Crossword clues for do
no can do
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
do
I.auxiliary verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a done dealinformal (= something that has been completely agreed)
▪ The takeover has been described as a done deal.
a lot to do/learn/say etc
▪ I still have a lot to learn.
▪ It’s a great city, with lots to see and do.
a measure is aimed at doing sth
▪ The measures were aimed at reducing the speed of cars on the roads.
a move is aimed at doing sth/is designed to do sth
▪ The move is aimed at strengthening its business in the region.
a move is aimed at doing sth/is designed to do sth
▪ The move is aimed at strengthening its business in the region.
a policy aims at sth/to do sth (=tries to achieve sth)
▪ The policy aimed to reduce the budget deficit.
a strong desire for sth/to do sth
▪ People have a strong desire for personal independence.
a study aims to do sth
▪ The study aimed to identify the housing needs of local people.
a useful way of doing sth
▪ Keeping lists of the words you learn is a useful way of remembering vocabulary.
arrest sb on charges/suspicion of (doing) sth
▪ He was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs.
as good as done/finished etc
▪ The summer’s as good as over.
a...silly thing to do
▪ I left my keys at home, which was a pretty silly thing to do.
attempt/do/ask etc the impossible
▪ I just want to be able to buy healthy food at a reasonable price. Is that asking the impossible?
avoid the temptation to do sth
▪ Avoid the temptation to cheat.
bad thing to do
▪ Making big changes in your diet all at once is a bad thing to do.
be a great one for doing sth
▪ She’s a great one for telling stories about her schooldays.
be all for (doing) sth (=support something very much)
▪ I’m all for giving people more freedom.
be better off doing sth (=used to give advice or an opinion)
▪ He’d be better off starting with something simpler.
be duty bound/honour bound to do sth
▪ A son is duty bound to look after his mother.
be duty-bound to do sthformal (= have a duty to do sth)
▪ Soldiers are here to do a job and are duty-bound to complete it.
be glad of an opportunity/chance/excuse to do sth
▪ They were glad of the chance to finally get some sleep.
be in danger of doing sth
▪ It was clear that the ship was in grave danger of sinking.
be in the habit of doing sth
▪ On Friday evenings Carrie was in the habit of visiting her parents.
be lucky enough to do sth (=have the good luck to do sth)
▪ I was lucky enough to be selected for the school team.
be old enough to do sth
▪ You’re old enough to help with the cooking.
be sold on (doing) sth (=think an idea or plan is very good)
▪ Joe’s completely sold on the concept.
be too weak to do sth
▪ She’s too weak to feed herself.
be unable to resist (doing) sth
▪ He was unable to resist the temptation to smoke.
be/feel honour bound to do sth (=feel that you should do something, because it is morally right or your duty to do it)
▪ My father felt honour bound to help his sister.
beg leave to do sthformal (= ask permission to do something)
bluff sb into (doing) sth (=make someone do something by deceiving them)
bound (by sth) to do sth
▪ The Foundation is bound by the treaty to help any nation that requests aid.
brainwash sb into doing sth
▪ Commercials brainwash consumers into buying things they don’t need.
(can) understand sb doing sth
▪ I can understand her wanting to live alone and be independent.
cannot resist (doing) sth
▪ I couldn't resist teasing him.
carry out/do a survey
▪ The survey was carried out by Warwick University.
carry out/perform/do a task
▪ I don't think we have enough resources to carry out this task.
carry out/take/do a poll
▪ A similar poll was carried out among academics in the United States.
▪ A poll taken last month gave the Democrats a seven-point lead.
catch sb in the act (of doing sth) (=catch someone while they are doing something illegal)
▪ The gang was caught in the act of unloading the cigarettes.
choose a moment to do sth (=do something at a particular time)
▪ She always seemed to choose the worst moment to interrupt his thoughts.
consider it necessary/important etc to do sth
▪ I did not consider it necessary to report the incident.
consider the possibility of (doing) sth
▪ Have you considered the possibility of retraining?
cost-effective way of doing sth
▪ the most cost-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions
describe doing sth
▪ He described finding his mother lying on the floor.
did a bang-up job
▪ He did a bang-up job fixing the plumbing.
did a head count
▪ The teachers did a head count to check that none of the kids were missing.
did imitations
▪ She acted, she danced, she did imitations.
did okay
▪ I think I did okay in the exam.
did the decent thing (=did what people thought he ought to)
▪ The chairman did the decent thing and resigned.
did...MA
▪ He did an MA in graphic design at Manchester.
did...stint
▪ Mark did a two-year stint in the army.
did...utmost (=tried as hard as they could)
▪ The medical staff did their utmost to save the patient’s life.
do 30/40 etc mpgBrE,get 30/40 etc mpg American English
▪ a car that does 35 mpg
do a check
▪ I did a quick check of all the windows, locked the door and left.
do a dance
▪ Can you do any dances?
do a deal
▪ The two companies have recently done a major deal.
do a delivery
▪ We usually do the deliveries in the morning.
do a hatchet job
▪ They were afraid I was going to do a hatchet job on them.
do a headstand
▪ Can you do a headstand?
do a lectureinformal:
▪ He’s doing a lecture on modern poetry.
do a picture of sb/sth (=draw or paint a picture)
▪ He’s done a picture of a monster.
do a playspoken (= arrange it or perform in it)
▪ Bob asked if I would do this play, and I agreed.
do a sessioninformal
▪ We're doing a photo session tomorrow.
do a shift
▪ I did a 12-hour shift yesterday.
do a story (=write and then print or broadcast it)
▪ I went to Iraq to do a story on the war.
do a study/carry out a study (also conduct a studyformal)
▪ The scientists are carrying out a study into the effects of global warming.
do an activity
▪ He doesn't do a lot of physical activity.
do an exercise (also perform an exerciseformal)
▪ Try to do these exercises at least three days a week.
do an inspectioninformal:
▪ We did the inspection last Friday.
do an interview (also conduct an interviewformal)
▪ The interview was conducted in French.
do business
▪ A lot of firms are keen to do business in Japan.
do damage
▪ Too much sun can do severe damage to your skin.
do drugsinformal (= take drugs)
▪ All my friends were doing drugs.
do everything possible
▪ We must do everything possible to limit our impact on the earth's environment.
do likewise
▪ Nanny put on a shawl and told the girls to do likewise.
do magic
▪ In the story, the children are not allowed to do magic out of school.
do military service
▪ More and more men are refusing to do military service.
do more harm than good (=cause more problems rather than improve a situation)
▪ If you don’t warm up properly, exercise may do more harm than good.
do nothing
▪ I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
do overtime
▪ I did three hours overtime yesterday.
do porridge (=spend time in prison)
do practice
▪ Have you done your piano practice?
do sb a favour (=do something for someone)
▪ Could you do me a favour and lend me £5?
do sb a service (=do something that will help someone)
▪ He did her a service by telling her the truth.
do sb the honourformal (= used when saying that you feel proud that someone has decided to do something )
▪ Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?
do so
▪ The troops will not advance until ordered to do so.
do some exercise (also take some exercise British English)
▪ He ought to do more exercise.
▪ He was advised by the doctor to take more exercise.
do some thinking
▪ I’ve had a chance to do some thinking.
do some/no preparation
▪ He had obviously done no preparation for the meeting.
do some/the/your shopping
▪ I thought you wanted to do some shopping.
do sportBritish English, do sports American English
▪ I did a lot of sport at school.
do stand-up
▪ Mark used to do stand-up at Roxy’s Bar.
do sth for a living (=to work at something as your job)
▪ 'What does he do for a living?' 'I think he's a taxi driver.'
do (sth) harm
▪ Try to choose products that do the least harm to the environment.
do sth on impulse (=do something without having planned it)
▪ James bought her some flowers on impulse.
do the chores
▪ I stayed at home and did the chores.
do the cleaning
▪ Liz comes on Thursdays to do the cleaning.
do the cooking
▪ Who does the cooking in your house?
do the dirty on sbBritish English (= treat someone in a way that is unfair or dishonest)
do the donkeywork
▪ Why do I always have to do the donkeywork?
do (the) housework
▪ I spent all morning doing the housework.
do the laundry (=wash and dry dirty clothes)
▪ I cleaned the kitchen and did some laundry.
do the opposite
▪ Whatever I tell him to do, he does the opposite.
do the pools
▪ I do the pools sometimes.
do the washing-up
▪ It’s your turn to do the washing-up, Sam.
do the washing (=wash the dirty clothes)
▪ I really must do the washing .
do up a button (=fasten it)
▪ He quickly did up the buttons on his shirt.
do up a houseinformal (= decorate it)
▪ We’ve been doing up the house bit by bit since we first moved in.
do up/undo a zip
▪ Your zip’s undone at the back.
do well/badly in a testBritish English, do well/badly on a test American English
▪ I didn’t do very well in the first part of the test.
do well/badly in an examBritish English, do well/badly on an exam AmEː
▪ Maria always did well in her exams at school.
do well/badly in an examination
▪ He did well in his examinations, and went on to study at MIT.
do what you want
▪ You can do what you want, instead of being told what to do.
do work experience
▪ Why do I have to do work experience?
do work
▪ He was doing some work on his father’s car.
do wrong
▪ Those who do wrong should be punished.
(do you) know what I mean? (=used to ask if someone understands or has the same feeling as you)
▪ It’s nice to have a change sometimes. Know what I mean?
(do) you know what/something?
▪ You know what? I think he’s lonely.
(do) you meanspoken (= used to check you have understood what someone intended to say)
▪ Do you mean you’ve changed or Chris has changed?
Do you see the point (=do you understand what I’m trying to say)
▪ Do you see the point I’m making ?
do your duty
▪ I felt I had done my duty by voting.
do your hair (also fix your hair American English) (= arrange it in a style)
▪ She’s upstairs doing her hair.
do your homework
▪ Paul, have you done your homework?
do your make-up (=put on make-up)
▪ I’ll do your make-up for you, if you want.
do your nailsinformal (= to cut or paint your nails)
▪ She sat at her desk, doing her nails.
do yourself a favour (=do something good for yourself)
▪ Do yourself a favour and read as many books on the subject as possible.
do yourself an injuryBritish Englishinformal (= accidentally hurt yourself)
▪ Be careful with that knife or you’ll do yourself an injury.
do...BSc
▪ He’s going to Birmingham to do a BSc in Biochemistry.
do/carry out a test (also perform/conduct a testformal)
▪ Your doctor will need to carry out some tests.
do/carry out an assessment
▪ A teacher does a yearly assessment of each child’s progress.
do/carry out an experiment
▪ They carried out a series of experiments to test the theory.
▪ He did some experiments with bats.
do/carry out an operation (also perform an operationformal)
▪ The operation was carried out by a team of surgeons at Papworth Hospital.
▪ I’ve done this operation hundreds of times.
do/carry out research (also conduct researchformal)
▪ The research was carried out by a team of scientists at Edinburgh University.
▪ Little research has been conducted into the subject.
do/carry out surgery (also perform surgeryformal)
▪ A San Antonio doctor has volunteered to perform the surgery at no cost.
do/carry out/conduct a post-mortem
do/carry out/perform/conduct an analysis
▪ No similar analysis has been done in this country.
do...crossword
▪ I like to sit down and do the crossword.
