901  

top … off

To complete something with one last act, e.g. They decide to top off the day’s session with a meal at a restaurant.

To fill up a partly full tank with fuel.

top out

To reach an upper limit, e.g. No one knows if oil price has topped out.

top ... up

To add more drink to one’s glass or mug.

To add to an amount, etc. to bring it up to a required level.

To fill up a partly full container.

902

toss off

To produce something quickly and effortlessly, e.g. He can toss off a simple meal within minutes.

toss … off

To drink something rapidly or all at once.

To masturbate.

903

tot … up

To total up amounts, numbers, etc, e.g. She totted up the bill with the use of a calculator.

904

total … up

To find the total of something such as amounts, numbers, etc. by adding, e.g. He totalled up the bill without using a calculator.

905

touch at

(Ship) to call briefly at a port.

touch down

(Aircraft, etc.) to land on the ground.

touch … for

To ask someone to lend or give one something, especially money.

touch ... off

To cause something to happen suddenly, e.g. A cut in personal income tax touched off rumours of an impending general election.

touch on/upon

To mention or refer briefly to a subject when talking, writing, etc.

touch ... up

To improve something by doing something to it.

To stroke someone gently without their consent for sexual pleasure.

906

toy with

To think of something for a short while and not seriously, e.g. He has been toying with the idea of working overseas.

907

track … down

To find someone or something that one has been searching very hard for, e.g. The police finally managed to track down the vandal.

908

trade … in

To use a used article, especially a car, as part payment for another, e.g. He traded his car in for a newer one.

trade ... off

To counterbalance an action against another in order to produce a satisfactory result, e.g. They have to trade off the cost of new machinery to step up production against the possibility of production not being able to meet the demand.

trade on/upon

To take advantage of someone or something.

909

traffic in

To deal in illegal goods, especially drugs.

910

treat of

(Book, article, etc.) to be about a particular subject.

treat with

To negotiate an official agreement with someone.

911

trespass on

To take advantage of someone or something.

912

trick … into

To deceive someone into doing something, e.g. I was tricked into parting with one hundred pounds by a so-called friend.

913

trim off

To cut small irregular or unwanted parts or edges off something to make it neater.

914

trip up

To make or cause one to make a mistake, e.g. The questions are designed to trip you up.

To cause someone to fall by blocking his foot with yours while he is walking.

915

trot … out

To use same excuses, reasons, etc. repeatedly, e.g. He trots out the same excuses whenever he is late.

916

truckle to

To be or behave excessively obedient to someone.

917

trump … up

To falsely accuse someone of something.

918

trust in

To have faith in someone or something.

trust to

To commit someone or something to the protective care or guardianship of someone or something else.

trust … with

To have faith in someone to do something.

919

try for

To attempt to achieve or get what one desires.

try … on

To put on something to see if it fits or suits one, e.g. Have you counted how many dresses she has tried on? So many and yet she hasn’t decided on any.

try ... out

To test the suitability or effectiveness of something or someone by using or testing them, e.g. He tried out the new car to experience its performance before deciding whether or not to buy it. / They tried him out to see if he could do the job.

try out for

To put oneself forward for selection for a particular role.

920

tuck … away

To put someone or something in a quiet, concealed or secure place.

To eat a lot quickly and in an enjoyable way.

tuck in

To eat in an enjoyable manner.

To conceal the edge of a piece of clothing in something, e.g. tuck in one’s shirt.

tuck into 

To eat something eagerly.

tuck ... up

To arrange bedclothes around someone, especially a child, in bed.

921

tucker out

To become or make someone very tired.

922

tune in

To watch or listen to a television or radio broadcast.

tune out

To ignore or stop listening or paying attention to someone or something.

tune … up

To bring something to the most efficient condition.

923

turf … out

To get rid of someone or something.

924

turn against

To oppose someone or disagree with something.

turn … against

To incite someone to oppose someone else or to disagree with something.

turn around

To revive something, especially a company, e.g. The new manager was able to turn the company around in less than two years.

To make to face opposite direction, e.g. I thought someone was following me, and I turned around to see who it was.

turn away

To refuse someone entry to a place such as a stadium, etc. because it is full.

turn back

To return, e.g. We had to turn back halfway through the journey because of extreme heavy rain and flooding.

turn down

To reduce the level of what something is producing or doing, e.g. Every day he has to be told to turn the television down.

To reject someone’s proposal, suggestion, offer, etc., e.g. She has turned down his marriage proposal for the tenth time.

turn in

To go to bed, e.g. We have to turn in now in order to wake up early.

To inform the police the whereabouts of a criminal, e.g. His guilty conscience has certainly played the chief part in making the murderer turn himself in.

To return something, stolen or missing, etc., to the police or its owner.

