Commonly used english part 72 pot

711

rally around (someone or something)

- to come together to support someone or something
Everybody in the small town began to rally around the mayor when he was accused of
wrongdoing.

ram (something) down (someone`s) throat

- to force someone to do or agree to something that is not wanted
Our teacher always tries to ram her ideas down our throats which makes us angry.

ramble on about (someone or something)

- to talk aimlessly and endlessly about someone or something
My friend spent the entire evening rambling on about his problems at work.

rank and file

- the members of a group and not the leaders, regular soldiers and not the officers
The rank and file of the large union were happy with their new contract.

rant and rave about (someone or something)

- to shout angrily and wildly about someone or something
The man was ranting and raving about the bad service at the restaurant.

rant (at someone) about (someone or something)

- to talk in a loud and violent way about someone or something
The customer was ranting at her friend while they were shopping for shoes.

rap (someone's) knuckles

- to punish someone slightly
The company rapped the man's knuckles for taking a long coffee break.


712

rap with (someone)

- to talk/chat with someone
I passed the morning rapping with my friend at the park.

raring/rarin' to go

- to be extremely eager to do something
Everybody was rarin' to go after the speech by our company president.

rat on (someone)

- to betray someone by telling someone else about illegal or wrong activities
The young boy ratted on his friend who broke the store window.

rat out on (someone)

- to desert or betray someone, to leave someone at a critical time
The boy's friend ratted out on him and refused to support him in his fight with the

neighborhood bully.

rat race

- an endless hurried existence, a fierce struggle for success
The man sometimes finds it too much of a rat race to live and work in a big city.

rate with (someone)

- to be in someone's favor
I do not think that I rate with some of the students at my school.

rattle (something) off

- to recite something quickly and accurately
The little boy was able to rattle off most of the countries in the world.


713

ravished with delight

- to be overcome with happiness or delight
I was ravished with delight when I heard that my friend had decided to get married.

a raw deal

- unfair treatment
The man got a raw deal when he was forced to resign from his company.

reach a compromise

- to achieve a compromise with someone
The company tried very hard to reach a compromise with the workers.

reach an agreement

- to make an agreement
The city was not able to reach an agreement on where to build the new subway line.

reach an impasse

- to get to a point where progress is impossible
The negotiations on where to build the new bridge have reached an impasse.

reach first base with (someone or something)

- to make a major advance with someone or something
The salesperson was unable to reach first base with the large buyer.

reach for the sky

- to set one's goals high
The young woman was reaching for the sky when she began to look for her first job.


714

reach one's stride

- to do something at one's best level of ability
The woman has finally reached her stride as a very good sales representative.


read Idioms
read between the lines

- to find a hidden meaning in something
I can read between the lines and I know what my friend was trying to say.

read (someone) his or her rights

- to make the required statement of legal rights to a person who has been arrested
The police officer read the bank robber his rights when he was arrested.

read (someone) like an open book

- to understand someone very well
The girl can read her boyfriend like an open book.

read (someone's) mind

- to guess what someone is thinking
It is very difficult to read the mind of my boss and know what she wants me to do.

read (something) into (something)

- to attach a new or different meaning to something
We were told not to read anything into the recent actions of our company.

715

read (something) over

- to read something
I read my presentation over before I had to deliver it to the class.

read (something) through

- to read all of something
I read the report through before I returned it to my supervisor.

read the handwriting on the wall

- to anticipate what is going to happen by observing small hints and clues
Everybody in our department could read the handwriting on the wall and knew that
the company would soon close our department.

read the riot act (to someone)

- to give someone a strong warning or scolding
The teacher read the riot act to her students when they began to misbehave in class.

read up on (someone or something)

- to research and read about someone or something

I have been reading up on Egyptian history before our trip to Egypt this summer.


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ready, willing, and able

- to be eager or willing to do something
Everybody in the small village is ready, willing, and able to help the family who lost
their house in the fire.


716

real McCoy

- the genuine thing
My new camera is the real McCoy and it will let me take any kind of picture that I
want.

the real thing

- something that is genuine and not an imitation
The small vase is the real thing and is very valuable.

reality of a situation

- the way that a situation really is

The reality of the situation is that it is very difficult to enter some of the best
universities in the country.

rear its ugly head

- something unpleasant appears or becomes obvious after being hidden
The problem of mold has reared its ugly head in our house again.

receive/welcome (someone) with open arms

- to greet someone eagerly
The citizens received the Olympic athletes with open arms.

reckon with (someone or something)

- to confront and deal with someone or something
I do not know how I will reckon with any more problems with our apartment
manager.






717

recognize (someone or something) for what it/he/she is

- to see and understand exactly what someone or something is or represents
Everyone was able to recognize our new principal for what he is. He is a very difficult

person to work with.

reconcile oneself to (something)

- to begin to feel comfortable with a bad or challenging situation
We have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that our school will close next year.

red herring

- something that draws attention away from the matter that is under consideration
The issue of salary is a red herring and is not related to the main issues of the
negotiations.

red in the face

- to be embarrassed
The woman was red in the face after she dropped her keys down the elevator shaft.

red-letter day

- a day that is memorable because of some important event
Saturday was a red-letter day when we finally won the school championship.

red tape

- excessive formalities in official transactions
There was much red tape when we went to the city to get a business license.

718

reduced to (something)

- to be brought into a humble condition or state
The building was reduced to ashes after the terrible fire.

reel off (something)

- to recite something quickly and accurately
I tried hard to reel off all of the events of the past week.

refill a prescription

- to sell a second set of medicine on a doctor's orders
I went to the pharmacy to refill a prescription for my mother.

regain one's composure

- to become calm and composed
The woman took several hours to regain her composure after the fight with her
husband.

regain one's feet

- to stand up again after falling or stumbling

My father quickly regained his feet after falling on the sidewalk.

regardless of (something)

- without considering something, at any rate
Regardless of the weather we are going to go fishing tomorrow morning.

regular as clockwork

- to be very dependable and regular
The bus comes by our house as regular as clockwork every morning.


719

a regular guy

- a friendly person who everyone gets along with
The mayor of the city is a regular guy and is well-liked by most people.

relative to (someone or something)

- in proportion to someone or something
The house was not very large relative to the amount of money that it cost.

reliance on (someone or something)

- trust and dependence on someone or something
I think that my father has too much reliance on his business partner and it is causing
him problems.

religious about (doing something)

- to be strict about doing something
My father is religious about brushing his teeth before he goes to bed every night.

reluctant to (do something)

- to not want to do something
The surgeon was reluctant to operate on the young boy before he was sure that it was
necessary.

to be reminiscent of (someone or something)

- to remind someone of someone or something, to seem like someone or something
The music festival is reminiscent of the large music festivals of fifty years ago.







720

reputed to be/do something

- to be thought to do/be/have something
The new police chief is reputed to be one of the best police chiefs in the country.

resign oneself to something

- to accept something reluctantly
I have to resign myself to the fact that I will probably not get the job that I want.

resonate with (someone)

- to appeal to someone or cause someone to like something
The idea of a film festival resonated with most members of the community.

the responsible party

- the person or organization responsible or liable for something
The responsible party for the accident was taken away by the police for questioning.

rest assured

- to be assured, to be certain
"You can rest assured that I will be at work early every morning this week."

rest in peace

- to lie dead peacefully for eternity
We prayed that my aunt would rest in peace after she recently passed away.

rest on one`s laurels

- to be satisfied with the success that one has already achieved
My boss is always willing to work hard and is not the type of person to rest on his
laurels.