Does...mean anything to
▪ Does the name Bryce mean anything to you?
does...shop
▪ She always does the weekly shop on a Friday.
does...sit-ups
▪ Jerry says he does two hundred sit-ups a day.
do...gardening
▪ I might do a bit of gardening this afternoon.
do/have an MBA
do/if you know/see what I mean?spoken (= used to check that someone understands you)
▪ I want to buy her something really special, if you know what I mean.
▪ We’re still married but living apart in the same house, if you see what I mean.
doing a demolition job on
▪ He accused opposition leaders of doing a demolition job on the President.
doing fuck all
▪ Most of the time he sat around doing fuck all.
doing good
▪ The business is doing good now.
doing OK
▪ Mum’s doing OK now.
doing rolls
▪ gymnasts doing rolls and handsprings
doing the ironing
▪ I hate doing the ironing.
doing the school run
▪ We hope to increase the safety of children who walk to school and cut the number of cars doing the school run.
doing the spring-cleaning
▪ Judith’s busy doing the spring-cleaning.
doing...dictations
▪ I hate doing French dictations.
doing...nicely for himself
▪ Ed’s doing very nicely for himself out in Japan.
do/make a calculation
▪ The children should be able to do that calculation in their heads.
do/make a count
▪ I looked at the report and did a quick page count.
do/make a drawing
▪ Sammy was doing a drawing of his sister.
do/make a good job (of doing sth) (=do something well)
▪ Mike’s done a good job of painting the windows.
do/make a good job (of doing sth) (=do something well)
▪ Mike’s done a good job of painting the windows.
do/make a jump
▪ Douglas made his first 10,000-foot parachute jump yesterday.
do/make a translation of sth
▪ She had done a translation of the poem.
done an honest day’s work
▪ I bet he’s never done an honest day’s work in his life!
done...revision
▪ I know I haven’t done enough revision for tomorrow’s exam.
do...networking
▪ I’m hoping to do some networking at the conference next week in London.
don’t let’s do sthBritish Englishinformal
▪ Don’t let’s argue like this.
do...packing
▪ I can do my packing the night before we leave.
do/perform penance
▪ We prayed and did penance together.
do...PGCE
▪ I came to Birmingham to do a PGCE.
do...photocopying
▪ Could you do some photocopying for me tomorrow?
do/play/have a gig
▪ The band are doing a gig in Sheffield on Nov 12.
do/run/swim a lap
▪ Every morning she swims 50 laps in the pool.
do/start/finish a PhD
do...stunts
▪ Not many actors do their own stunts.
do...swap
▪ We can do a swap if you like.
do/take a degree in sth (=study for a degree)
▪ Not enough students are taking degrees in Physics.
do/take A/S levels
do/take (your) A levels
▪ She decided to stay on at school and do her A levels.
do/take (your) GCSEs
▪ Adam took his GCSEs last year.GCSE exam/course/coursework/results etc
do/turn a somersault
▪ Lana turned a somersault in midair.
do/turn cartwheels
▪ The children were doing cartwheels in the park.
doubtful about (doing) sth
▪ At first we were doubtful about employing Charlie.
do/wash the dishes
▪ I’ll just do the dishes before we go.
dread the thought/prospect of (doing) sth
▪ He dreaded the prospect of being all alone in that house.
enough to do/eat etc
▪ Erica was worried that the children weren’t getting enough to eat.
express a willingness to do sth (=say or show that you are willing to do sth)
▪ The unions expressed a willingness to have talks with the employers.
express your determination to do sth
▪ He made a speech expressing his determination to rebuild the economy.
extraordinary thing to do/say/happen
▪ What an extraordinary thing to do!
face the task of doing sth
▪ He faced the task of preparing a three-course meal for 50 people.
feel obliged to do sth (=feel that you have a duty to do something)
▪ Many parents feel obliged to pay for at least part of the wedding.
find it hard to do sth
▪ I was finding it hard to concentrate.
find it hard/easy/difficult etc (to do sth)
▪ Hyperactive children find it difficult to concentrate.
find pleasure in (doing) sth
▪ I find great pleasure in reading.
find the courage to do sth
▪ You must find the courage to deal with the problem.
find the nerve to do sth
▪ He couldn't find the nerve to ask her out.
find the strength to do sth
▪ Paula had found the strength to escape from an abusive marriage.
find the strength to do sth
▪ Mary found the strength to climb up onto the upturned boat.
find yourself/your mind etc doing sth
▪ When he left, Karen found herself heaving a huge sigh of relief.
▪ She tried to concentrate, but found her mind drifting back to Alex.
get as far as doing sth
▪ They had got as far as painting the kitchen.
get £2,000/$4,000 etc for doing sth
▪ He gets £4 an hour for stacking shelves.
get/have a chance to do sth
▪ I’d like a job in which I get the chance to travel.
give sb a chance of doing sth (=say how likely it is that they will do it)
▪ He has been given a fifty-fifty chance of being fit for Sunday’s match.
give sb exceptional leave to do sth formal (= give someone special permission to do something)
▪ Two of the asylum seekers were given exceptional leave to stay in Britain.
give/do a concert
▪ The group gave concerts for charity throughout Europe.
go through the hassle of doing sth (=experience the problems of doing something)
▪ The shirt didn’t fit so I had to go through the hassle of taking it back to the shop.
go to the expense of doing sth (=do something that costs a lot of money)
▪ The council must now decide whether to go to the expense of appealing through the courts.
good/bad etc at (doing) sth
▪ I’ve always been good at maths.
▪ Matt’s bad at handling people.
has something to do with (=is related to them in some way)
▪ I don’t know what he does exactly, but I know it has something to do with computers .
have a duty to do sth
▪ Parents have a duty to make sure that their children receive an education.
have a habit (of doing sth)
▪ He has a habit of being late.
have a hard time doing sth (=be difficult for someone to do something)
▪ You’ll have a hard time proving that.
▪ I had a hard time persuading him to accept the offer.
have ever had the misfortune to do/of doing (=used for emphasizing how bad something is)
▪ He was the most arrogant man I'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.
have ever had the misfortune to do/of doing (=used for emphasizing how bad something is)
▪ He was the most arrogant man I'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.
have little/no incentive to do sth
▪ Poor farmers have little incentive to grow crops for export.
have no choice (but to do sth)
▪ The men had no choice but to obey.
have no desire to do sth (=used to emphasize that you do not want to do something)
▪ It was raining outside and I had no desire to go out.
have no/any/some means of doing sth
▪ There was no path, and they had no means of knowing where they were.
have no/every intention of doing sth
▪ I have no intention of retiring just yet.
have no/little alternative (but to do sth)
▪ He had no alternative but to resign.
have no/little option but to do sth (=have no other choice than to do something)
▪ I had no option but to fire him.
have nothing better to do
▪ Have you got nothing better to do than sit there playing that silly game?
have orders to do sth
▪ The soldiers had orders to shoot anyone on the streets after 10 o'clock.
have permission to do sth
▪ They did not have permission to build on the land.
have responsibility for (doing) sth
▪ The Council has responsibility for maintaining the streetlights.
have the ability to do sth (also possess the ability to do sthformal)
▪ She has the ability to make people feel relaxed.
have the audacity to do sth
have the courage to do sth
▪ I didn’t have the courage to say what I really thought.
have the effect of doing sth
▪ The news had the effect of making everyone feel better.
have the freedom to do sth
▪ We have the freedom to travel nearly anywhere in the world.
have the (good/bad) luck to do sth
▪ He had the good luck to meet a man who could help him.
have the instinct to do sth
▪ She had the instinct to see what made people unhappy.
have the misfortune to do sth/of doing sth
▪ Last year, he had the misfortune to be involved in a car crash.
have the misfortune to do sth/of doing sth
▪ Last year, he had the misfortune to be involved in a car crash.
have the nerve to do sth
▪ I just didn't have the nerve to tell them the truth.
have the patience to do sth
▪ He didn't have the patience to listen to another point of view.
have the satisfaction of doing sth
▪ They have the satisfaction of knowing that the company needs them.
have the strength to do sth
▪ He didn't even have the strength to sit up.
have the strength to do sth
▪ This proved that he has the strength to cope with such a high-powered job.
have the task of doing sth
▪ He had the task of judging the competition.
have the unfortunate habit of doing sth (=do something that makes other people feel embarrassed or offended)
▪ Teenage girls have the unfortunate habit of laughing too loudly.
have the will to do sth (=be determined enough to do it)
▪ Do you have the will to win?
have your hair cut/done/permed (also get your hair cut etc) (= by a hairdresser)
▪ I need to get my hair cut.
have/feel no compunction about (doing) sth
▪ He had no compunction about interfering in her private affairs.
have/get time to do sth
▪ We never get time to do anything together.
have/make/take a stab at (doing) sth
▪ I’ll have one more stab at it.
have/show a disposition to do sth
▪ Neither side shows the slightest disposition to compromise.
How are you doing
▪ How are you doing?
How did...know (=how did he find information about)
▪ How did he know our names?
How do you know (=what makes you sure)
▪ How do you know he won’t do it again?
How do you mean (=used to ask someone to explain what they have just said)
▪ ‘In three hours’ time, I’ll be a free man.‘ ’How do you mean?'
How do you spell
▪ How do you spell ‘juice’?
How does that sound (=used to ask someone what they think of your suggestion)
▪ I’ll come over to Richmond and take you out for dinner. How does that sound?
in such a way/manner that/as to do sth
▪ He lectured in such a way that many in the audience found him impossible to understand.
it is a mistake to do sth
▪ It is a mistake to try to see everything in the museum in one day.
it is an offence to do sth
▪ It is an offence to carry a weapon in a public place.
it is impossible to do sth
▪ It is impossible to know if this story is true.
it is not uncommon for sb to do sth
▪ It is not uncommon for students to have bank loans.
it is possible to do sth
▪ From the hilltop it was possible to see the sea.
it is useful to do sth
▪ It is useful to practise in front of an audience.
It takes courage to do sth/sth takes courage (=needs courage)
▪ It takes courage to make a big change in your life like that.
it takes nerve to do sth (=something requires a lot of courage or confidence)
▪ It takes nerve to stand up for what you believe.
it takes time to do sth
▪ It took them a long time to struggle through the crowds.
it takes/requires brains to do sth
▪ It takes brains to think of a plan like that.
it’s good/bad manners to do sth
▪ It’s bad manners to chew with your mouth open.
I’d love to (do sth)spoken (= used to say that you would really like to do something)
▪ ‘Would you like to come swimming with us?’ ‘I’d love to.’
▪ I’d have loved to have stayed till the end.
▪ I’d love to know just why they did that.
judge it best/better to do sth (=think that something is the best thing to do)
▪ Robert wanted to go and help him, but judged it best to stay where he was.
judge it safe to do sth (=consider that it is safe to do something)
▪ He listened for some time before judging it safe to go downstairs.
know what...doing (=I do not have enough skill and experience to deal with something)
▪ I don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to cars.
lack the ability to do sth
▪ As a young man, he lacked the ability to say no.
lack the courage to do sth
▪ He lacked the courage to look her full in the face.
lack the instinct to do sth
▪ He lacked the instinct to attack another human being.
lack the will to do sth
▪ He lacked the will to resist.
leave sb with no alternative (but to do sth)
▪ I was left with no alternative but to seek legal advice.
let sb/sth do sth
▪ Jenny let the note fall to the ground.
▪ Don’t let anyone know it was me who told you.
▪ Max let the door swing open.
▪ Let the cookies cool down before you try them.