To give something, especially a completed piece of work, to someone who requested it, e.g. At the end of an examination, we have to turn in our exam papers to the person in charge.

turn into

To change someone into someone else, e.g. The parents tried unsuccessfully to turn their son into a teacher like them as the son believed he was not made for it.

To change something into something else, e.g. The freezer has turned water into ice.

turn off

To do something repulsive or boring, e.g. His frequent picking of the nose turn his friends off.

To end the supply or operation of something such as water, television, etc. by turning the tap, switch, etc., e.g. The tap is dripping, can you turn it off tight?

To leave one road and drive into another, e.g. We have to turn off at the next exit to reach our destination.

turn on

To start the supply or operation of something such as water, television, etc. by turning the tap, switch, etc., e.g. Someone turned the television on and nobody is watching it.

To suddenly attack or vent one’s anger on someone, e.g. I’m not responsible for the rumour about her, so why is she turning on me?

To excite or stimulate someone, especially sexually, e.g. Some guys are easily turned on by a woman who is busty.

To make someone interested in something, e.g. He was the one who turned me on to that excellent documentary.

turn out 

To produce an unexpected result, e.g. It turned out that he was my classmate at college.

To go somewhere to do something, e.g. Many turn out to cast their votes because of the fine weather.

To expel someone from a place, e.g. They turned him out of the lecture hall for his disruptive behaviour.

To put out an electric light by pushing a switch etc., e.g. He turns out the light and closes his eyes to sleep.

To produce something, e.g. The new machine turns out twice as many units as the previous one.

turn over 

To turn upside down, e.g. The car swung around the bend at a great speed and turned over.

turn ... over 

To hand someone to the police, e.g. The villagers turn the wanted man over to the police.

To hand something to the police or its rightful owner, e.g. We found a wallet and turned it over to the police.

To give someone the ownership of or responsibility for something, e.g. He is slowly turning the business over to his son as he anticipates his retirement.

To do an amount of business in a particular period, e.g. That company has been turning over $4 million a year for the past five years.

To change television channels, e.g. Can you turn over to the other channels and see what they have?

turn to

To get help, advice, etc. from someone, e.g. He turned to a consultant for advice on management of his business.

To go to a particular page in a book, e.g. The students are asked to turn to page 13.

turn up

To suddenly appear after having been lost or searched unsuccessfully for, e.g. The villagers were shocked to suddenly see the long missing man turn up at the market.

To arrive somewhere, e.g. The politician turned up at a public rally late as usual.

To search thoroughly for something, e. g. They searched every inch of the area for the murder weapon and more evidence, but nothing new turned up.

To increase the volume, heat, power, etc. of television, oven, air-conditioner, etc., e.g. This is the third time you turn up the television, can you see that I’m reading?

925

urge … on

To encourage someone or something to continue to do something.

926

use up

To consume or expend the whole of something, e.g. I bought a bottle of brake oil and someone used it up.

927

vamp … up

To improve something such as making a story more exciting by modifying it.

928

venture on/upon

To do something that involves risks.

929

verge on/upon

To be very close or similar to, e.g. His behaviour sometimes verges on madness.

930

vest … with

To give someone the legal right to power, property, etc.

931

visit … on

To punish someone.

932

wad … up

To compress soft material such as paper, cloth, etc. into a small lump.

933

wade in

To intervene or become involved in something.

wade through

To read or deal laboriously with a lot of boring papers or written work.

934

wait around

To stay where one is and do nothing until an expected event occurs, such as the person one waits for arrives, etc.

wait behind

To stay back until all the others have left.

wait on

To attend to or serve food to someone, especially customers in a restaurant.

wait ... out

To wait for something to end, e.g. We had to stay back in college where we waited out the heavy rain.

wait up

To await the return of someone, e.g. She waited up for her husband’s return so they could go to the cinema together.

935

wake up

To come out or be caused to come out of a sleep, e.g. He uses two alarm clocks to wake him up every morning.

wake up to

To become aware or alert to what goes on, e.g. More and more people are waking up to the reality of climate warming.

936

walk all over

To treat someone thoughtlessly and unfairly.

walk away

To move from and not get involved in a dispute, bad situation, etc.

walk away with

To win something, e.g. She walks away with the first prize in tonight’s contest.

walk in

To enter a place such as a building, etc., especially unexpectedly or uninvited.

walk into

To move into something quickly and hard, e.g. He walked into a glass door and slightly hurt himself.

walk off

To leave someone by moving away from them.

walk off with

To take along one’s winning, e.g. She walks off happily with the first prize money.

walk away with

To steal something secretly and quietly, e.g. Someone walked away with the marble statue at the party without anyone noticing it.

walk over

To take advantage of or treat someone badly, e.g. He allows others to walk all over him by not defending his rights.

walk out 

To go outside.

To leave a place suddenly or angrily, especially because one is unhappy over something.

