
-If an army falls back, it moves away from an enemy army in order to avoid fighting:
Ex: The infantry fell back in disarray.
-to become lower in value or amount, especially after getting higher:
Ex: Stocks rallied in the first hour of trading only to fall back sharply by noon.
fall back on somebody/something
-to use something, especially a form of financial support, when other things have failed:
Ex: When the business failed, we had to fall back on our savings.
-to have something you can use or do if what you originally planned to use or do is not available or not possible:
Ex: The company can always fall back on its core business if any of the subsidiaries fail.
fall for somebody
-to be strongly attracted to somebody; to fall in love with somebody
Ex: They fell for each other instantly.
fall in
-If a roof or ceiling falls in, it drops to the ground because it is damaged:
Ex: Ten miners were trapped underground when the roof of the tunnel fell in.
fall in with somebody/something
-to agree to something, to accept and support a plan or suggestion
Ex: She fell in with my idea at once.
fall off
-to decrease in quantity or quality, if the amount, rate, number or quality of something falls off, it becomes smaller or lower ( profits, sales, etc_
Ex: Attendance at my lectures has fallen off considerably.
fall on/upon somebody/something
-to attack or take hold of somebody/something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm suddenly and unexpectedly
Ex: The soldiers fell on the villagers and seized all their weapons.
-to start eating food or start using something as soon as it arrives, in a way that shows you want it very much
-to take hold of someone suddenly, either to attack them or to hug them
fall out with/over
-to have an argument with somebody so that you are no longer friendly with them
Ex: The two fell out over coaching tactics a long time ago.
fall through
-to fail to happen
Ex: We found a buyer for our house, but then the sale fell through.
-if something that has been planned or agreed falls through, it does not happen:
Ex: The deal fell through when someone made our client a better offer.
feel for somebody
-to have sympathy for somebody
Ex: I really felt for her when her husband died.
fit in (with somebody/something)
-to feel you belong to a particular group and are accepted by the other members:
Ex: How do you think she will fit in with the rest of the staff?
-to be suitable or right in a particular situation:
Ex: Industry observers believe a sell-off would fit in with the company’s new strategy.
fit somebody/something out/up (with/as something)
-to supply somebody/something with all the equipment, clothes, food, etc. they need
Ex: The room has been fitted out with a stove and a sink.
We’ve fitted up the spare room as a nursery.
fit something/somebody out
-to supply someone or something with all of the things that will be needed:
Ex: The ship will be in dock for eight months to be fitted out for its new duties.
fly at someone/something
-to suddenly rush towards someone or animals and try to hit them because you are very angry with them
Ex: He flew at his brother like a crazy person.
fold up
-collapse, crumble
Ex: the old chair suddenly folded up under him
at the first shot the deer stopped short, then suddenly folded up
head off
-head someone/something off: to force someone or something to change direction:
Ex: I tried to head the dog off by running towards it.
-head something off: to prevent a difficult or unpleasant situation from happening:
Ex: The company is putting up wages to head off a strike.
-head someone off: to block someone’s movement by getting in front of the person:
Ex: Police tried to head off the bank robbers at the next exit.
-head off recession/inflation/legislation, etc.
join up
-to become a member of the military or another group:
Ex: Levi was not the first member of his family to join up – his sister was already in the Navy.
a bit of a dark horse
-someone with a secret, especially a secret ability, skill, or achievement, that surprises you when you finally discover it
Ex: In the 1955 golf championship, dark horse Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan.
-a person who is not expected to succeed in or unexpectedly wins an election, race, or other competition:
Ex: a dark horse in the primaries
be for the high jump
-if someone is in for the high jump, they are going to be punished because they have done something bad or are responsible for something that failed
Ex: If I catch you cheating, you’ll be for the high jump.
be in/of two minds about something/doing something
-to be unable to decide what you think about somebody/something, or whether to do something or not
Ex: I was of two minds about whether to invite him to the wedding.
be sound asleep
-deeply asleep
Ex: The baby was sound asleep.
be the perfect image of somebody
-to look very much like someone or something
Ex: Christopher is the perfect image of his father.
before one can say Jack Robinson
-(old-fashioned) very quickly; very soon
Ex: Before you could say Jack Robinson, she’d jumped into the car and driven away.
break the ice
-to say or do something that makes people you don’t know feel more relaxed, especially at the beginning of a meeting, party, etc.
