Commonly used english part 92 ppsx

911

tie up (traffic)

- to slow down traffic, to cause road traffic to stop
The accident tied up the highway traffic for two hours last night.

tie up with (someone or something)

- to enter into an association or partnership with someone or something
Our company decided to tie up with a company from Sweden to make the pollution
equipment.


.



tied to one's mother's apron strings

- to be dominated or dependent on one's mother
The boy is tied to his mother's apron strings and he never wants to leave home.

tied up

- to be busy
I was tied up yesterday and did not have enough time to telephone my friend.

tight spot

- a difficult situation
We are in a very tight spot since the top salesman quit.

tight squeeze

- a difficult financial situation
Our company is in a tight squeeze now that sales are down from last year.


912

tighten one`s belt

- to economize, to spend less money
I will have to tighten my belt until the economy improves.

tightfisted with money

- to not want to spend any money
The man is very tightfisted with money and he never likes to spend it at all.

tilt at windmills

- to fight battles with imaginary or unimportant enemies or issues
My friend is tilting at windmills by fighting his boss for no reason.


time Idioms

time after time

- repeatedly
The teacher told the student time after time to be careful with her spelling.

time and time again

- repeatedly, over and over
The teacher told the students time and time again that they must do their homework.

time flies

- time passes very quickly
Time flies and suddenly summer was over and autumn had begun.


913

the time is ripe

- exactly the right time has come
The time is ripe to start teaching our child how to brush his teeth.

the time of one`s life

- a wonderful time
My cousin had the time of her life when she went to Rome last summer.

time off

- free time when one does not have to work
I had some time off last week so I was able to do some extra reading.

time out

- the time when a game or other event is temporarily stopped for some reason
During the game we took some time out to rest.

time to catch one's breath

- enough time to relax or behave normally
I did not have time to catch my breath because I was working hard all morning.

time was (when)

- at a time in the past
Time was when everybody in our town kept their doors unlocked all of the time.









914

.

tip (someone) off

- to warn/inform someone
The bank tipped off the police that there was going to be a robbery at the bank.

tip the balance

- to have important or decisive influence, to decide something
The man's ability to speak French tipped the balance in his favor to get the job at the
embassy.

tip the scales at (something)

- to weigh a certain amount
The wrestler tipped the scales at over 200 kilograms.

tire (someone) out

- to make someone very tired
The climb up the stairs tired the elderly woman out.

tired out

- to be very tired
My father was tired out after working hard all day.

tit for tat

- equal treatment in return for something, a fair exchange
The government policy was tit for tat to any attacks against its territory.


915

to Idioms


to a fault

- to do something so very well or to be something so good that it is almost bad
My friend is honest to a fault and will not say anything unless it is the absolute truth.

to a great/large extent

- mainly, largely
To a great extent everybody in the town has been informed of the new parking
regulations.

to a T

- perfectly, exactly
The new job fits me to a T.

to and fro

- from one place to another and then back again, back and forth
We went to and fro between the two items as we tried to decide what to buy.

to be on the safe side

- to be safe, to be cautious, to be very well prepared
I decided to take my umbrella to school to be on the safe side.

to be safe

- to be cautious, to be careful
I took some extra money out of the bank just to be safe and have enough money for
the weekend.


916

to be sure

- without a doubt, certainly
"To be sure it would be better to talk to the store manager rather than the clerk."

to beat the band

- very much, very fast
We were working to beat the band in order to finish our work early and go home.

to boot

- in addition, also
Our hot water tank is not working and to boot our kitchen stove is also having
problems.

to date

- until the present time
To date there is no indication that the workers are going to negotiate a new contract.

to heel

- to be under control
The army brought the citizens to heel as soon as they entered the town.

to hell and gone

- very much gone, gone to hell
The situation was already to hell and gone when the manager arrived at the office.

to no avail

- with no effect, unsuccessful
My complaints to the company were to no avail and nothing was done.


917

to one's heart's content

- as much as one wants
I used the video camera to my heart's content before I had to return it to my friend.

to one`s name

- in one`s ownership
The man is a very good dresser although he does not have a penny to his name.

to order

- according to a buyer's specifications regarding size/color etc.
I bought three suits which were made to order when I visited Hong Kong last year.

to pieces

- into broken pieces or fragments, destroyed, not working
My car fell to pieces during my recent trip.

to pieces

- very much, greatly
The man loves his little girl to pieces.

to put it mildly

- to understate something, to say something politely
To put it mildly the food at the restaurant was some of the worst that I have ever
tasted.

918

to say nothing of (someone or something)

- to not even mention the importance of someone or something
The hotel itself was very expensive to say nothing of the cost of the restaurants in the
hotel.

to say the least

- at the very least, without dwelling on the subject
After walking all day I am tired to say the least.

to some extent

- to some degree, partly
My answer to the professor's question was correct to some extent but in general it was
not what the professor wanted.

to (someone's) liking

- in a way that pleases someone
The cook in my favorite restaurant always cooks the food exactly to my liking.

to (someone's) way of thinking

- in someone's opinion
To my way of thinking we should not spend any more money on the new project.

to speak of

- important, worth talking about
We did not do anything to speak of during our summer vacation.







919

to the best of one's ability

- as well as one is able
I always play sports to the best of my ability.

to the best of one's knowledge

- as far as one knows, from one's knowledge
To the best of my knowledge there have been no telephone calls for me today.

to the bitter end

- to the very end
We stayed to the bitter end and watched our team lose very badly to the other team.

to the bone

- thoroughly, entirely
I became wet to the bone during the heavy rain.

to the contrary

- contrary to what has been stated/thought
Everybody thought that the boy was bored at the dinner but to the contrary he was
quite interested.

to the core

- all the way through, basically
The local government is corrupt to the core and everybody wants the mayor to leave
office.







920

to the ends of the earth

- to the most remote and most inaccessible points on the earth
My professor went to the ends of the earth to find material for his university thesis.

to the extent that

- to the degree that, in so far as
"To the extent that I am able, I will be happy to help you."

to the eye

- as it is seen, apparently
To the eye the hotel looked very nice but when we entered it was not very good at all.

to the full

- very much, fully
My father always tries to live his life to the full.

to the hilt

- to the maximum amount, completely
My friend has been in debt to the hilt since he bought his new car.

to the last

- to the end, to the conclusion
We stayed at the party to the last and then helped clean the hall.

to the letter

- exactly, precisely
The police officer always follows the law to the letter.