To go on strike.

walk out on

To leave one’s spouse, e.g. She walked out on her husband after discovering he has a lover.

937

wall … in

To enclose an area with walls.

wall … off

To separate an area from another by building a wall.

wall … up

To turn a window, doorway, etc. into a wall by filling it with bricks, cement, etc.

938

waltz off with

To take something deliberately without permission or unintentionally, e.g. He waltzed off with the receptionist’s pen after using it.

waltz through

To do something such as an exam, test, etc. very well and with ease, e.g. She waltzed through her final examination with flying colours.

939

want for

To not have something desirable or essential.

940

ward … off

To prevent someone or something from harming one, e.g. He warded off every blow from his opponent in a martial art contest.

941

warm to

To become more interested in or enthusiastic about someone or something, especially someone whom one has just met.

warm up

(Food, house, etc) to make warm or warmer by reheating it.

To make engine, etc. reach a required temperature for it to be operational, e.g. I usually warm up the car before I drive it.

To prepare one’s body for a physical activity, e.g. warming up before a race by doing light stretching exercises.

warm up to

To become more interested in or enthusiastic about someone or something, especially someone whom one has just met.

942

warn against

To advise someone against doing something because it may have bad or dangerous consequences.

warn … off

To advise or use threats to tell or order someone to stay away or refrain from doing something.

943

wash … down

To clean something large with plenty of water, e.g. spent the whole afternoon washing down the garage.

To drink something to facilitate swallowing, e.g. medicine, or food such as steak and chips, washed down with plain water or red wine.

wash ... off

To clean something such as dirt, dust, stain, etc. from a surface with water, e.g. Jack washed the dirt off his face and hair after he fell headlong into a muddy drain.

wash ... out

To cause the postponement or cancellation of something, especially a sport event, because of heavy rain, e.g. The outdoor jumble sale was washed out by a sudden downpour.

wash up

To do the dishes after a meal, e.g. Now whose turn is it to wash up?

To clean one’s hands and face, e.g. She habitually washes up before she says her prayers.

To bring something up to the shore, e.g. The waves washed up the dead body of an unknown creature on the beach.

944

waste away

To become progressively and abnormally weaker and thinner.

945

watch for

To look out for something.

watch out

To be careful or to tell someone to be careful, e.g. She ought to be careful when passing comments, which are always highly critical of other people

watch out for

To keep looking and waiting for someone or something.

To be alert, e.g. watch out for strangers loitering close to one’s house.

watch over

To guard or protect someone or something.

946

water … down

To make something less assertive or controversial by modifying certain details, especially to achieve an agreement.

947

wave … aside

To disregard someone’s opinion, idea, etc.

wave … down

To hail the driver of a vehicle to stop.

wave … off

To move one’s hand to signal goodbye to someone as they leave.

948

wean … off

To make someone give up a habit or addiction, e.g. Some infants are weaned off their mothers’ milk as early as at four months.

wean... on

To be strongly influenced by something from a very early age.

949

wear away

To erode something.

wear down

To gradually worsen the condition of something or someone, e.g. The stair carpet has worn down in places.

To overcome someone or something by persistence, e.g. He is very secretive about his earnings, but gradually his siblings wear him down.

wear off

To gradually lose the effectiveness or intensity of something, e.g. pain, anaesthesia, the effects of drugs or alcohol, novelty of a product, emotional feelings, etc. gradually wears off.

wear on

(Time) to pass very slowly.

wear out

To tire someone out completely, e.g. Chasing and catching butterflies the whole afternoon has worn me out.

To become damaged by constant use, e.g. My right shoe wears out faster than my left shoe.

950

weed … out

To get rid of someone or something that is longer effective.

951

weigh … down

(Load, feelings, etc.) to weigh heavily on someone, e.g. an employed person weighed down with frustration.

weigh in

(Boxer or jockey) to be officially weighed before or after a contest.

weigh on

To be depressing or burdensome to someone, e.g. Her incurable illness is beginning to weigh on her.

weigh ... out

To measure an amount of something by weight, e.g. The seller weighed out a kilogram of sugar and handed it over to a customer.

weigh ... up

To consider carefully the qualities, importance, etc. of something before making a decision.

952

wheel … out

To publicly introduce or display someone or something for a specific purpose, e.g. A politician is very fond of having famous personalities accompanying him in his election campaign.

953

whip through

To finish a job very quickly, e.g. He whipped through the work faster than all the other workers combined.

whip up

To deliberately excite, stimulate a particular feeling or provoke a reaction in someone, e.g. to whip up support for someone.

To make something very quickly, especially a meal.

954

whisk … away/off

To take or remove something or someone quickly from a place, e.g. On arrival at the airport, the foreign head of state was whisked away.

955

whittle …away/off

To gradually make or become smaller or less in amount, degree, value, size, or weight, e.g. to whittle away the powers or list of someone or something.

