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pad the bill
- add false expenses He always pads the bill when he
goes on a business trip.
pain in the neck (ass)
- an annoying thing or person, bothersome Dealing with
my neighbor is always a pain in the neck.
paint oneself into a corner
- get oneself into a bad situation that is difficult or
impossible to get out of He has painted himself into a corner now that
he has begun to fight with his supervisor.
paint the town red
- go out and party and have a good time We decided to
go out and paint the town red after we all passed our exams.
palm off
- deceive someone by a trick or a lie, sell or give by
tricking He palmed off his old television set as one that was new and
reliable.
pan out
- end or finish favorably, work out well I hope that
your plans to go back to school pan out well.
par for the course
- just what was expected, nothing unusual That was par
for the course. He always comes late when there is a lot of work to do.
part and parcel
- a necessary or important part, something necessary to a larger
thing The house that he bought was part and parcel of a much larger
piece of land.
pass away
- die His father passed away when he was about 96
years old.
pass muster
- pass a test or checkup, be good enough I wrote some
of the instructions of the computer manual and will send them to my partner to
see if they pass muster.
pass off
- sell or give something by false claims, offer something as
genuine The man passed off the diamond watch as a real one and
received much more money than it was worth
pass off
- claim to be someone one is not, pretend to be someone
else He passed himself off as a reporter and was able to get into the
concert.
pass on
- give away something that you don`t use anymore She
always passes on her old clothes to her younger sister.
pass on
- die Her grandmother passed on when she was 92 years
old.
pass out
- faint Three teenage girls passed out at the rock
concert.
pass the buck
- shift responsibility to others He always tries to
pass the buck if someone tries to criticize his work.
pat on the back
- praise He gave me a pat on the back after I finished
the project.
patch up
- fix I have been trying to patch up our differences
for many months now.
pay attention
- look at or listen to with full attention He never
pays attention to what his supervisor tells him.
pay dirt
- dirt in which much gold is found, a valuable
discovery The company hit pay dirt when they invented the new Internet
equipment.
pay off
- pay in full and be free from a debt, yield good results (the
risk paid off) She finally paid off her car so she has lots of extra
money to spend.
pay-off
- results of one`s work, a bribe He expects to get a
big pay-off from his education when he finally begins to look for a job.
pay through the nose
- pay a lot of money for something My uncle always
pays through the nose when he buys a new car.
pecking order
- the way people are ranked in relation to each
other The pecking order in his company is very difficult to understand
for most of the workers.
peeping Tom
- someone who looks in people`s windows The police
arrested a peeping Tom near our apartment building last week.
penny for one`s thoughts
- Please tell me what you are thinking about. "A penny
for your thoughts," she said as she saw her boyfriend looking out of the window.
penny-wise and pound-foolish
- wise or careful in small things to the costly neglect of
important things He is penny-wise and pound-foolish and is always
wasting his money on things that he doesn`t need.
people who live in glass houses should not throw
stones
- do not complain about other people if you are as bad as they
are You should not criticize other people so much. Remember, people
who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
pep talk
- a speech to encourage people to try harder and not give
up The coach gave his team a pep talk after they lost three games last
month.
perk up
- become energetic or happy after being sad or
tired My sister began to perk up after she had a chance to rest for
awhile.
peter out
- die down gradually, grow less strong The large crowd
from the football game has begun to peter out and the streets around the stadium
are becoming quiet now.
pick-me-up
- food or a drink one takes when one feels tired or
weak I stopped at the restaurant on my way home from work for a quick
pick-me-up.
pick a quarrel
- start a quarrel with someone on purpose I don`t like
her because she is always trying to pick a quarrel with others.
pick on
- do or say bad things to someone He always picked on
his sister when they were children.
pick out
- choose or select I tried to pick out a suitable
necktie for my father.
pick someone`s brains
- extract ideas or information from someone for one`s own
use They are always picking his brains to get new ideas for their
business.
pick up
- get, receive I picked up my dry cleaning after I
finished work yesterday.
pick up
- take on passengers, receive The bus picked us up at
about six o`clock in the morning.
pick up
- make neat and tidy He decided to pick up his room
before his friend came to visit.
pick up
- get without trying, accidentally He picked up a lot
of French when he lived in France for a year.
pick up
- catch or receive the sound of a radio etc. We
couldn`t pick up the radio station when we were travelling through the
mountains.
pick up
- take to the police station, arrest someone The
police picked up the man because they thought he had been drinking.
pick up
- pick up something that has fallen on the floor
etc. Could you please pick up my pen from the floor.
pick up
- start again after interruption, go on It was getting
late so we decided to stop work for the evening and pick up where we left off
the next day..