Ex: I tried to break the ice by talking to the people next to me about the weather.
eat one’s heart out
- to feel very unhappy or jealous, especially because you want somebody/something you cannot have
Ex: I’m not going to mope at home, eating my heart out for some man.
flog a dead horse
-to waste effort on something when there is no chance of succeeding:
Ex: He keeps trying to get it published but I think he’s flogging a dead horse.
fly off the handle
- to suddenly become very angry
Ex: He seems to fly off the handle about the slightest thing these days.
get out of hand
-become out of control:
Ex: Things got a little out of hand at the party and three windows were broken.
get the hang of it
-to learn how to do or to use something; to understand something
Ex: It’s not difficult once you get the hang of it.
-Get in the habit of doing something, do something regularly or often
go to one’s head
-(of success, praise, etc.) to make you feel too proud of yourself in a way that other people find annoying/if success goes to someone’s head, it makes them think that they are better or more important than they really are
Ex: Success at such an early age can go to someone’s head.
grey matter
-the darker tissue containing nerve fibres (= structures like threads) found in the brain and spinal cord
-a person’s intelligence
Ex: This should exercise the old grey matter.
hand in glove with somebody
-working closely with somebody, especially in a secret and/or illegal way
Ex: It was rumoured at the time that some of the gangs were working hand in glove with the police.
have a (hard/difficult) job doing/to do something
-to have difficulty doing something
Ex: You’ll have a job convincing them that you’re right.
have many irons in the fire
-to be involved in several different activities or have several plans all happening at the same time
Ex: He has several economic irons in the fire, including gold and diamond mines.
have one’s heart in one’s mouth
-If someone’s heart is in their mouth, they are feeling extremely nervous:
Ex: My heart was in my mouth when I opened the letter.
have time on one’s hands | have time to kill
-to have nothing to do or not be busy, have free time
Ex: Gina has some time on her hands, so she is taking a college course.
hold one’s horses
-used to tell someone to stop and consider carefully their decision or opinion about something:
Ex: Just hold your horses, Bill! Let’s think about this for a moment.
ill at ease
-feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed
Ex: I felt ill at ease in such formal clothes.
keep something under your hat
to keep something secret and not tell anyone else
Ex: Keep it under your hat, but I’m getting married next week.keep something under one’s hat
keep up with the Joneses
-to try to have all the possessions and social achievements that your friends and neighbours have
Ex: A: “Why did she buy such an expensive car?” B: “Well, she lives in a wealthy part of town—I bet she just wants to keep up with the Joneses.”
lend (somebody) a (helping) hand (with something)
-to help somebody with something
Ex: I went over to see if I could lend a hand.
(know sth) like the back of one’s hand
-be very familiar with something
Ex: She’ll give you the name of a place to stay – she knows the area like the back of her hand.
lose heart
-to stop hoping for something or trying to do something because you no longer feel confident
Ex: Don’t lose heart, there’ll be plenty more chances for promotion.
can’t make head nor tail of something
to be unable to understand something
Ex: I couldn’t make head nor tail of what he was saying.
off the cuff
-(of speaking, remarks, etc.) without previous thought or preparation
Ex: I’m just speaking off the cuff here—I haven’t seen the results yet.
stew in one’s own juice/juices
-to think about or suffer the results of your own actions, without anyone giving you any help
Ex: Let him stew in his own juices for a while.
-let somebody stew in their own juice: to leave somebody to worry and suffer the unpleasant effects of their own actions
straight from the horse’s mouth
-(of information) given by somebody who is directly involved and therefore likely to be accurate
Ex: I know it’s true, because I got it straight from the horse’s mouth – Katie told me herself.
have somebody’s hands full
-to be very busy or too busy to do something else
Ex: She certainly has her hands full with four kids in the house.
something comes in handy
-to be useful or practical
Ex: The extra money came in very handy.
strike gold
-to suddenly become very rich or successful as a result of finding or doing something
Ex: He seems to have struck gold with his first film.