Little did...know (=she did not know)
▪ Little did she know that years later she would have her own pool and luxury apartment in Florida.
loads to do/see/eat etc
▪ There’s loads to see in Paris.
lose no time in doing sth (=do something immediately)
▪ Murdock lost no time in taking out a patent for his invention.
lose the will to do sth
▪ The country's troops had lost the will to fight.
make do and mend (=when someone manages with the things they have and does not buy anything new)
▪ For many people, make do and mend was a harsh reality.
make every effort to do sth (=try very hard)
▪ I made every effort to see their point of view.
make it easier (to do sth)
▪ The software makes it easier to download music.
make it necessary (for sb) to do sth
▪ Falling profits made it necessary to restructure the business.
make it possible to do sth
▪ Medical advances have made it possible to keep more patients alive.
make no effort to do sth (=not try at all)
▪ They make no effort to speak the local language.
make sth an offence/make it an offence to do sth
▪ The Act made it an offence to sell cigarettes to children under 16.
make the mistake of doing sth
▪ He made the mistake of revealing his true intentions.
make/do a broadcast
▪ He made a long broadcast over the radio.
make/do a repair
▪ I have done some repairs to the chair over the years.
make/do a U-turn
▪ He made a quick U-turn and sped away.
make/do a U-turn
▪ Critics accused the government of doing a U-turn on its promise to increase education spending.
make/do/carry out etc spot checks
▪ We carry out spot checks on the vehicles before they leave the depot.
make/find time to do sth (=do something, even though you are busy)
▪ You need to make time to do things you enjoy.
muster (up) the courage/confidence/energy etc to do sth
▪ Finally I mustered up the courage to ask her out.
neither does/can/will etc sb
▪ ‘I don’t have any money.’ ‘Neither do I.’
▪ Tom didn’t believe a word she said, and neither did the police.
never had/did/was etc
▪ Never had she been so confused.
no harm donespoken (= used to tell someone not to worry about something they have done)
▪ ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you.’ ‘Don’t worry, no harm done.’
no/any self-respecting ... would do sth
▪ No self-respecting actor would appear in a porn movie.
not only do/will/can etc
▪ Not only do the nurses want a pay increase, they want reduced hours as well.
only then did/would/could etc sb do sth (=at that moment and not before)
▪ Only then did she tell him about the attack.
only then did/would/could etc sb do sth (=at that moment and not before)
▪ Only then did she tell him about the attack.
over (and done) with (=used about something unpleasant)
▪ I’m so glad the mid-term exams are over and done with.
▪ You’d better give them the bad news. Do it now – get it over with.
pause only to do sth
▪ He paused only to make a few notes, and left.
physically capable of doing sth
▪ Any one of them would have been physically capable of committing the crime.
pluck up/screw up the courage to do sth (=try to find it)
▪ He was trying to pluck up the courage to end their relationship.
put effort into (doing) sth (=try hard to do something)
▪ Let’s try again, only put more effort into it this time.
question/doubt the wisdom of (doing) sth
▪ Local people are questioning the wisdom of spending so much money on a new road.
resist an attempt to do sth
▪ The rest of the board resisted his attempts to change the way things were done.
resist the temptation to do sth
▪ He resisted the temptation to look back.
resist the temptation to do sth
▪ If you feel hungry during the day, resist the temptation to eat chocolate.
resist the urge/impulse to do sth
▪ Bob resisted the urge to touch her hand.
run/operate/do sth on a shoestring
▪ The program was run on a shoestring.
save sb the trouble/bother (of doing sth)
▪ I’ll get a taxi from the station to save you the trouble of coming to collect me.
sb can do no wrong (=they are perfect)
▪ Nathan adored her, and she could do no wrong in his eyes.
sb seems/looks/appears certain to do sth
▪ For a while the whole project looked certain to fail.
sb/sth has never been known to do sth (=used to say that something is strange because it has never happened before)
▪ Max had never been known to leave home without telling anyone.
sb’s ambition is to be/do sth
▪ My ambition was to be a journalist.
set up/establish a working group (to do sth)
▪ The commission has set up a special working group to look at the problem.
show/demonstrate the ability to do sth
▪ a chance for candidates to demonstrate their abilities
so do I/so is he/so would Peter etc
▪ Joe was a little upset, and so was I.
▪ He’s been ill, and so has his wife.
▪ As the demand rises, so do prices.
spare no expense (in doing sth) (=spend a lot of money to buy the best things)
▪ Her parents spared no expense in arranging the wedding.
▪ Everything has been provided tonight – no expense has been spared!
spend the afternoon somewhere/doing sth
▪ We decided to spend the afternoon in town.
spend the day doing sth
▪ I spent the day shopping with my friends.
spend time etc doing sth
▪ Stacey spends all her free time painting.
stand prepared/ready to do sth (=be prepared to do something whenever it is necessary)
▪ We should stand ready to do what is necessary to guarantee the peace.
stand (somewhere) doing sth
▪ They just stood there laughing.
▪ We stood watching the rain fall.
stop what you’re doing
▪ Right, stop what you’re doing and come over here.
stress your commitment to (doing) sth
▪ The President stressed his commitment to tackling world poverty.
take active steps to do sth
▪ You should take active steps towards reducing stress.
take comfort from/in (doing) sth
▪ Investors can take comfort from the fact that the World Bank is underwriting the shares.
take concrete steps to do sth
▪ The country has to take concrete steps to end the violence.
take delight/pleasure/pride etc in (doing) sth
▪ You should take pride in your work.
▪ At first, he took no interest in the baby.
take pleasure in (doing) sth
▪ He takes great pleasure in boasting about his big salary.
take responsibility for (doing) sth
▪ Who do you trust to take responsibility for our country's defence?
take some doingBritish Englishinformal (= need a lot of time or effort)
▪ Catching up four goals will take some doing.
take/do an exam (also sit an exam British English)
▪ We have to take exams at the end of each year.
the best thing to do
▪ The best thing to do is to apologize immediately.
the best way to do/of doing sth
▪ The best way to learn a language is to live in a country where it is spoken.
the best way to do/of doing sth
▪ The best way to learn a language is to live in a country where it is spoken.
the groundwork has...been done
▪ Much of the groundwork has already been done.
the instructions say/tell you to do sth
▪ The instructions say that you should take the tablets after meals.
the last person/thing etc to do sth
▪ Anna was the last person to see him alive.
the sensible thing to do
▪ Moving house seemed like the sensible thing to do.
the spadework...done
▪ Most of the spadework had been done by 1981.
there are moves afoot to do sthBritish English (= there are plans, especially secret ones, to do something)
▪ There are moves afoot to change things.
there is a temptation to do sth
▪ There is also the temptation to pay for the whole thing with a credit card.
there is time to do sth (=there is enough time to do it)
▪ There was no time to discuss it further.
there’s nothing to stop sb (from) doing sth
▪ There’s nothing to stop you applying for the job yourself.
too tired to do sth
▪ He was too tired to argue.
too weak to do sth
▪ The branch was too weak to support his weight.
toy with the idea of doing sth
▪ I’ve been toying with the idea of going to Japan to visit them.
underline your determination to do sth (=emphasize it)
▪ The Prime Minister underlined his determination to keep interest rates high.
unenviable task/job etc (of doing sth)
▪ the unenviable task of informing the victim’s relations
use any/every means to do sth (=use any method or many methods)
▪ He will use any means to get what he wants.
want nothing to do with (=do not want to be involved)
▪ I want nothing to do with the whole thing.
welcome the chance to do sth
▪ I’d welcome the chance to discuss the problem with someone.
What do you take me for? (=what sort of person do you think I am?)
▪ Of course I won’t tell anyone! What do you take me for?
What does...mean
▪ What does ‘patronizing’ mean?
what I want to do is ...
▪ What I want to do is develop the skills I already have.
what to do/say/expect etc
▪ They’re discussing what to do next.
where/how do things stand? (=used to ask what is happening in a situation)
▪ Where do things stand in terms of the budget?
who/what/why etc do you suppose ... ?
▪ Who on earth do you suppose could have done this?
▪ How do you suppose he got here?
write/do an article
▪ The Times have asked me if I will do an article on the election.
write/do an essay
▪ I’ve got a 3,000 word essay to write before Friday.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(I) don't mind if I do
▪ "Would you like another piece of cake?" "Thanks - don't mind if I do."
(do you) want to bet?/wanna bet?
(do) you hear?
(do/try) the ... thing
▪ Rick's doing the starving artist thing right now.
(well,) what do you know?
Do you have a problem with that?
▪ "You're going to wear that dress?" "Do you have a problem with that?"
England expects that every man will do his duty
I defy sb to do sth
▪ Derbyshire folk may query the authenticity of this but I defy them not to enjoy the results.
▪ Willing my heart to beat normally, I defy the urge to turn back or freeze or cry out.
I do so/it is so etc
I wish (that) sb would do sth
▪ I wish he would go away.
▪ I wish he would stop this.
▪ I wish Masklin would come back.
▪ I wish my friends would take that to heart.
▪ I wish they would continue to play at the Forum.
▪ I wished the Admiral would switch on the lights.
▪ I thought I was gon na die and-I hate to admit it-sometimes I wished I would.
▪ They are different from the views that he is saying are ours, and I wish that he would retract that.
I wouldn't mind (doing) sth
I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth)
▪ I wouldn't put it past Colin to lie to his wife.
I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth)
I'd hate (for) sb/sth to do sth
▪ I'd hate all that food to spoil.
▪ I'd hate for my child to grow up in such a violent city.
▪ I'd hate anyone to think that I did well out of dealing with the problem page.
▪ I'd hate some one to come along and see me.
I'd like to see you/him do sth
▪ But I 'd like to see you again, when we can make time.
▪ I 'd like to see him again.
▪ I 'd like to see you give our boys a run for their money.
I'll see what I can do
▪ "I really need it by tomorrow." "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."
I'll thank you to do sth
▪ I'll thank you to mind your own business.
I'm not in the habit of doing sth
▪ I'm not in the habit of lying to my friends.
I'm not prepared to do sth
▪ I'm not prepared to let them take my business without a fight.
I'm only/just doing my job
I've known sb/sth to do sth
When in Rome (, do as the Romans do)
a done deal
▪ Not a done deal Despite the agreement, the preservation of the Headwaters Grove still is not a done deal.
▪ Still, there are many who say prions are not a done deal.
a genius for (doing) sth
▪ He has a genius for conducting but he doesn't enjoy doing it.
▪ I recall one private who had a genius for drawing....
▪ Joan was discovered to have a genius for turning an ancient block of stone into a home.
▪ Jobs had a genius for building group identity.
▪ Mat had a genius for sensitivity.
▪ Mr Havel, who has a genius for pinpointing the absurd, smiled gently and sipped at some mineral water.
▪ The Clinton staff developed a genius for tapping into the emotions and aspirations of a winning number of voters.
▪ Woosnam has a genius for golf that Teravainen lacks, or at least has not yet developed.
a lot/something/not much etc to be said for (doing) sth
all the more reason why/to do sth
▪ But that's all the more reason why we should go off this time with a car well filled, eh?
▪ If some material is lost already, that is all the more reason to stop a lapse becoming a loophole.
▪ That means there is all the more reason to oppose the willed destruction of old things.
▪ That possibility is all the more reason to end the conflict soon.