pick up a trail/scent
- recognize the trail of a hunted person or animal The
tracking dogs were able to pick up the trail of the criminal easily.
pick up speed
- increase the speed of The car picked up speed as it
began to go down the hill.
pick up the tab
- pay the bill for someone else He picked up the tab
for the dinner at the restaurant.
piece of cake
- easy That job was a piece of cake. It was the
easiest thing I ever did.
piggyback
- sitting or being carried on the back and
shoulders The man was carrying his child around the room piggyback
style.
piggy bank
- a small bank (sometimes in the shape of a pig) for saving
coins Her daughter put all of her spare money into her piggy bank.
pig in a poke
- something accepted or bought without looking at it
carefully The stereo system he bought was a pig in a poke. He has no
idea if it will work well.
pile up
- accumulate, put things on top of each other He piled
up the magazines on top of the small table.
pinch pennies
- be careful with money, be thrifty He has been
pinching pennies for months in order to save money for his vacation.
pin down
- keep someone from moving, make someone stay in a place or
position The wrestler won the match after he pinned his opponent down
for almost a minute.
pin down
- make someone tell the truth or make a commitment I
couldn`t pin him down as to exactly when he would pay back the money that he
owed me.
pink slip
- dismissal notice from a job He received his pink
slip yesterday and no longer has a job.
pipe dream
- an unrealistic plan He always has a lot of pipe
dreams about what he wants to do in the future.
pipe up
- speak louder We asked the speaker to pipe up so that
we could hear him.
pip-squeak
- a small, unimportant person He called his friend a
pip-squeak which made him very angry.
piss off
- bother or annoy someone, make someone angry My
supervisor pissed me off when he asked me to work late again last night.
pitch a tent
- put up a tent We pitched the tent in a nice field
beside a stream.
pitch in
- give help or money for something They pitched in and
helped him finish the job quickly.
play ball with someone
- cooperate fairly with someone If you agree to play
ball with the new manager things should go well for you.
play by ear
- play a musical instrument by remembering the tune and not by
reading the music Although she can`t read music at all she can play by
ear and is a great musician.
play cat and mouse with someone
- tease or fool someone by pretending to let him go free and
then catching him again The boxer was playing cat and mouse with his
opponent although he could have won easily.
play down
- give less emphasis or make something seem less
important The politician played down the polls that showed that he was
becoming less popular.
played out
- tired out, worn out, exhausted I was totally played
out last night so I went to bed early.
play footsie
- touch the feet of a member of the opposite sex under the table
while flirting The couple in the restaurant were playing footsie under
the table during their dinner.
play footsie
- engage in any kind of collaboration or flirtation especially
in a political situation The opposition party was playing footsie with
the government in order to have their opinions heard.
play (someone) for something
- treat someone as something, act toward someone as
something He was trying to play me for a fool but I could easily see
what he was trying to do.
play hooky
- stay away from school or work without
permission When he was a student he often played hooky and didn`t go
to school.
play into someone`s hands
- do something that gives someone else an advantage If
you walk out of the meeting in anger you will only be playing into his hands.
play it by ear
- decide on something according to the situation Let`s
play it by ear and decide what to do after we see the movie.
play off
- match opposing persons, forces or interests for one`s own
gain Nobody likes the supervisor because he is always trying to play
off one group of workers against another.
play off
- settle a score between two teams or contestants by more
play We went to the game last night as our team had to play off
against the other team.
play on/upon (something)
- cause an effect on, influence They played on his
feelings of loneliness to get him to come and buy them dinner every night.
play on words
- a humorous use of a word to suggest a different
meaning There are many cases of using a play on words in the newspaper
headlines.
play one`s cards right
- take advantage of your opportunities If you play
your cards right you will probably get a promotion soon.
play second fiddle to someone
- be second in importance to someone He has been
playing second fiddle to his boss for years and has finally decided to quit.
play the field
- date many different people, avoid steady dates with the same
person After my sister stopped seeing her boyfriend she decided to
play the field until she met someone nice.
play up
- call attention to, emphasize During the job
interview he played up his experience as an experienced computer operator.
play up to someone
- flatter or please someone to try and gain some
advantage He is always playing up to his boss so he can leave work
early.
play with fire
- invite danger or trouble You are playing with fire
if you get involved with those people.
plow into
- attack vigorously We plowed into the food as soon as
the waiter brought it to our table.
plow into
- crash into with force The truck plowed into the
group of people waiting for the bus.
pluck up
- make oneself have courage He plucked up his courage
and went and asked the woman for a date.
point out
- explain, call attention to She was very kind when
she pointed out the mistakes that I had made.