956

wimp out

To cowardly refrain from doing something.

957

win … around

To gain someone’s attention, support, or love.

win … back

To regain what one had before, e.g. to win back her love

win out/through

To manage to succeed or achieve something by effort.

win … over

To gain someone’s support, attention or favour

958

wind down

To relax after working very hard.

To slowly lessen the activities of a business or organization prior to its closure.

wind up

To close down a company or organization.

To end something such as a meeting, activity, etc.

To deliberately annoy or tease someone.

To be in a bad situation one created, e.g. to wind up in court over something one has committed.

959

wink at

To pretend not to notice something bad or illegal, especially something one tacitly approves.

960

winkle … out

To obtain something from someone, e.g. winkled secret information out of someone.

961

wipe … down

To completely clean or dry a surface by rubbing with a cloth.

wipe … off

To subtract an amount from a value or debt.

To clean or dry by rubbing with a cloth, e.g. He wiped droppings of birds off the windscreen of his car with a damp cloth.

wipe out

To completely destroy or eliminate something, e.g. A gigantic swarm of locusts wiped out a huge area of crops within hours.

To ruin someone financially, e.g. His compulsive gambling over the years has wiped out his vast fortune.

To clean or dry something, e.g. He wiped out the sweat on his forehead with a cloth.

wipe up

To dry or remove moisture, dirt, etc. from the surface of something, e.g. My sick dog vomited on the floor and I had to wipe it all up.

962

wise up

To become or make someone become alert or aware of the unpleasant truth about a situation.

963

wish away

To desire something unpleasant will not happen.

wish for

To secretly want or desire something and hope it will be realized.

964

witness to

To state that something is true or that one actually sees something happened, e.g. to be a witness to a person’s good character or witnessed the accused loitering near the scene of the murder.

965

work … in

To try to include something, e.g. to put washing his car in his list of things to do.

work … off

To reduce one’s frustration by venting it on others.

To discharge a debt by working.

work on

To be engaged in doing something, e.g. He spent the whole night working on his research paper.

work out

To calculate something, e.g. have to work out how much they can afford for a new house.

To think about something and solve it, e.g. He managed to work it out without help from anyone.

To understand someone’s character, e.g. No one seems able to work out why he behaves this way every time he gets back from work.

To plan carefully about doing something, e.g. I have worked out who is going to do what in this project.

To develop in a positive way, e.g. Things begin to work out for them and they find they are happier together.

To engage oneself in a programme of regular exercises, e.g. He works out twice a week in a gymnasium.

work ... over

To beat someone up repeatedly.

To develop a state of excitement, anxiety, etc. over something, e.g. He works himself up into a state of anxiety about his forthcoming first job interview.

work up

To develop or improve something by putting in hard effort, e.g. He intends to work up some findings to support a ban on animal research.

To develop a feeling, e.g. Whenever she thinks of him, it really works up her anger and hatred.

work up to

To proceed gradually towards doing something, e.g. I don’t want to do it but I am still working up to it because it has to be done.

966

worry at/out

To think at length about a possible solution to a problem.

967

wrap up

To completely cover up something with wrapping paper, cloth, etc., e.g. to wrap up a birthday present.

To put on warm clothes, e.g. If we know it’s freezing in here, we would have wrapped up warm.

To be engrossed in something, e.g. Work wraps up all his attention that he hardly has time to socialize.

To complete or finish something, e.g. They wrapped up their week-long piece of research work with a leisurely drink.

968

wriggle out of

To avoid doing something by devious means.

969

write back

To reply to someone’s letter, e.g. My grandpa is always prompt in writing back.

write ... down

To jot something down on a piece of paper for later use, e.g. I wrote down her telephone number on my business card.

write in

To write to an organization, etc. for a purpose, e.g. to write in asking for more information, to complain, to give one’s view or to comment as requested, etc.

write into

To include someone’s name in the list of candidates in order to vote for them.

To include something in something else such as a document, agreement, etc., e.g. I requested him to have my occupation written into the document.

write off

To dismiss someone or something as a failure, unnecessary, unimportant, etc., e.g. Some observers have written it off as another white elephant.

To decide an asset no longer has any value, e.g. The management agreed the machines that were badly damaged in the fire should be written off.

To cancel bad debts or possible bad debts, e.g. Some of the poor nations’ debts were written off as apparently they were unable to settle them.

970

x out

To mark out a mistake in a piece of writing.

971

yield … up

To gradually give out more information, e.g. The ocean depths yield up more and more information as exploration is stepped up.

972

zero in on

To focus all of one’s attention on someone or something.

To aim a gun towards someone or something.

973

zip up

To fasten a piece of clothing with a zip, e.g. I have to change my trousers as I cannot zip up; the zipper jammed.

974

zoom in/out

(Camera) to change from a picture that is close to one that is distant or vice versa.