Commonly-Used Idioms, Sayings and phrasal verbs - "L" Idioms pdf

L
a labor of love
- something done for personal pleasure and not for money
The man's book is a labor of love and he doesn`t expect to make any money from it.

lace into (someone)
- attack or scold someone
The mother laced into her child when he came home late from the movie.

lace into (something)
- devour/eat food
We laced into our dinner as soon as we entered the house.

lady killer
- a man who some women find very charming and attractive
The man in the movie was a lady killer who broke the hearts of many women.

lady`s man
- a man who is popular with women
He is a lady`s man and always seems to have a woman interested in him.

laid-back
- relaxed, not worried by things
Our teacher has a very laid-back attitude about how long we should spend preparing
for our class.

453

be laid up
- be confined to bed or unfit for work
He has been laid up for a few days because of a cold.

a lame duck
- a public official who has a short time left to serve in office and therefore has less
power than before
He was a lame-duck leader so it was difficult for him to accomplish some things.

land of Nod
- sleep
I entered the land of Nod as soon as my head hit the pillow.

land on one`s feet/both feet
- come out of a bad situation successfully
My friend always manages to land on his feet no matter how difficult the situation is.

land up (somewhere or in some situation)
- come to be in a certain place or situation
We landed up in the suburbs although we were trying to go downtown.

landslide victory
- a very substantial victory (usually in an election)
My favorite candidate won a landslide victory in the election.

lap up (something)
- to eat or drink something with the tongue (as a dog or cat would)
The dog lapped up the milk that his owner had given him.

454

lap up (something)
- eagerly take in or accept some information/praise
He lapped up the praise that his boss gave him for the recently completed project.

lapse into a coma
- go into a coma
The woman lapsed into a coma soon after the accident.

lash out (at someone)
- attack someone with words
They were walking along the beach when the girl suddenly lashed out in anger at her
boyfriend.

lash out (at someone)
- suddenly try to hit someone
The boy suddenly lashed out and hit the man who was sitting beside him.

last but not least
- in the last place but not the least important
Last but not least the boy came up to the front of the class to receive his report card.

a last-ditch effort
- a final effort
The government made a last-ditch effort to prevent a strike by the teachers.

455

the last person
- the most unlikely person to do something or to be seen somewhere
My friend is the last person that you would expect to see in a clothing store buying
clothes.

the last straw
- the last insult or mistake that one can endure and which then causes some reaction
The fourth time that the girl came to work late was the last straw and we finally fired
her.

last will and testament
- one's will (especially its latest version)
After my grandfather's funeral my uncle read out his last will and testament.

the last word
- the last remark in an argument, the final say in deciding something
She always expects to have the last word when she and her husband go shopping
together.

late in life
- when one is older
Some very great painters never started painting until rather late in life.

late in the day
- far along in a project or activity
We received some new instructions for our marketing effort but it was a little late in

the day to change our plans.

456




laugh all the way to the bank
- make money in a way that other people think is impossible
I was laughing all the way to the bank with the money that I made from selling drinks
at the sports stadium.

laugh off (something)
- to not take something seriously
The man laughed off the attempt by his boss to make him come to work on time.

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth
- change from being happy to being sad
My friend was laughing out of the other side of his mouth when he learned that he
would get a ticket for parking his car in the wrong place.

laugh (something) out of court
- dismiss (a legal case) as being ridiculous
They laughed the case out of court when the woman tried to sue the dog's owner after
the dog ate her flowers.

laugh up one's sleeve
- laugh quietly to oneself
I was laughing up my sleeve when I learned that my friend would have to clean the
bathroom at work and not me.

launch forth (on something)
- start out on something
Our boss launched forth on a long criticism of how we were doing our jobs.

457




a law unto oneself
- one who makes one's own laws or rules
The city council member thought that she was a law unto herself until she resigned
because of a scandal.

lay Idioms
not lay a finger/hand on (someone)
- not touch someone, not do something to someone
The man was told by the police never to lay a finger on his wife again.

lay an egg
- fail to win the interest or favor of an audience
Although the magician was supposed to be good, his performance was terrible and it
laid an egg with the audience.

lay away (something)
- save something
The couple are trying to lay away some money for their holiday next year.

lay down one's life (for someone or something)

- sacrifice one's life for someone or something
The young man layed down his life trying to protect the property of his company.

lay down the law
- tell someone what to do by using your power or influence
The new manager plans to lay down the law to the workers regarding long lunch
breaks.

458




lay eyes on (someone or something)
- see someone or something
I have never laid eyes on a more beautiful dog in my life.

lay hold of (something)
- get possession of something
If I can lay hold of some tools I will help you fix your toilet.

lay in (something)
- store up a supply of something, get and store something for future use
They are trying to lay in as much food as possible before winter comes.

lay/light into (someone)
- attack someone with words
As soon as I came into work this morning my boss laid/lit into me about my poor
sales performance last month.

lay/light into (something)
- do/eat something with much energy and enthusiasm
He laid into the steak as soon as the waiter brought it to his table.

lay it on thick
- praise someone too much
My friend began to lay it on thick when I told him about my new job.

lay low
- to hide, to keep out of sight for a period of time
He decided to lay low until his friend forgot that he had damaged his car.