▪ This is all the more reason to find a more democratic way of deciding the state for the first primary.
any fool can do sth
▪ Any fool can make a baby, but it takes a real man to raise his children.
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ Conversely, any fool can sit down at a slot machine.
▪ Of course any fool can write down 1,2,3,4 and even 5,6,7,8 opposite the names of candidates on a ballot paper.
argue sb into/out of doing sth
as is/was/does etc
▪ And as is the way of things in nature, given sufficient heat and hammering, the result is forged steel.
▪ For his contemporaries, Gloucester clearly filled a double role, as is illustrated by his dealings with the city of York.
▪ In fact, as is clearly illustrated by this data, inequalities are relatively consistent throughout childhood.
▪ It is as unique in its way as was the original White Paper.
▪ It was a small, intimate gathering that was assembled, as was the custom among nice Atchison families.
▪ Now he desires, as is but right, that my dowry should be returned with me.
▪ The classic Sinatra phrasing remains intact, as does that easy-breeze delivery.
▪ The human was now seen as a biomechanical machine, as was the entire universe.
as you do
at the risk of doing sth
▪ A school has to be able to make rules about students' dress, even at the risk of upsetting parents.
▪ At the risk of being boring, I have to say again how much I enjoyed myself.
▪ At the risk of sounding like your mother, you'd better dress up warm.
▪ This is a point which -- at the risk of being boring -- I must emphasize once again.
▪ Cantor figured he could afford caution, even at the risk of insulting the caller.
▪ How I loved being normal, even at the risk of becoming a Red Cross water-safety statistic.
▪ However, at the risk of underestimating such differences, certain current issues can be picked out.
▪ However, there is no point investing for the long term at the risk of being caned in the short term.
▪ Proceed with caution and, at the risk of sounding like a tabloid astrologer, look before you leap.
▪ There were even imitation sheepskins, but worn at the risk of being considered a total nebbish.
▪ Which, at the risk of uttering sacrilege, may not be such a bad thing.
bar to (doing) sth
▪ A goy enters a bar to have a little glass of wine.
▪ Every hash-house club needs a hash house, a bar to hang out in before the run.
▪ However, a private practice background, either during or after articles, is no bar to subsequent progress in local government.
▪ It was as if she'd been given a glimpse of paradise, and then had it barred to her for ever.
▪ Like a 996 it needs a lot of encouragement at the bars to start turning.
▪ Nor is there any double jeopardy bar to a civil case following a criminal acquittal.
▪ The opera crowd was jamming the bars from bar to wall.
▪ The program opens with a blank drawing screen and a single menu bar to the left-hand side.
be (hard) pushed to do sth
be a matter of doing sth
▪ Below that level it is a matter of getting bogged down.
▪ How much money Simpson has is a matter of intense speculation and debate.
▪ It is a matter of perception.
▪ Nearly all his problems are a matter of remembering things.
▪ This seems to be a matter of level of attention.
▪ This was a matter of both intellectual curiosity and national security.
▪ This was a matter of extreme concern - with its many implications, for both jurisdictions of Church and State.
be able to do sth
▪ After the accident it was a long time before she was able to walk again.
▪ Ammiano still isn't able to make a living from acting.
▪ Because of the drop in stock prices, investors were able to find some bargains this week.
▪ Consumers are now able to buy the drug without a prescription.
▪ In 1944, we were able to return to Hawaii.
▪ My grandpa's getting old now and he can't do all the things he used to be able to.
▪ She was able to get her watch repaired the same day.
▪ Thomas is expected to be able to play again next weekend.
▪ Those bags look really heavy - are you sure you'll be able to carry them on your own?
▪ To take the class, you have to be able to use a computer.
▪ You might be able to get a temporary passport.
▪ Do you really think the uneducated people they leave behind will be able to keep the artificial environments stable?
▪ For example, ants are able to memorize the path through a maze and are capable of applying this learning to other mazes.
▪ However, further studies are required to be able to reach significant conclusions on the economics of such an attempt.
▪ Once he was able to communicate his feelings, he and his wife were able to resolve the situation.
▪ Table 16-2 shows that the first Thatcher government was able to reduce marginal tax rates substantially, especially for the very rich.
▪ The men most likely to be able to give the news, she said, were Nestor and Menelaus.
▪ The taxi driver was a friend of ours so we were able to relax driving to the Airport.
▪ Working without advisers and with a poor slate of generals, Lincoln was able to reunite the country and end slavery.
be about to do sth
▪ Oh, I was just about to leave you a message.
▪ Bridges go two ways, though, and what is about to arrive going the other way is a stultifying 600-year empire.
▪ Gav's under pressure from his missus to be home earlier while Paul's wife is about to walk out.
▪ I had seen Bella, when she was about to fry meat, cutting it with a scissors instead of a knife.
▪ So it looks as though this dish is about to get the smile wiped off its face.
▪ The gridlock that characterized the Lamm years was about to end.
▪ They may have started, or are about to start a family.
▪ Well, the two days of hiking were about to begin.
▪ You are about to assume a place of responsibility which requires giving yourself up for your wife as per Ephesians 5:25-33.
be accustomed to (doing) sth
▪ I'm not accustomed to getting up so early.
▪ Steph was accustomed to a regular paycheck.
▪ A judge, however, perhaps more than any other person, is accustomed to making and announcing his decisions in public.
▪ Allen Iverson had been spectacular, but he is accustomed to that.
▪ I am accustomed to a political argument that cuts to the core.
▪ Pagans were accustomed to using temples as safe-deposits for their treasures.
▪ She was accustomed to hanging up her own coat.
▪ The two girls were accustomed to not talking at meals.
▪ Watson, I am accustomed to being baffled by complexity.
▪ We are accustomed to the infinite length of the horizon all about us.
be apt to do sth
▪ He was apt to get very upset when things went wrong.
▪ Some of the employees are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
▪ The pond was apt to dry up during summer.
▪ Clients are apt to minimise numbers of assignments, whilst headhunters maximise them, and neither are willing to divulge exact figures.
▪ Farm workers are apt to complain that they now feel like strangers in their own village.
▪ In the evenings, when I am apt to recede to a withdrawn vacancy, she will come to stroke my hand.
▪ Mr Spock's ears are distractingly perky and he is apt to panic or, worse, to smile.
▪ One of these was apt to be Catholic Social Services.
▪ Our more skeptical age is apt to greet a performance like this with a smirk, as just more fussy Victorian moralism.
▪ Somehow, without guidance and peer influence, cricketers are apt to bite the hand that feeds them.
▪ When a moving object catches their attention, babies are apt to focus on it.
be at liberty to do sth
▪ The secretary of state told reporters, "I am not at liberty to get into the details" of the proposal.
▪ We are not at liberty to discuss our hiring practices.
▪ You are quite at liberty to make an official complaint if you wish.
▪ Also, of course, a trust is at liberty to raise new capital by an issue of additional ordinary or debenture shares.
▪ And the world will say: now she is at liberty to pursue her inclination, the parson is the man.
▪ But we are at liberty to form our own judgement of the person doing so.
▪ Elsewhere anyone was at liberty to hang up a shingle and go into practice as a physician.
▪ Freed from the trappings of conventional morality, Van Ness is at liberty to invent his own.
▪ Staff in these Departments considering additional computers are at liberty to submit suggestions through line management in the usual way. 3.
▪ Time when he was at liberty to go fishing or take a drive along the coast.
▪ While I am still free, I am at liberty to take my pleasure when I choose.
be at pains to do sth
▪ Mrs Henessy was at pains to say that she was fighting for a principle, not just for financial compensation.
▪ The U.S. military has been at pains not to offend its Muslim host.
▪ A year on they acknowledge the problems, but are at pains to defend the good name of their community.
▪ I was at pains to show how and why.
▪ Officials were at pains to point out that it was focused on resolving border disputes and promoting trade.
▪ She taught in a racially mixed school and was at pains to correct simple stereotypes and unthinking prejudices.
▪ She was at pains to tell me - several times - that her male friends were divided into two groups.
▪ These he is at pains to hide in order to promote the fiction of his rise from rags to riches.
▪ They are at pains to insist that they are not called to be a denomination.
▪ Writers in the early art and photographic journals were at pains to define its precise meaning.
be beyond sb's power (to do sth)
▪ I am afraid that is beyond my powers.
▪ So he adopted the simple expedient of not opening it until it was beyond his power to act on it.
▪ The taxpayer, it said, had not established that it was beyond his powers to obtain the information.
▪ Then they discovered that this was beyond their power.
▪ Unfortunately, I think it may be beyond my powers as a programmer to set up such a counterfeit world.
be billed to do sth
▪ On 20 April 1871 he was billed to speak in Whitehaven, on the Cumberland coast.
▪ Ulster Unionist leader Jim Molyneaux is billed to speak at two conference fringe meetings.
be born to do/be sth
▪ Jim was born to be a politician.
▪ Dorena Knepper was born to be organized.
▪ He was born to be King and was looking for a princess.
▪ He was born to do stills work; he always wanted to freeze the moment.
▪ I think I was born to do that kind of thing, it's terrible.
▪ I was born to be a soldier of the soil...
▪ I was born to do this.
▪ It's what I was born to be.
be burning to do sth
▪ Hannah's burning to tell you her news.
be bursting to do sth
▪ She was bursting to relieve herself, but even though that was what was wanted of her, she couldn't.
▪ The vast reservoir of information he had acquired was bursting to be expressed.
▪ They were bursting to tell her things she would never know.
be calculated to do sth
▪ The commercials are calculated to attract young single consumers.
▪ By the end of 1988 the lifetime output was calculated to be less than 22 percent of its original design capacity.
▪ Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost or valuation of tangible assets other than freehold land over their estimated useful lives.
▪ On the contrary, much of it - the taxation proposals in particular - is calculated to sacrifice our competitive edge.
▪ Pearsons correlation coefficient was calculated to measure the association between continuous variables.
▪ Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient was calculated to determine the correlation between relative frequency and coverage.
▪ The maximum concentration of free fatty acid in the incubation mixture was calculated to be 50 µM.
▪ The S phase duration was calculated to be 10 hours.
▪ The way the Sibyl thought it necessary to start was calculated to frighten any but the boldest.
be doing nicely
▪ Hockey is doing nicely by itself without FoxTrax.
▪ The government says farmers are doing nicely, thank you, and that savings in agricultural cooperatives are rising.
▪ Your boyfriend said to say he was sorry he had missed you, and he'd be writing and was doing nicely.
be done
▪ Mom won't let me watch television till all my homework's done.
▪ Showing affection in public just isn't done in Japan.
▪ We'll send you a bill when the repairs are done.
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done for
▪ If we get caught we're done for.
▪ All his surviving work was done for religious houses in the south-west.
▪ Also in the intertidal zones, animals find that much of their work is done for them.
▪ Anything that is done for shock value has no future because it's done for the moment.
▪ If this is done for all five possibilities, the result is a series of points as shown in Figure 4-I.
▪ It seemed to her that if she thought about pulling out even for a minute, she would be done for.
▪ Sometimes this means taking a very definite stand on certain issues, but it has to be done for both your sakes.
▪ What can be done for it?
be done with it
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ He might as well capsize the dinghy and be done with it.
▪ If you're running Windows, update your system to the latest version of Internet Explorer and be done with it.
▪ In fact, the mayor could submit a written report to the Board of Supervisors and be done with it.
▪ Nigel Lawson showed what could be done with it.
