Commonly used english part 47 potx

461

lay one's hands on (something)

- find something, acquire something
If I can lay my hands on a slide projector, I will show you the pictures of my holiday
tonight.

lay out (money)

- spend or pay some money
My friend will have to lay out a lot of money for his new apartment.

lay out (something)

- plan something
We will lay out our plan for the new building at the next meeting.

to lay over

- to arrive somewhere and wait some time before continuing a journey
We were told that we will have to lay over in London for nine hours before we go on
to Kenya.

lay (someone) to rest

- to bury someone
We laid my uncle to rest in a nice ceremony last night.

lay (something) on (someone)

- direct blame or guilt on someone
The company tried to lay the computer problems on one of the managers.







462

lay (something) on the line

- speak directly and firmly about something
The librarian finally had to lay it on the line and told everyone not to bring drinks into
the library.

lay (something) to rest

- to put an end to a rumor, to finish dealing with a problem and forget about it
We want to lay to rest the rumors about the financial problems in the company.

lay the blame on (someone or something)

- blame someone or something
We laid the blame on my friend for making us late for the concert.

lay the groundwork for (something)

- to build the foundation or basis of something, to do the basic work that will lead to
future success
The new training program will lay the groundwork for the future success of the
company.

lay up (a vessel)

- take a vessel out of active service, put a boat in a boat dock or a garage
The weather was getting cold so they decided to lay up their boat for the winter.

lay up (something)

- collect a supply of something, save something for future use, store something
We are planning to lay up some canned fruit for the winter.






463

lay waste (to something)

- destroy and leave something in ruins, wreck something
The army troops laid waste to the enemy territory.

.

layaway plan

- a plan in which someone pays part of some money that is owed and then pays the
rest later and the store keeps the item until the full price has been paid
I decided to buy the television set on the department store`s layaway plan.


lead Idioms
lead a dog`s life

- live a hard life, work hard and be treated unkindly
He says that he has been leading a dog`s life since he started his new job.

lead off

- begin, start, open
The golfer was the first to lead off in the tournament.

lead (someone) by the nose

- have full control of someone, make or persuade someone to do what you want
He isn`t very aggressive and always lets his boss lead him by the nose.






464

lead (someone) down the garden path

- deceive someone
The woman was leading her boyfriend down the garden path when she promised to
marry him.

lead (someone) on

- insincerely encourage someone
I think my friend was leading me on when he told me about the new job.

lead (someone) on a merry chase

- lead someone on a chase with no purpose
The criminal led the police on a merry chase before they finally arrested him.

lead (someone) to believe (something)

- imply something to someone
The salesman led me to believe that he would be able to deliver the product within a
week.

lead (someone) to do (something)

- cause someone to do something
The loud scream from the dining room led the chef to ruin his main dish of the
evening.

lead/live the life of Riley

- live an easy life of luxury, live a pleasant life
My father has been leading the life of Riley since he retired from his job.






465

lead the way

- go first and show others how to go somewhere, guide someone
I had to lead the way because nobody knew where the new office was located.

lead up to (something)

- prepare the way for something
The concerts in the park were leading up to the final band contest of the music
festival.

.



a leading question

- a question that suggests the kind of answer that you want to hear
The lawyer asked the man a leading question when he asked him why he had lied

about the money. He had never lied about money.

leaf through (something)

- look through a book/magazine/newspaper without reading it in detail
I leafed through several magazines while I was sitting in the doctor's office.

leak out (something)

- disclose special/secret information to the press
The information about the illegal donations were leaked out to the press.

lean on (someone)

- pressure someone by blackmail or threats of physical violence to make him or her do
something
The gang decided to lean on the small shop owner to get him to sell his property.


466

lean over backwards (to do something or to help someone)

- do everything possible to please someone
My cousin leaned over backwards to help my father when he was sick.

lean toward (doing something)

- tend toward doing something
At the moment we are leaning toward buying a laptop computer rather than a desktop

computer.

leap to conclusions

- decide something without having all the facts
Our teacher leaped to conclusions when she accused the boy of breaking the window.

learn (something) by heart

- memorize something
I quickly learned my library card number by heart.

learn (something) by rote

- memorize something without thinking about what is being learned
The children learned the material by rote but they didn't really understand it.

learn (something) from the bottom up

- learn something thoroughly from the beginning
The young man learned about the company from the bottom up before his father
retired.







467

learn (something) the hard way

- learn something by experience (often something unpleasant)
The young man learned things the hard way when he was sent to jail for stealing the
computer.

learn the ropes

- learn how to do a job
He is a new employee and is still learning the ropes.

learn to live with (something)

- learn to adapt to something unpleasant or painful
My mother and father must learn to live with not having a supermarket next door to
them.

least of all

- the least, of smallest importance
I don't like any of the choices offered, least of all the one that we were forced to
choose.

leave Idioms
leave a bad taste in one`s mouth

- leave a bad impression, make one feel disgusted
The way that the company fired the workers left a bad taste in everyone`s mouth.

leave a lot to be desired

- be inadequate
The job performance of the new employee leaves a lot to be desired.



468

leave no stone unturned

- try in every way to do something, do everything possible
The police left no stone unturned when they were looking for the little girl who was
lost.

leave one to one's fate

- abandon someone to whatever may happen
The tour was suddenly canceled and we were left to our fate regarding an attempt to
get our money refunded.

leave one's mark on (someone or something)

- affect the behavior and performance of another person or of something
The former president left his mark on the way that the company was run for many
years after he retired.

leave oneself wide open for (something)

- fail to protect oneself from criticism or ridicule

The actions of our manager left him wide open for criticism from everybody in our
company.

leave (someone) alone

- to not disturb someone
"Please leave me alone so I can finish this essay."

leave (someone or something) behind

- leave someone or something somewhere
I left my coat behind in the restaurant.





469

leave (someone) flat

- fail to entertain or stimulate someone, leave someone with no money
My friend's attempt at making a joke left everyone in the room flat.

leave (someone) for dead

- abandon someone as being dead
The hiker was left for dead when the rescue group could find no indication of where
he was.

leave (someone) high and dry

- leave someone helpless
The employees were left high and dry when the company went out of business.

leave (someone) holding the bag

- leave someone to take the blame for something
My friend left me holding the bag when he ran away from the accident.

leave (someone or something) in (someone's) hands

- give someone control of or responsibility for someone or something
I left the planning for the barbecue in my father's hands.

leave (someone) in peace

- stop bothering someone
The woman was happy when her family went out and left her in peace for several
hours.







470

leave (someone) in the lurch

- desert or leave someone alone and in trouble, refuse to help or support someone
My coworker left me in the lurch when he didn`t come and help me as he had
promised earlier in the day.

leave (someone) out in the cold

- exclude someone
We made an effort not to leave my friend out in the cold when we were planning the
birthday party.

leave (something) hanging (in the air)

- leave something undecided or unsettled
Whether or not they will be leaving next year was left hanging in the air at the end of
the meeting.

leave (something) on

- leave something running or operating
I always leave the lights on when I am working around the house.

leave (something) open

- leave a date or time unscheduled
I plan to leave next Wednesday open so that I can meet my friend for lunch.

leave (something) out

- omit something

He told me about the accident but he left out some of the main points.