pointed remark
- a remark clearly aimed at a particular person or
thing He made a pointed remark during the meeting that was clearly
designed to get my attention.
poke fun at
- joke about, laugh at, tease She is always poking fun
at the way her husband plays golf.
polish off
- finish completely, finish doing something quickly We
polished off the work early and went to the beach for the day.
polish the apple
- try to win favor by flattering someone The teacher
doesn`t like students who are always trying to polish the apple with her.
pony up
- pay It is time to pony up and pay for the equipment
that he bought.
pooped out
- worn out, exhausted We spent all day painting the
house and were pooped out by the time we got home.
pop the question
- ask someone to marry you He finally popped the
question to her after they had been going out together for two years.
pop up
- appear suddenly or unexpectedly I hadn`t seen my
friend for almost a year but suddenly he popped up for a visit last week.
pot calling the kettle black
- a person who is criticizing someone else is as guilty as the
person he criticizes I was joking to her about why she was afraid to
look for another job but she said it was like the pot calling the kettle black
as I also never tried to change jobs.
pound the pavement
- look for a job He has been pounding the pavement for
a few months now but still has not found a job.
pour it on thick
- flatter greatly He has been pouring it on thick but
she still doesn`t like him.
pour oil on troubled waters
- calm down a quarrel, say something to lessen anger and bring
peace to a situation They tried to pour oil on troubled waters after
they noticed the argument among the students.
pour out
- tell everything about something She poured out her
heart to her mother when she returned home from work.
pour out
- come out in great number or quantity, stream
out After the football game thousands of fans poured out of the
stadium.
press (push) one`s luck
- depend too much on luck, expect to continue to be
lucky He is pushing his luck if he thinks that he will continue to
make a lot of money on the stock market.
pressed for time
- have barely enough time He was pressed for time so I
didn`t have a chance to speak to him.
prey on (upon)
- catch for food, kill and eat Cats usually prey on
mice and small birds if they can catch them.
prey on (upon)
- cheat, rob Criminals usually prey on people who are
living in poor areas.
promise the moon
- mentally alert, ready to do something Before the
elections the politicians were promising everyone the moon but when they were
elected they began to talk differently.
psyched up
- mentally alert, ready to do something The team was
psyched up for the game but they lost anyway.
psych out
- find out the real motives of (someone) I tried to
psych out the salesman to see what he really wanted to sell the car for.
pull a fast one
- cheat, deceive They pulled a fast one on him when
they sold him the used car.
pull (something) off
- accomplish something remarkable He really is lucky
in being able to pull off the new business merger with no problems.
pull one`s socks up
- make a greater effort You had better begin to pull
your socks up or you will not be able to continue working here.
pull one`s weight
- do one`s fair share of the work If everyone pulls
their weight we can quickly finish and go home.
pull someone`s leg
- trick or fool someone playfully Her grandfather is
always pulling her leg when he comes to visit.
pull out of a hat
- get as if by magic, invent, imagine I didn`t think
that he was going to be able to find a dictionary but he suddenly pulled one out
of a hat and gave it to me.
pull over
- drive to the side of the road and stop The police
pulled over the man because he had been drinking.
pull rank
- assert one`s superior position or authority on a person of
lower rank in order to get a privilege or favor The navy officer
pulled rank on the other officers and was able to stay in the best hotel during
the trip.
pull strings
- secretly use influence and power He was able to pull
some strings and get his son a job for the summer.
pull the plug
- expose someone`s secret activities The company
decided to pull the plug on the salesman and tell everyone about his illegal
sales methods.
pull the plug
- quit a job He suddenly decided to pull the plug and
is no longer here.
pull the rug out from under
- spoil someone`s plans, withdraw support He pulled
the rug out from under our plans to open a branch office in New York.
pull the wool over someone`s eyes
- deceive or fool someone Don`t let him pull the wool
over your eyes with his excuses.
pull through
- recover from an illness or misfortune It looked like
he was going to die from cancer but in the end he pulled through and is now
doing very well.
pull up stakes
- move to another location They decided to pull up
stakes and move to London.
push (someone) around
- make someone do what you want He is always pushing
around his salesmen and saleswomen.
push off
- start, leave The boat pushed off from the dock and
started out to sea.
push the panic button
- become very frightened or excited at a time of danger or
worry At first he thought that his wallet had been stolen but before
he pushed the panic button and told everyone he looked around again and found
it.
put a damper on
- discourage, spoil a person`s fun The death of the
president put a damper on the anniversary celebrations.
put across
- explain clearly, make oneself understood He spends a
lot of effort trying to put across clearly what he wants to say.
put all one`s eggs in one basket
- place all one`s efforts, interests or hopes in a single person
or thing You should not put all your eggs in one basket and invest all
of your money in the stock market.