▪ Once a cancer is detected there is no consensus as to what should be done with it.
▪ The goal of reading is to be done with it, to be able to close the book and play.
▪ There was so much anger in her she could not see what might be done with it.
be dying for sth/to do sth
▪ He was dying for a cigarette.
▪ He was dying for a long time, then there was a year of mourning, now we have a new emperor.
▪ My experience in workshops is that people are dying for more honest forms of communication.
▪ She was dying for him to leave so she could get on with business.
▪ The ill are dying for want of medicines.
▪ To know what they might be dying for.
be favoured to do sth
be fixing to do sth
▪ I'm fixing to go to the store. Do you need anything?
▪ He was fixing to get rid of the first one in the divorce courts.
be fond of (doing) sth
▪ All this results in a rare phenomenon: Marks and Spencer is a company people are fond of.
▪ Commentators are fond of discovering and praising a guidebook clarity in the novel.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ I am fond of him, he has been unfailingly kind to me.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ Like Dad, he was fond of whisky.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
▪ There was a desk I was fond of, it's true.
be fond of doing sth
▪ "The only reason I make money is so I can give it away," Quigley is fond of saying.
▪ Sue's very fond of hiking and backpacking.
▪ Dad was fond of whisky, but normally only drank on an evening when work was done.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ He is fond of Machiavelli the rake, the prankster and the scoundrel.
▪ He travelled extensively, was fond of music, and was a competent pianist.
▪ Just why this is called a boil-off and just why auditors are fond of the term is obscure.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
be forever doing sth
▪ He never does his homework on time and is forever getting into trouble at school.
▪ Science is forever trying to pinpoint the truth.
▪ We bought a new washing machine. The old one was forever breaking down.
be gagging to do sth/be gagging for sth
be given to (doing) sth
▪ Some adults are still given to temper tantrums.
▪ But when that remedy was given to a sick person exhibiting those same symptoms, it helped cure the person.
▪ Consideration should be given to arranging for a banker's guarantee in the firm's favour.
▪ Examination also needs to be given to the type of religious environment which permits the abuse of women to occur without reparations.
▪ Extra funds were given to agricultural production, food subsidies, and housing for armed forces personnel.
▪ For example, careful attention is given to communication in writing.
▪ I would like my poem to be given to such a man by the Police.
▪ Some thought has to be given to what is possible and it may be that time out can not be used.
▪ We were young and our waking hours were given to games.
be glad to (do sth)
▪ Agitated by these disclosures, Esther is glad to walk out along the river with Felix Holt.
▪ But he was glad to have them because they too seemed to offer some assurance that Amy would stay.
▪ For a dwindling congregation to be glad to become part of an implanted group in their own building is even rarer.
▪ Hon. Members will be glad to hear him speak again.
▪ I was glad to throw mine away.
▪ My contract runs for a year, and I shall be glad to get away.
▪ She was glad to be free of her past, and like it or not, Miguel was part of that.
▪ Still, most of us were glad to be relieved of responsibility for our failing learners for a few months.
be going to do sth
▪ I'm going to go to the hospital tomorrow.
▪ It looks like it's going to rain.
▪ Nancy's going to meet us at the airport.
▪ Ruth and Al are going to move to Seattle.
▪ The committee is going to have several meetings to get student input.
▪ Furthermore, if the views are going to last, they will probably end up in a White Paper.
▪ I was going to sit with a big book of wallpaper in my lap while she and Adler looked over my shoulder.
▪ If the bad news is all that you can see, then change is going to be your enemy.
▪ Once you have decided where the mounting pillars are going to be inserted you are nearly done.
▪ There were clear expectations that he was going to step in.
▪ We are going to analyse responses to people and ideas.
▪ We were going to visit my aunt and uncle who have lived there for the past five years.
▪ You know Ringwald is going to be trouble for McGaw from the moment they meet at a party.
be happy to do sth
▪ I'd be happy to cook if you want me to.
▪ I am happy to say that the change brought immediate results.
▪ International Chapters offers flexible accommodation arrangements and will be happy to advise on alternative travel plans.
▪ Management was happy to get a proven sniper on the left side, something the club had lacked for eons.
▪ Mr. Forsyth I should be happy to look into that correspondence and to consider the hon. Gentleman's point.
▪ She was a bad dancer and he would be happy to improve this lack and ignorance.
▪ The employer may be happy to find another applicant who wants the other half.
▪ They are happy to do so because the rent is fair.
be hard put/pressed/pushed to do sth
▪ Aunt Edie was in such a rage about it that she was hard put to contain herself.
▪ Governments will then be hard put to get it on to their national statute books by mid-1993.
▪ I can assure you that any busybody would be hard put to it to prove maltreatment!
▪ Leinster will be hard pushed to keep the score within the respectable margins of defeat set by their predecessors.
▪ Once an apology is given, the defendant will be hard put to contest liability later.
▪ The slave's side ... and even Miss Phoebe would be hard put to understand.
▪ With his height and features, he was hard put to pass as a native.
▪ You will be hard pressed to choose a single main course because so many are mouth-watering.
be in a position to do sth
▪ Maybe next year we'll be in a better position to buy a house.
▪ Once the loan is paid off, Jones will be in a position to run the casino himself.
▪ Only the governor is now in a position to stop the execution.
▪ We will have to run more tests before we are in a position to say whether the document is authentic or not.
▪ Well, given her appalling record, she's not in any position to criticize my work.
▪ When I've read the whole report I'll be in a better position to comment.
▪ In the case of the parents, they are unlikely to be in a position to make a rational judgement.
▪ More than a generation has passed since the child of a sitting president was in a position to apply to college.
▪ So few will ever be in a position to appreciate the magnitude of what has been lost.
▪ The proxy must be in a position to filter dangerous URLs and malformed commands.
▪ The strange metallic noises continued at intervals, whenever he was in a position to hear them.
▪ Then they'd be in a position to tell their parents what had happened.
▪ This is quite unreasonable as the pilot should always be in a position to recover and make a normal landing.
▪ We just happen to be in a position to do something about it.
be in line for sth/be in line to do sth
be in no hurry/not be in any hurry (to do sth)
be in no mood for sth/to do sth
▪ But Branson was in no mood for reconciliation.
▪ But he talks as if he knows perfectly well that the country is in no mood for his reprise of Reaganism.
▪ Frye was in no mood for Socratic dialogue, and he irritably resumed his oration.
▪ However, Mr Yeltsin, rejuvenated by victory, is in no mood for compromise.
▪ I am looking thoughtful, but she is in no mood for meaningful gazes across the room.
▪ She was in no mood for visitors.
▪ The nation at large, however, was in no mood for any such thing.
be in no position to do sth
▪ Besides, they are in no position to squander a little favorable scheduling.
▪ Despite the scale of the sector's misjudgments, the City is in no position to criticise.
▪ Divided élite leading the assault upon itself may be in no position to withstand the pressures of a restless population.
▪ I had relatives who took me in, but they were in no position to support me through school.
▪ Ian was in no position to disagree with her.
▪ Petitioner does not purport to have made, and is in no position to make, such findings.
▪ Ralph, though, was in no position to be picky.
be in the middle of (doing) sth
▪ He's in the middle of a meeting.
▪ I'm in the middle of fixing dinner -- can I call you back?
▪ I listened to others' crises but didn't want to accept that I was in the middle of my own.
▪ It was in the middle of the miners' strike, and feelings were running high.
▪ Mr Malik was in the middle of a group crowded round Mafouz.
▪ The grunts were in the middle of a fire mission.
▪ The kid who still enrolled at the school where he was in the middle of all that trouble.
▪ The Z42 is in the middle of the field on print speed.
▪ Todd Dexter was in the middle of the Tet Offensive near Saigon and had little time to appreciate his surroundings.
▪ We were in the middle of that when he was called inside to do his homework and I was sent home.
be in the process of (doing) sth
▪ He is in the process of changing his swing and said his old method had started to show up a little too much.
▪ Many who are in the process of acquiring these technical skills may wish to try their hand at grantsmanship.
▪ Sadly, Attia Hosain died while this book was in the process of being put together.
▪ Some 300 native applications are said to be in the process of moving to Solaris x86.
▪ Thames Water Authority are in the process of carrying out a general refurbishment programme at the plant.
▪ The chain was in the process of curling round as if to join and form a circle.
▪ The Committee is in the process of finalizing its first draft.
▪ The gluten is in the process of setting and the crust is deceptively crisp, hiding the immature bread within.
be in with a shout (of doing sth)
▪ Dave Mitchell is running about and is in with a shout.
be in/within sb's power (to do sth)
▪ Data from the 1990 census indicate exactly how crucial higher education is in determining earning power.
▪ I most heartily wish it may be in my power to serve and save so much innocence, beauty and merit.
▪ I shall be in his power.
▪ It is within your power to concentrate on selected aspects of your work environment and ignore others.
▪ It was in their power to make and break military reputations; men gave of their best in front of them.
▪ They were in the power of these dragons.
▪ We must do whatever is in our power to convince them not to marry until they are old enough to know themselves.
be inclined to do sth/inclined to sth
be instrumental in (doing) sth
▪ Siegel was instrumental in creating the Las Vegas as it is today.
▪ By virtue of their ubiquity, popular prints were instrumental in helping to shape the perceptions of the vast majority.
▪ In objectification, the artefact appears to be instrumental in linking these major processes of abstraction and specificity.
▪ Last December they were instrumental in getting rid of Mr Gaidar and replacing him with one of those industrialists.
▪ Page was instrumental in the creation of the new Mainan ambitious public works project funded through a public-private partnership.
▪ The symbolism of the room was instrumental in setting the tone.
▪ These developments are instrumental in the increased regulation and stability of affective thought.
▪ Yaki, who was instrumental in negotiating the leases as an aide to Rep.
▪ You will also be instrumental in preparing reports on the effects of immediate and short term changes in electricity supply and demand.
be intent on/upon (doing) sth
▪ Abortion foes are intent on changing the laws allowing abortion.
▪ And as they were intent on their work, Bill was getting hysterical, calling his agent.
▪ Even then, too, Alvin was intent on displaying the male dancer in all his vitality.
▪ His best work is done far in advance, and he is intent on broadening his base.
▪ If his opponents were intent on overplaying their hand, it could only improve his position with the cardinal.
▪ Mr Mieno is still talking and acting tough because he is intent on bursting the speculative bubbles in shares and property.
▪ No-one spoke, everyone was intent on listening.
▪ The company is intent upon shielding them from the prying eyes of reporters.
▪ The staff at Howard were intent on giving their students the best they could offer.
be itching to do sth/be itching for sth
▪ Chris is itching to get back to work.
▪ Despite her success, however, it just wasn't much fun anymore. Liz was itching to try something different.
▪ She's just itching to tell you about her new boyfriend.
▪ Clearly the President's enemies are itching to believe unsubstantiated stories that could hurt him.
▪ I was itching to get on to San Francisco.
▪ If they already have some practical knowledge they will be itching to get on to the floor!
▪ Liz was itching to try something different.
▪ Shildon said he would probably change his mind in a day or two and be itching to talk.
▪ Some people were having holiday romances: they radiated an air of barefaced sin and were itching to talk about it.
▪ Some system developers and their software programmers assume that consumers are itching to be converted from passive to interactive television watchers.
▪ They were itching to shoot somebody.
be like to do sth
▪ But already she knew what it was like to be going home.
