Commonly used english part 17 docx

161

eat one`s words

- to admit being wrong in something that one has said
The worker was forced to eat his words after his boss proved that he was wrong.

eat out

- to eat in a restaurant
I eat out three or four times a week.

eat out of (someone's) hand

- to do what someone else wants
The secretary had her boss eating out of her hand and she could do whatever she
wanted.

eat (someone) out of house and home

- to eat much food in someone's home
The two teenage boys were eating their parents out of house and home.

eat (something) up

- to enjoy something, to absorb something
The children ate up the stories that the teacher was telling.

.

eating someone

- to be bothering or worrying someone
I do not know what is eating my friend but she is not in a good mood today.



162

ebb and flow

- the decrease and increase of something like the tide
The ebb and flow of the singer's popularity was always a topic of conversation.

edge (someone) out

- to win a competition against someone and get a job or position
I was able to edge out the other applicants to get the job.

egg (someone) on

- to urge or push someone to do something
The boy is always egging his friend on to do stupid things.

either feast or famine

- to be/have either too much or not enough of something
It is either feast or famine for the woman. Sometimes she has lots of money and

sometimes she has none.

eke out (a living)

- to earn one's living with difficulty
My uncle was unable to eke out a living on the farm so he sold it.

elbow grease

- the effort and strength to clean something
We will have to use a lot of elbow grease to clean the kitchen.

elbow room

- enough space to be comfortable
The couple moved to the country in order to have more elbow room.


163

elbow (someone) out of (somewhere)

- to pressure someone out of somewhere
The woman elbowed the other shoppers out of the way so that she could buy some
shoes.

eleventh-hour decision

- a decision that is made at the last possible minute
The government made an eleventh-hour decision to save the hospital.

an end in itself

- something that one wants for itself alone and not as a way to get/do something else
For many people travelling is an end in itself and the destination is not important.

end of one`s rope

- the last of one`s ability or ideas about how to do something
I am at the end of my rope regarding what to do about my job.

end up (doing something or going somewhere)

- to do something that one had not planned to do, to go somewhere one had not
planned to go
We ended up going to a restaurant after the movie last night.

end up (somewhere)

- to finish at a certain place
We ended up at a small coffee shop near the restaurant.







164

engage in small talk

- to talk about minor things rather than more important things
The sale staff engaged in small talk before the meeting.

enough to go around

- to be enough of something to serve everyone
There was enough cake to go around and everybody had a piece.

enter one's mind

- to come into one's consciousness (an idea)
It never entered my mind to make a reservation at the restaurant.

equal to (something)

- to be able to deal with something
The apartment manager was more than equal to the task of managing the building.

escape (someone's) notice

- to go unnoticed
The fact that my library books were overdue escaped my notice.

even so

- nevertheless, however
My friend always works but even so he has no money saved.

even steven

- even with (someone or something)
Both teams were even steven by the middle of the game.


165

every Idioms


every cloud has a silver lining

- there is something good in every bad thing
Every cloud has a silver lining and although I lost my job other good things have
happened.

every dog has his day

- everyone will have a chance for success someday
You should be patient and wait until you get a chance. Remember every dog has his
day.

every inch a (something)

- completely, in every way
Jack was every inch a sailor and loved to go out on the ocean with his boat.

every last one

- every single one
Every last one of the children received a certificate from the swimming club.

every living soul

- everybody
We gave a free newspaper to every living soul in the apartment building.

every minute counts

- time is very important
Every minute counts when the fire department goes to fight a fire.


166

every nook and cranny

- every small hiding place where you can put something
I looked in every nook and cranny of my apartment but I could not find my house
keys.

every other

- every second one
I have to work every other Saturday evening.

every so often

- occasionally

You should stand up every so often when you are on a long plane trip.

every time one turns around

- frequently
Every time I turn around my little boy asks me a question.

every Tom, Dick and Harry

- the average person
The man said that he is not the same as every Tom, Dick and Harry.

every which way

- in all directions
The small children at the birthday party were running every which way.








167

.

everything but the kitchen sink

- almost everything
We took everything but the kitchen sink on our camping trip.

everything humanly possible

- everything in the range of human powers
The doctors did everything humanly possible to save the man after the accident.

the exception that proves the rule

- an exception to a rule proves that the rule exists
The salesman is very quiet and shy and he is the exception that proves the rule in his
company. Everybody else is very talkative.

excuse (someone)

- to forgive someone
We excused the man for his rude comments because he did not know any better.

explain (oneself)

- to give an explanation for something wrong that you may have done
The director was forced to explain himself after the accounting problems were
discovered.

explain (something) away

- to explain something so that it seems less important

The sales clerk tried to explain away the problem with the sales receipt.


168

express (one's) anger

- to release one's anger
The man often loses his temper which is not a good way to express his anger.

extend credit to (someone)

- to permit someone to buy something on credit
The bank extended credit to the small company so that they could continue to operate.

extend one's sympathy to (someone)

- to express sympathy to someone
We extended our sympathy to the family of the dead woman.

extenuating circumstances

- the special circumstances that cause something to happen
We were able to avoid paying the parking ticket because of extenuating
circumstances.

eye of the storm

- the center of a problem
The politician was in the eye of the storm because of the accounting scandal.

eyeball-to-eyeball

- face to face
I sat eyeball-to-eyeball with our boss during the meeting.








169

eyes are bigger than one`s stomach

- to take or want more food than you can eat
The man's eyes are bigger than his stomach. He will never finish all of the food that
he took.

eyes in the back of one`s head

- the ability to know what is happening behind one`s back
He has eyes in the back of his head and you can never borrow anything without him
knowing about it.
eyes pop out

- much surprised
Her eyes popped out when she saw her name in the newspaper.

170

F


face down (someone)

- to confront someone boldly, to defy someone
We decided to face down our competitors and were able to stay in business.

face the music

- to accept the consequences of something
The boy must face the music for his actions very soon.

face to face

- in person
I had a face-to-face meeting with my supervisor to talk about my job performance.

face up to (something)

- to accept something that is not easy to accept
My friend must face up to the fact that he will never have enough money to buy a car.

face value

- the value or price printed on a stamp/bond/paper money etc.
I sold the postage stamps for their face value.

face value

- the truth of something on the surface
The woman is a very nice person but you must take what she says at face value.