put away
- put an animal to death, kill We had to have our dog
put away because he tried to bite the small girl next door.
put down
- stop by force, crush The government easily put down
the rebellion by the militants.
put down
- write a record of something, write down He was asked
by his company to put down his request for a transfer in writing.
put down
- criticize, make someone look bad He is always
putting down his girlfriend in front of his friends.
put in
- plant flowers We decided to put in some roses in our
garden last year.
put in
- stop at a port on a journey by water The ship put in
at several ports during the cruise.
put in
- add to what has already been said Suddenly he put in
that he was tired and wanted to go home.
put in for something
- apply for something I put in for a transfer to
another department of our company but it was refused.
put in (time)
- spend time He has put in a lot of time fixing up his
house and now it looks beautiful.
put in one`s two cents
- give one`s opinion She always wants to put in her
two cents when she has a chance.
put off
- postpone The game was put off because of the rain.
put off
- discourage, cause a bad feeling He put me off with
his complaints about the hotel room that I had reserved for him.
put on
- dress in and wear clothes Please put on your jacket
before you go out.
put on
- fool or joke with someone, tease, pretend I think
that he is putting me on. I don`t believe that he will move to Rome.
put on
- produce or arrange a play etc. My sister helped to
put on the school play.
put on one`s thinking cap
- think hard and long about something I will put on my
thinking cap and try and decide what to do about finding a new job.
put on the map
- make a place well known The Woodstock rock concert
really put the town of Woodstock on the map.
put on weight
- gain weight He has put on a lot of weight since he
stopped going to the gym.
put one`s cards on the table
- be frank, tell everything I put my cards on the
table and told him everything about the plans for next year.
put one`s finger on something
- locate precisely, remember exactly I was unable to
put my finger on the exact date of his arrival.
put one`s foot down
- object strongly, take firm action He put his foot
down and didn`t allow any more money to be spent on company entertainment.
put one`s foot in one`s mouth
- say something that is the wrong thing to say in a
situation He really put his foot in his mouth when he told her about
the surprise party.
put one`s own house in order
- organize one`s own private affairs He should put his
own house in order before he tells others what to do.
put our heads together
- confer, discuss We put our heads together and
finally thought of a new name for the football team.
put out
- make a flame or light stop burning, extinguish The
man put out his cigarette on the theater carpet.
put out
- produce, make The company decided to put out a
newsletter to give news to the employees.
(be) put out
- be inconvenienced or irritated She was a little put
out that you didn`t call her when you were in town.
put (someone) out
- inconvenience, bother, She shouldn`t put herself
out so much when people come and visit her.
put someone in his or her place
- scold someone for rude or bad behavior She was very
angry and really put him in his place over the rude remark.
put someone in the picture
- tell someone what the situation is They have finally
decided to put me in the picture about the new work procedures.
put (something or someone) out of one`s head
(mind)
- try not to think about something He has been trying
to put his girlfriend out of his mind since they decided to stop seeing each
other.
put (something) over on someone
- fool, trick He was trying to put something over on
his boss when he said that he was sick and couldn`t come to work.
put (something) past someone (negative)
- be surprised by what someone does I wouldn`t put it
past him to try and sell the main part of the company and leave the rest.
put the bite on someone
- ask for money or favors He is always trying to put
the bite on his friends to collect money for charity.
put the cart before the horse
- do things in the wrong order I think that he is
putting the cart before the horse by talking about fixing up the house before he
even buys it.
put the screws to someone
- try to force someone to do or say what you want The
police were putting the screws to the criminal to try and get some information.
put through the wringer
- cause a lot of stress He really put his wife through
the wringer when he asked her for a divorce.
put two and two together
- understand or figure something out after learning the
facts I finally put two and two together and realized that she was his
boyfriend.
put up
- provide money or something needed The telephone
company put up most of the money for the new stadium.
put up a good fight
- try hard They put up a good fight but were unable to
win the tournament.
put up a good front
- pretend to be happy, fool people about one`s
status He always puts up a good front but actually he is very unhappy.
put up at a hotel etc.
- stay at a hotel or someone`s home We decided to put
up at a hotel and continue our trip the next day.
put up or shut up
- prove something or stop saying it, bet money on what one says
or stop saying it The politician was forced to put up or shut up over
the plans to build a new convention center.
put up to
- persuade or get someone to do something His friend
put him up to cheating on the examination.
put up with
- patiently accept, endure He makes a great effort to
put up with his wife`s complaints.
put words in one`s mouth
- say something for someone else Her husband is always
putting words in her mouth which makes her a little angry.
quite a few
- many He has quite a few videos at home.
Idiom Quizzes - P
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