▪ Had we forgotten what it was like to be young?
▪ He'd enjoyed that, letting the good alderman know what it was like to be awoken just before dawn.
▪ I could even imagine what it must be like to have a baby.
▪ Leonie knew what it was like to have to give up your baby, never to see your child grow up.
▪ People in Britain tend to have strong feelings about what it is like to live in rural or urban areas.
▪ We were learning what it was like to be legionnaires.
be loath to do sth
▪ Congressmen are loath to limit the amount of time they can be in office.
▪ He seemed loath to raise the subject.
▪ His mother was still asleep and he was loath to wake her.
▪ By the time Frodo reaches Mount Doom he is loath to get rid of the Ring.
▪ None the less, doctors were loath to reveal their predictions to patients, unless, of course, complete recovery was expected.
▪ On the other hand, if I were just too fascinating the gallant gentlemen might be loath to drown me.
▪ People at that time were loath to take any action.
▪ She is loath to encourage folks to sit tight.
▪ White House officials said that President Bush was loath to impose burdens on industry as the country began to emerge from recession.
▪ Yet he is loath to part with skilled people who could prove difficult to replace come the upturn.
be looking to do sth
▪ The company is looking to increase its sales in Europe during the next two years.
▪ The Redskins will be looking to repeat their Super Bowl victory next season.
▪ We're not just looking to make money.
▪ Canoeists should be looking to their own backyard to promote an anti racist approach within the sport.
▪ Last year it took 32 % of the mobile phone market and is looking to buck the worldwide trend.
▪ Now the Labour Party is looking to its future.
▪ The company is looking to hire between 20-30 to work on Airbus wing production.
▪ To others it will be a rural environment which they are looking to protect.
▪ We are looking to the city of Grand Forks to assist us in funding our transportation program.
be meant to do sth
▪ Christmas time is meant to bring people together.
▪ Jenny is convinced she was meant to stay with Zev.
▪ By the time it was finished, the workings had gone lower than the levels it was meant to drain.
▪ Designed by Robert Von Hagge, it was meant to be hard.
▪ Like it was meant to look an accident.
▪ The new program is meant to put young people in the retail and hospitality industries on a fast-track to management careers.
▪ The party was meant to have been a thank-you to the casino staff from the management.
▪ The suit is meant to head off a legal attack against it by Apple which Quorum believes is in the works.
▪ They are gifts fit for a king, and so they are meant to be.
▪ This is the way movie comedies were meant to be: one laugh rolling in just as the last one rolls out.
be minded to do sth
▪ At about this time the plaintiff became suspicious that the appellants were minded to sell the property at Westbourne Grove.
be on the point of (doing) sth
▪ And I was on the point of telling you about Gwendoline.
▪ For a second she was on the point of executing Ace for insubordination.
▪ He thought she might be on the point of offering him a nip of whisky but she did not go that far.
▪ He was on the point of saying so when he despaired.
▪ Now Propane is on the point of pulling out because of insufficient interest.
▪ She was on the point of saying something but changed her mind.
▪ This was important, for Bonar Law's health was on the point of finally breaking up.
be only too glad/pleased to do sth
▪ Cliff is only too pleased to prepare a celebratory meal for any special occasion.
▪ I was only too glad to help.
▪ If none is required, they will be only too pleased to tell you.
▪ She was only too glad to have even this talk bouncing against walls that had become a tomb.
▪ The governments were only too pleased to oblige.
▪ The Library would be only too pleased to explore further suggestions along similar lines. 13.4.
▪ They know the way that the wind is blowing, and would be only too pleased to be redeployed into another trade.
▪ We would be only too pleased to provide information on the Association.
be out for sth/be out to do sth
be prepared to do sth
▪ Griffiths was prepared to spend up to $500,000 to renovate the old theater.
▪ He was prepared to use force if necessary.
▪ The Pentagon is prepared to build an emergency camp for refugees.
▪ You'll never learn to speak another language unless you're prepared to make an effort.
▪ But, as a scientist, she was and is prepared to tolerate this drive while it lasts without satisfying it.
▪ He was prepared to talk with complete honesty about it.
▪ He was very busy but he was prepared to see me because Lynda had recommended me.
▪ It is very thorough but requires the user to be prepared to look in depth at each technical area of painting.
▪ My sister can never understand what I am prepared to do for her, for our welfare.
▪ Now sadder but wiser, we are prepared to admit that the implementation of curriculum change is a complicated business.
▪ Now, because she needed something from him, she was prepared to give in.
▪ Or be prepared to go home without it.
be quick to do sth
▪ Coach Killick was quick to point out that the team is playing very well.
▪ I don't think he'll be so quick to forgive you.
▪ By contrast, Mrs Thatcher leads from the front, has views on most issues, and is quick to voice them.
▪ Company leaders were quick to discern this.
▪ However, Lang is quick to add that non-alcoholic beverages will also be served.
▪ It was quicker to go and ask there.
▪ Joey was quick to see his cousin, but slow to react.
▪ Kids talk candidly and loudly about their Santa experience, and are quick to point out body odor and bad breath.
▪ Movie writers and directors are quick to acknowledge differences between the genres.
▪ Yet his spokesperson was quick to explain that this was coincidence, not a coded reference to the coalition bargaining in Vienna.
be ready to do sth
▪ I'm always ready to help if you need me.
▪ If you really want to sell, price your house sensibly and be ready to make a deal.
▪ We are ready to consider any serious proposals.
▪ An individual's sexuality is their own affair and they will come to terms with it when they are ready to.
▪ By early evening, he is ready to start work.
▪ By the end of the year, it is ready to insert its new priorities into the biennial budget.
▪ Leave in the marinade until you are ready to cook.
▪ Look out for the envelope that will bring your invitation, and be ready to tell us your preference as soon as it arrives.
▪ My body ached, I was ready to drop, I wanted to cry.
▪ The city authorities were ready to remove 10, 000 people from their homes and offices.
▪ The first of these devices will be ready to fly in about 18 months, the companies said.
be reported to be/do sth
▪ Almost 60 percent of those displaced were reported to be under the age of eighteen.
▪ But in 1691 the boy was reported to have fallen accidentally from a second-story window and perished.
▪ But windows were reported to have been blown out in homes more than 1,000 yards away.
▪ He is reported to have upbraided his commanders for including political content in briefings.
▪ He was reported to be still there.
▪ It will aim to reduce duplication of services and its findings will be reported to ministers by the end of May.
▪ Milosevic himself was reported to have chaired a key meeting Sunday overriding infuriated hard-liners angered by the moderates' desire to compromise.
▪ The Jaguar is reported to have crashed in a distant country, mad as hell.
be resigned to (doing) sth
▪ BAshley, cynical beyond her 10 years, is resigned to more disappointment.
▪ Even the players are resigned to the prospect of starting their Premier League campaign without him.
▪ He is resigned to public indifference to the benefits of efficiency, as well as to the effects of greenhouse gases.
▪ He was resigned to his own fate.
▪ Most women are resigned to this and some use their martyrdom to manipulate their men.
▪ Opponents of the bill said they are resigned to its passage in the House.
▪ She had been thinking about it all night and was resigned to it.
▪ They are resigned to this battle.
be sb's (own) doing
▪ Nixon may blame others, but the scandal was his own doing.
▪ Am I really doing him a disservice if I leave it as one big C: drive?
▪ And however much men seem to be involved in the movie versions, women are the ones doing it.
▪ Claudia ... what the hell are you doing?
▪ If column 3 exceeds column 2, the Jones Enterprise would be better off doing something else with its resources.
▪ Sony and Disney are not doing this for charity.
▪ Then what on earth is she doing here?
▪ What is your country doing to prevent Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge returning to power?
▪ What was the Army doing there?
be sick (and tired) of (doing) sth
▪ Gad, I was sick and tired of life.
▪ I think the archivist who helped me is sick of the sight of me by now.
▪ I was sick of concealments - those retentions of his.
▪ I was sick of following baseball through the abbreviated box scores of the international Herald Tribune.
▪ No one, knowing the Patriarch, could doubt that, after a day of his voice, Zacco was sick of him.
▪ People were sick of the war.
▪ We are sick and tired of the proliferation of guns.
▪ When we first started we were sick of the way many groups would adopt a cool persona for interviews.
be slated to do sth/be slated for sth
be supposed to do/be sth
▪ "Ultra Velvet" is supposed to perform at the club on Friday.
▪ I didn't really like the book, but the movie is supposed to be very funny.
▪ Mrs. Carver is supposed to have a lot of money.
▪ No one was supposed to know about it.
▪ This is supposed to be the best Chinese restaurant in town.
▪ Was that supposed to be a joke?
▪ We're supposed to check out of the hotel by 11:00.
▪ What time are you supposed to be there?
▪ You're not supposed to smoke in the building.
▪ And he was supposed to be a friend.
▪ By law, the costs of holding a fund-raising event are supposed to be reported as a noncash campaign contribution.
▪ He was supposed to be getting that for the gerbil babies, but his hopes were fading.
▪ I was supposed to be at work in my bookshop in Petersfield, Hampshire.
▪ She wouldn't understand that it was supposed to be a protest.
▪ This was supposed to be her final victory over him, supposed to establish her rule once and for all.
▪ Truthfully, the weather in South Florida is supposed to be balmy.
▪ You were supposed to be Gibson in the role-playing.
be sure of (doing) sth
▪ After all, he was sure of 100 percent of the vote from the north.
▪ And I was sure of it!
▪ But nobody is sure of the white extremists' power.
▪ Females evolved the ability to be charmed to be sure of picking the best males.
▪ Mummy was worried because she didn't know when daddy was coming home - Anna was sure of that now.
▪ The prisoners can each be sure of benefiting if they have a previously agreed pact never to confess, whatever the circumstances.
▪ The reporters were sure of their facts, he told Moore.
▪ The sea was such a mess that it took him a few moments to be sure of the reef.
be sure to do sth
▪ Be sure to read all the directions carefully.
▪ Minnie would be sure to notice - interested as she was in every tiny thing Polly did or said.
▪ New paradigms are sure to emerge.
▪ Partners should watch each other and be sure to agree on the moves.
▪ Payton is sure to be compensated come July 1, when he becomes a free agent.
▪ Third, as you are doing your taxes, be sure to check the box requesting your contributions to federal campaign funds.
▪ To punch a ticket is to play a game you are sure to win.
▪ Tuesday, she made news that was sure to get around, even to out-of-the-way McClain.
▪ Unemployment is sure to play its part.
be to do sth
be welcome to do sth
▪ You're welcome to borrow my bike.
▪ Any neighbor was welcome to drop in for tea.
▪ Any reader wanting the right detector to suit his pocket and plenty of sound advice is welcome to give me a ring.
▪ But he'd be welcome to come.
▪ That will be matched from here and others are welcome to join in.
▪ The public -- from upstarts to old pros -- is welcome to join this latest Friends social event.
▪ We must somehow transcend this and create an atmosphere at our meetings which is welcoming to people from all types of background.
▪ You'd be welcome to stay as long as you wanted.
be wont to do sth
▪ Be still, my beating heart, as T. Wogan was wont to say.
▪ Hapsburg officers, especially hussars, were wont to please themselves what they wore.
▪ Ickes is wont to yawn in mid-conversation.
▪ Indeed Bourdieu is wont to speak of functions or their functional equivalent.
▪ It transpired that there was a secluded roof on her house where she was wont to sunbathe totally naked.