459




the lay of the land
- the features of an area of land or of an organization
We checked out the lay of the land before we put up our tent and made a camping
site.

lay off (someone)
- stop bothering someone, leave someone alone
The coach told the players to lay off the new player so that he could relax before the
game.

lay off (something)
- stop using or taking something bad (alcohol/drugs/chocolate/cigarettes)
I was told by my doctor to lay off smoking or I would be sick in the future.

lay off (workers/staff)
- reduce the number of workers when business is bad
Six hundred workers at the automobile factory were recently laid off.

lay one`s cards on the table
- let someone know one`s position and feelings openly, deal honestly with something
He decided to lay his cards on the table and tell his boss about the job offer from the
other company.

lay one's hands on (someone)
- do violence to someone, harm/hurt someone
The man said that if he ever lays hands on the person who stole his car he will take
him directly to the police.

460




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.

461




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.

462




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.

463




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.

464




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.

465




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.

466




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.

467

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.

468




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.

469




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.

470




leave/let well enough alone
- be satisfied with something that is good enough
"You should leave well enough alone and be happy with your work schedule the way
it is."

leave word with (someone)
- leave a message with someone
I left word with my father to have my mother phone me tonight.

.

a left-handed compliment
- an ambiguous compliment interpreted as offensive
He gave her a left-handed compliment when he said that her dyed hair looked nice.

a leg man
- someone who performs messenger services, an errand boy
He was working as a leg man for the motion picture company.

not have a leg to stand on
- not have a firm foundation of facts, not have the facts to support one`s claims
She doesn`t have a leg to stand on with her excuses for not finishing her work.

leg work
- routine work (that often involves walking)
He was forced to do all of the leg work for the meeting because his assistant was sick.

471




lend an ear (to someone)
- listen to someone
I was asked to lend an ear to my friend so he could tell me about his problems.

lend color to (something)
- provide an interesting accompaniment for something
The beautiful background to the orchestra helped to lend color to the musical
performance.

lend (oneself/itself) to (something)
- be adaptable to something
The small hall does not lend itself to having a very good musical performance.

lend (someone) a hand
- give someone some help
I asked my friend to lend me a hand to move the furniture.

less than pleased
- not pleased
My father was less than pleased when I returned his car three hours late last night.

lesser (of the two)
- the smaller one of the two
We chose the lesser of the two cars when we went to the car rental agency.

lesser of two evils
- the less bad thing of two bad things
The voters had to choose the lesser of two evils when they had to choose between the
two candidates for mayor.
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let Idioms
let alone (something)
- not to mention something, to say nothing of something
I don`t have enough money to go to a movie let alone go on a holiday.

let bygones be bygones
- forget about problems that happened in the past
"We need to let bygones be bygones and forget about our past differences."

let down one`s hair
- relax, act freely and naturally
Everybody at the party let down their hair and had a good time.

let go of (something)
- release something
He let go of the rope and the suitcase fell off the luggage rack.

let go with (something)
- shout something out
The child let go with a loud scream when he saw the dog.

let grass grow under one`s feet
- be idle, be lazy, waste time
He is always working hard and never lets grass grow under his feet.

473




let it all hang out
- let the truth be known, be open about something
She decided to let it all hang out and tell her friend about her problems with her
boyfriend.

let it go/lay
- forget about it, leave it alone
"You should let it go and stop worrying about what she did to you last year."

let it rip
- let something go at full speed, take off all restraints
He let it rip and left the shore in the motorboat.

let off steam
- get rid of your extra energy or strong feelings by doing some activity
He was very angry at first but he has let off steam and has calmed down now.

let on
- to reveal, to inform
"Please don`t let on that you saw me at the movie last night."

let on
- try to make people believe something, pretend
He tried to let on that he didn`t want the job but actually he did.

474




let one's emotions show
- be emotional (where it is not appropriate)
The mayor let his emotions show when his plan for the new stadium was defeated by
the city council members.

let oneself go
- become less constrained
I went to the party and let myself go for the evening.

let oneself/something go
- not take care of oneself/something
The woman has been letting herself go recently and doesn't even bother to comb her
hair regularly

let out (clothes/a rope)
- make clothes longer or looser, allow a rope to slip out little by little

I had to go to the tailors to have them let out my sports jacket.
We let out the rope as the boat left the shore.

let out (some kind of sound)
- make some kind of noise or sound
The dog let out a strange sound before running out of the house.

let out (someone)
- dismiss or be dismissed (from class or practice etc.)
Everyone was let out of class early yesterday because of the bad weather.

475




let out (something)
- allow to go out or escape
I let out our dog this morning and he hasn`t come home yet.

let out (something)
- allow to be known, tell
They let out the details of the restructuring plan late last night so we haven`t had time
to talk about them yet.

let sleeping dogs lie
- don`t make trouble if you don`t have to
"You should let sleeping dogs lie and not worry about what your friend said to you
last summer."

let (someone) down
- fail to do as well as expected, disappoint someone
He let his parents down when he failed the university entrance exams.

let (someone) down easy
- tell someone some disappointing news in a way that makes them feel good
I will talk to her tomorrow and try and let her down easy about her not getting the
promotion.

let (someone) go
- discharge someone from a job, fire someone
The company has decided to let several hundred workers go in order to become
profitable again.

476




let (someone) have it
- hit someone hard, scold someone angrily
He let the other man have it when they had a fight on the bus.

let (someone) have it (with both barrels)
- attack someone verbally
The woman let her husband have it when he came home late from work without
phoning.

let (someone) in on (something)
- tell someone a secret

We let our friend in on our secret plan to sell our apartment and buy a house.

let (someone) know (about something)
- tell/inform someone about something
"Let me know when you are ready to go to the movie."

let (someone) off
- permit someone to leave a car/train/boat/plane or other transportation
The train stopped at a very small town and let the young woman off.

let (someone) off (easy)
- release someone with little or no punishment
The judge let the man off easy because he seemed to be sincere in his apology for his
crime.

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