▪ It was not often that the High King searched me for truth as he was wont to search lesser men.
be worth (doing) sth
▪ But for the converted it was worth the wait.
▪ He hoped some day some one would play it - if it was worth playing.
▪ It must demonstrate to consumers that a Pro Logic receiver is worth $ 859.
▪ Obviously it is worth keeping watch over the pond during these times to ensure that the fish do not become stuck.
▪ Symington has maintained that the funds had locked themselves into making the loans regardless of what he said his holdings were worth.
▪ The gazettes are worth an army of 300,000 men to Napoleon.
▪ To him an evening with one woman is worth an evening with ten of us.
▪ When the railroads provided a market for beef, suddenly the six million longhorns running loose in Texas were worth something.
be worth sb's while (to do/doing sth)
▪ And finally the Soft Sell - it will always be worth your while to invest in a stout umbrella!
▪ Controversy really begins when there are varying views as to whether a house is worth saving.
▪ Dardis assured Bernstein that it would be worth his while to fly down to Miami again.
▪ However, rather than getting upset about this it spurs her on to try harder to show that they are worth watching.
▪ I had to make her see that the exercise was worth her while.
▪ If he! ital! is! off! going to fight, he wants it to be worth his while.
▪ It could be worth your while.
▪ The try is to be worth five points while the drop goal will count for two points.
be/become habituated to (doing) sth
▪ Some patients with severe headache problems become habituated to ergotamines and other non-narcotic drugs.
▪ Un-learning is more difficult than learning - because we become habituated to thinking or feeling in certain ways over time.
be/come/go halfway to doing sth
be/feel bound to do sth
▪ Even as she felt bound to her family, she felt a childish need to rebel.
▪ If you were married to me I wouldn't expect you to be bound to the house all day, every day.
▪ It had been a solemn and impressive ceremony and, whatever my uncertainties, I felt bound to respond.
▪ Just as, in writing, I think little men should be bound to mere journeyman work...
▪ She seemed unwilling to acknowledge that this might not be wise and would be bound to cause her parents concern.
▪ Some human would be bound to see you.
▪ They would be bound to see such a use as virtual expropriation, without compensation.
be/feel called to do sth
▪ Back then, people believed they were called to the ministry.
▪ Father really felt he was called to preach by God.
▪ Paul and his helpers were called to be missionaries for Jesus Christ.
▪ Sandy felt called to do missionary work.
▪ But the most controversial is expected to be called to the witness stand.
▪ He said that the police would be called to investigate Dempsey and he would be out of a job.
▪ How many more outrageous examples of excess in political fund raising and spending do they need to be called to action?
▪ Managers who live in the hotel usually have regular work schedules, but they may be called to work at any time.
▪ Responsibility refers to the liability of a person to be called to account for his/her actions and results.
▪ The general meeting of the shareholders of the target company may be called to decide upon defence measures.
▪ We are praying that very ordinary people will be called to a very special task.
▪ Why, then, should lawyers be called to task for protecting the rights of the accused under the Constitution?
be/feel constrained to do sth
▪ I feel constrained to tell the truth.
▪ Alternatively, the collective good is seen as paramount, and individual freedom must be constrained to achieve that collective good.
▪ Because they are unsure of their male identities, they feel constrained to prove them continually.
▪ Mr. Davis felt constrained to accept that such a case might be within the purview of the legislation.
▪ Republicans who used to back it because the president liked it will no longer feel constrained to do so.
▪ You could take Richard anywhere too but you would feel constrained to keep explaining he was a genius.
be/feel disinclined to do sth
▪ The President said that he was disinclined to send in American troops.
▪ He felt disinclined to argue while the calendar was there to remind him that he was down to his last twenty-five days.
be/feel hard done by
▪ Having played in the previous winning Eisenhower Trophy team with distinction I think he can feel hard done by.
▪ The idea of a passenger going without pudding and then leaving the aircraft feeling hard done by troubles them.
▪ Thomas felt hard done by, contested the will and lost.
▪ To any readers who feel hard done by or annoyed please accept my sincere apologies.
▪ You've every right to feel hard done by, so don't start thinking that you're being selfish.
be/feel honour bound to do sth
▪ Don't you tell him either, because he'd feel honour bound to do something about it.
be/feel honoured (to do sth)
▪ But, of course, writing something into a constitution does not necessarily mean that it will be honoured in practice.
▪ Existing hardware support and service agreements will be honoured, it says.
▪ Going down now to a place where his certainties would finally be honoured.
▪ He doubted if his hatred of Dysart could even be honoured with the description of revenge.
▪ He, too. is convinced that a contract signed has to be honoured.
▪ In such cases the courts have said that the promise must be honoured.
▪ Individual boatmen should also be honoured through clubs nominating skippers for their ability to find fish and their helpfulness towards anglers.
▪ It should be remembered, and she should be honoured for it.
be/feel inclined (to do sth)
▪ After reading this book, you might be inclined to think so.
▪ I would be inclined to add an external canister filter to your set-up, such as an Eheim 2215.
▪ I would be inclined to remove the odd fish, though.
▪ Still, when he makes a statement such as you refer to, I would be inclined to believe him.
▪ The faster the heart beats the more rapidly we may be inclined to breathe and the more oxygen we take in.
▪ The Fed chief implied the central bank might be inclined to wait until its March 20 meeting before taking such a step.
▪ We might be inclined to reject the arrangement because it seems unattractive and not what we want.
▪ We naturally feel inclined to reject these theories for that reason.
be/feel/seem etc disposed to do sth
▪ Congress has had a torrent of learned advice on this amendment, none of which it seems disposed to listen to.
▪ Ernest Conway had never felt disposed to adopt a conventional, benign, grandfatherly role.
▪ Gradually the talkative groups settled into a contented silence, but no one seemed disposed to go to sleep.
▪ Headteachers say governors come to school on special occasions but don't seem disposed to become involved more routinely in school affairs.
▪ James didn't seem disposed to take the hint.
▪ Seb's father was a large, comfortable-looking man who did not seem disposed to make a fuss.
▪ The brothers exchanged glances, neither saying a word, though they seemed disposed to.
▪ The very houses seemed disposed to pack up and take trips.
be/get done
▪ A lot of hard work needs to be done.
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ Casting off may be daunting, but it has to be done.
▪ If there is any uncertainty about that, a pelvic exam or sonogram may be done.
▪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
▪ To her, some things obviously had to be done, and that was that.
▪ Unless this could be done, he asserted, its occupation would be pointless.
▪ Where work will be done should not be an assumption; it is a question that must be asked.
be/get used to (doing) sth
▪ Zach's not used to such spicy food.
▪ Could it be used to predict the mating system of species that had not been studied?
▪ He walked like an old man trying to get used to new glasses.
▪ In housing, the market can not be used to move to the market.
▪ Left: Scenes shot on telephoto appear to have compressed perspectives which can be used to good effect.
▪ The bulldozer would be used to load them.
▪ The password which will be used to limit access to the packages created.
▪ The threat of this ex ante can then be used to ensure adherence to the agreement.
▪ This money would be used to provide education, job-training assistance, childcare and program administration beginning later this year.
been there, seen that, done that
bend over backwards (to do sth)
▪ Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
▪ The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
▪ The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
▪ They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
▪ You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
bend/lean over backwards (to do sth)
▪ Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
▪ Stuart was leaning over backwards to see Oliver's point of view.
▪ The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
▪ The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
▪ They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
▪ You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
bulldoze sb into (doing) sth
by dint of (doing) sth
▪ A peculiar light seemed shed over everything, by dint of it being that house and no other!
▪ And though his grades each week never varied much from 9 and 10, it was only by dint of hard work.
can do sth blindfold
can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back
can do sth with your eyes shut/closed
can't do sth for toffee
can't very well (do sth)
can't/couldn't be arsed (to do sth)
can't/couldn't seem to do sth
▪ I just can't seem to come up with lyrics for this song.
can/could always do sth
cannot/could not bring yourself to do sth
▪ But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
▪ He had died somewhere on the way to his next case, and Quinn could not bring himself to feel sorry.
▪ I debated with myself but in the end, I could not bring myself to pack up and leave.
▪ Rain could not bring herself to put this to the test.
▪ She could not bring herself to fall down the house stairs.
▪ The New-York Historical Society couldn't bring itself to do that.
▪ The teakettle made a brisk whistling sound, but John Wade could not bring himself to move.
▪ This little subterfuge the guard put into motion somehow he could not bring himself to do it.
capable of (doing) sth
▪ He was capable of sudden aggressiveness, such as over Matkovsky's telephone account.
▪ Instead, he had proved himself to be capable of great human emotion.
▪ Now she could relax, she thought, if she was still capable of thinking.
▪ Redundant systems won't provide such clear-cut results because all of the modules are capable of doing the same job.
▪ Roman had said half an hour and he was quite capable of walking in on her if she was late.
▪ The system must be capable of identifying any new entries or sense sections which have been incorporated into the dictionary text.
▪ We are all fully capable of managing that responsibility.
catch yourself doing sth
▪ I caught myself watching everybody else instead of paying attention to the lecture.
come close (to doing sth)
▪ A loose end, Kirov reminded himself as he came close to the man.
▪ A visit to the ancient ruins, especially on a quiet weekday, comes close to a religious experience.
▪ And this night, he comes close to getting seriously injured.
▪ Even La Scala, where an opening-night stall seat goes for £500, rarely comes close to breaking even.
▪ He can come close, perhaps, but the closer he comes, the greater the risk of slippage.
▪ Her horse came close and watched her.
▪ Later Mr O'Malley came close to confirming that his party would quit the coalition later this week.
▪ Miguel wanted to trust Firebug; he came close to letting everything spill out.
come to do sth
▪ But human ingenuity and intelligence, plus what may amount to an instinct for symbolism, comes to the rescue.
▪ Gladys Brown and her husband came to number ten quite a few years after we moved in.
▪ He and John, the Red Comyn, had come to blows before.
▪ If this was the end then she needed time to come to terms with it by herself.
▪ In the morning they travelled on until they came to a thick wood.
▪ She'd come to investigate the past, and discovered her own future instead.
▪ The way it came to me was just the way you wish everything comes to you.
come within a whisker of (doing) sth
compelling need/desire/urge (to do sth)
▪ And it was from these experiments that Work place 2000 emerged as the response to a compelling need for change.
▪ Most women with bulimia, particularly those with a history of anorexia, have a compelling desire to be thinner.
▪ Such freedoms can be abridged only if the state shows it has a compelling need to do so.
▪ Suddenly I had a compelling urge to look at Wilkerson.
connive (with sb) to do sth
consider it done
content (for sb) to do sth
▪ By and large, the academic community seems content simply to accommodate to the instrumental needs of post-industrial society.
▪ Eighteen months previously I would have been content merely to be alive.
▪ He must therefore demonstrate this rational content without appealing to church doctrine.
▪ I was so content as to be completely unprepared for the obvious eventuality of his return.
▪ Learn the Net is continually updated and tastefully devoid of commercial content.
▪ The city has been content historically to stand on its natural attractions to draw business.
▪ The Kingdom gives content and purpose to the act of commitment.
▪ They also offer parents the best controls over the content available to young children.
content yourself with (doing) sth
▪ But Borssele has not simply contented herself with the odd leak.
▪ He said not a word to her, but contented himself with sending a stern reprimand to Aeolus.
▪ If Sister doesn't get a move on, they could always content themselves with the shortest children's story ever told.
▪ Ishmael is the only Person aboard the Pequod who never contents himself with seeing only one meaning for anything.
▪ Jones, shoulders hunched against the numbing cold, contented himself with a quiet display.
▪ The intrepid manager had to content himself with numbering his reserve teams.
▪ When the Suns came to watch in Game 1, he contented himself with 28 points and six rebounds.
▪ You must content yourself with maintaining your present level and role in the organization for the duration or leave!
could do with sth
▪ And Katherine could do with all the comfort she could get for the illness was slowly and inexorably taking its toll.
▪ But the Olympic gold medal was so far away from what I thought I could do with my life.
▪ He could do with a warm bed.
▪ I could do with a change of scenery.
▪ Just imagine what we could do with this idea.
▪ That was nice, she could do with settling.
▪ The governor said he could do with something to eat.
▪ We could do with another girl in the chorus.
could/may/might yet do sth
credit sb with (doing) sth
▪ But borrowers may be more attracted to egg's offer of free credit.
▪ I just received my new in-store credit card with a charge of $ 24 for fraud insurance on the card.
▪ Inherent musical sense Several recent studies have credited infants with an inherent musical sense, without measuring related brain development.
▪ Leiser credits Franz Liszt with bringing him to San Diego.
▪ Revolving Credit: a credit facility with a pre-determined limit.
▪ She credited Mosby with spearheading the suit by convincing the other women to join.
▪ Such corporations also tend to maintain credit lines with their banks sufficient to repay all their outstanding commercial paper.
▪ The ultimate in objectivity is credit scoring.
damned if you do, damned if you don't
deign to do sth
▪ Shelly finally deigned to join us for lunch.
▪ Caligula was degenerate but, by all accounts, did not deign to hide the fact.
▪ He would often be dressed in just a loose-fitting pair of shorts, but sometimes deigned to wear a vest as well.
▪ His voice, when finally he deigned to open his mouth, was smooth.
▪ It deigns to pay 0.5 per cent on deposits of less than £500 in its Liquid Gold account.
▪ It had taken this long for her to deign to notice me.
▪ Paige didn't deign to answer.
▪ The detective was constantly surprised at the men that some women deigned to have relationships with.
▪ The mistress of Socrates deigned to Cast her smile on this unknown poet.
depute sb to do sth
detail sb to (do) sth
▪ Vance, you're detailed to the night watch.
▪ And once selected, what point of view and details are to be included?
▪ Emotional difficulties aside, a lot of big practical details needed to be attended to all at once.
▪ Its surface is carved in some detail and lettered to show the continents and oceans.
▪ On some issues he gave details of steps to settle the debate.
▪ Please refer to the individual hotel descriptions for full details.
▪ The details add much to his family portrait.
▪ You also have to put enough detail in to make the people real, but don't dally with subsidiary characters.
▪ You see everybody casts their tuppence worth into the pool but nobody details the route to a better future.
determine to do sth
▪ Turner makes no excuses, just determines to work harder.
▪ Angelina was determined to bring Sir Thomas to book as soon as she could.
▪ C., seems determined to keep it from going to a floor vote.
▪ Hamilton Fish, determined to marry her, wrote daily letters: meet me on that corner, at that restaurant.
▪ He is determined to live amongst his people, to travel with them.
▪ I was determined to be as good.
▪ Odysseus was determined to drive the suitors away by force, but how could two men take on a whole company?
▪ The lads beaten in Edinburgh were determined to regain their pride.
▪ The Society has always doubted whether family cases are capable of the standardisation the government is determined to promote.
did he heck/will it heck etc
discipline yourself (to do sth)
▪ Are we prepared to discipline ourselves to restrictions and regulations that we feel we ought to impose for our own good?
▪ Can we discipline ourselves more in meetings?
▪ Every month discipline yourself to go through the file and identify at least ten external contacts to phone.
▪ Furthermore, it had no effective way to discipline itself on expenditures.
▪ He must discipline himself to rigorously avoid any form of activity, be this mental or physical.
▪ It shows why philosophy may penetrate so many disciplines and yet remain a distinct discipline itself.
▪ Most of us were brought up to accept discipline, and to discipline ourselves.
▪ The combined discipline itself becomes a new container.
disdain to do sth
▪ Tom Butler disdained to reply to such a trivial question.
▪ Bach himself did not disdain to transcribe Vivaldi concertos for organ or harpsichord and to borrow fugue-subjects from Legrenzi and Corelli.
▪ Even the casual Aranyos did not disdain to make the sign.
▪ Even the trendiest of today's celebrity chefs does not disdain to slosh it around.
▪ I disdained to consult a medical dictionary, however.
do a Lord Lucan
do a Reggie Perrin
do a bunk
▪ And it looks as if Ivor was planning to do a bunk.
▪ We were ready to do a bunk.
do a disappearing/vanishing act
do a double take
▪ Colleagues and friends often walked past me in the hallway, then stopped and did a double take.
▪ He had to do a double take, bumping into a filing cabinet.
▪ When he got to Mrs Luegerhe had never known her first name-he did a double take.
do a job on sb/sth
▪ The sun does quite a job on people's skin.
▪ I watch Maintenance do a job on a paper machine, shut the whole thing down to change a secondary valve.
▪ If you tell Spider yuh out, he may do a job on you.
do a moonlight (flit)
do a number on sb/sth
▪ Danny did a real number on the car.
▪ It was a small piece of shrapnel, but it did a number on the left cheek of my hind end.
do a roaring trade (in sth)
do a runner
do a slow burn
▪ Coach Bowen stood on the sidelines, doing a slow burn.
do a strip
do a wheelie
do all right (for yourself/herself etc)
▪ Anyway, I did all right.
▪ He did all right in that Navy movie, whatever it was.
▪ Wow, so you guys must do all right then, him?
do battle (with sb)
▪ The citizens group said they are prepared to do battle with City Hall over the passage of the bill.
▪ A chapter from Harrogate came down to do battle in Bedale.
▪ And under the plate, among the spinning wheels, diamonds and rubies do battle against friction.
▪ I wanted them to get up on their hind legs and do battle.
▪ On certain nights all the ghosts do battle and the distant echoes of their screams and war-cries are born on the wind.
▪ Such doubts energized the smaller community of demographic revisionists, who emerged to do battle with their Malthusian brethren.
▪ The 49ers at this time of the year reload and get ready to do battle.
▪ The hero, a knight named Peter Loschy, went to do battle with the dragon.
▪ The Sandinistas were forced into a temporary retreat but returned later with reinforcements to do battle in the streets.
do better
▪ Harris argued that the economy is doing better than it was five years ago.
▪ I was convinced that many of the students could have done better if they'd tried.
▪ If you are saving 5 percent of your income each year, you're doing better than most people.
▪ Mark ran the distance in 30 minutes in the fall, but we're hoping he'll do better this season.
▪ Some roses do better in different types of soil.
▪ The British champion has completed the course in three minutes -- let's see if his Canadian rival can do better.
▪ We did better than we expected.
▪ Alamaro and Patrick think they can do better.
▪ Incumbents who vote against new regulations, paperwork and taxes -- usually conservatives -- do better on the scorecard.
▪ It leads to a lethargy I think we do better without.
▪ Some may do better than our scenario represents.
▪ Surely we can do better for people with mental problems and their families?
▪ The index did better than the broader market.
▪ We can do better than that now.
▪ We need to do better than that, and we can.
do bird
▪ How do birds and fishes carry out their far-flung migrations, unless led by deities in their own image?
▪ So how do birds find their way?
▪ So, why do birds sing?
do circuits
do double duty
▪ Choose a sofa that will do double duty as a guest bed.
do duty as sth
do fine
▪ Once Hutton relaxes, he should do fine in the role.
▪ Standard hooks and nails should do just fine for hanging the painting.
▪ And if the place is allowed to manage itself, it will do fine.
▪ As will be seen, their picks did fine.
▪ I have done a bit myself, but possess neither the ability nor the patience to do fine work.
▪ Savoys do fine in hot weather if given some shade.
do justice to sb/sth
▪ TV doesn't do the excitement of the game justice.
▪ A reading that cancels out the contradictory and equally valid meanings the text yields does not do justice to its complexity.
▪ At times only swear words can truly do justice to an emotion.
▪ How ethical theory might do justice to both these points remains to be seen. 9.
▪ It is virtually impossible to do justice to a book of this size in such a short review.
▪ Many are drunks-but that term does not do justice to the devastation they embody.
▪ No way at all that a few hundred words are going to do justice to this deeply affecting novel.
▪ This brief note can not do justice to all the facts and arguments involved.
▪ To do otherwise, I would require to write in volume in order to do justice to them.
do me/us a favour!
do sb a good/bad turn
▪ She was only trying to do James a good turn.
do sb a power of good
▪ It can also be funny and it can do you a power of good.
▪ Yeltsin could do his country a power of good by directing public attention to these issues.
do sb a world of good
▪ A week by the ocean will do you a world of good.
▪ A good run in pastures new would do you a world of good.
▪ All of them stressed that a holiday would do Valerie the world of good.
▪ All the family can enjoy eating the low-fat way and it will do everyone a world of good.
▪ But physically - this type of exercise will do you the world of good.
▪ Come on a Club 18-30 holiday and there's every chance it will do you the world of good.
▪ He could become so unaccountably miserable that a small amount of collusion some-times did him a world of good.
▪ Not only do they do you a world of good if you drink them but they also have cosmetic uses.
do sb an injustice
▪ Cutting the benefits of war veterans would be doing them a great injustice.
▪ But they do themselves an injustice.
▪ Indeed, it may well serve to do some injustice and violence to the integrity of the substantive phenomena.
do sb proud
▪ The soldiers have done their country proud.
do sb the courtesy of doing sth
▪ He always did us the courtesy of a reply, mind.
do sb wrong
▪ Most of Peggy's songs are about men who've done her wrong.
do sb's bidding
do sb's dirty work
▪ Tell Fran I'm not going to do her dirty work for her.
▪ Her unnecessary decision to do the dirtiest work in the place struck them as alarming.
do sb/sth a disservice
▪ The fans' rude behavior has done the game a great disservice.
▪ Such uninformed views do the industry a disservice.
▪ The remedial programs we knew about did a disservice to their students by thinking of them as remedial.
▪ When Mr Non-Productive Employee gets a raise, it does a disservice to the productive employee.
do sb/sth no favours,
do some good/do sb good
do something
▪ Quick, do something - there's water all over the kitchen floor.
▪ Teenagers were dropping out of school in huge numbers, until a group of parents and teachers decided to do something about it.
▪ We need to do something before everyone gets fed up and quits.
▪ When are you going to do something about this broken window?
▪ At this stage, the urge to do something was unfocused, but it was extraordinary how people threw themselves into it.
▪ But the ballot stuffing was so blatant that even the Labor Department was roused to do something.
▪ I always feel I have to do something new.
▪ I mean, who'd do something like this, eh?
▪ I was vaguely aware that junior was trying to persuade the others to do something.
▪ If it doesn't want to do something it will refuse to, probably by dropping stitches or jamming the carriage.
▪ One can always try to do something for individuals.
do something about sth
▪ And the second view shows a marked advantage when we begin to do something about behavior.
▪ For those who are reluctant, understand why and do something about it.
▪ I'd better do something about improving it.
▪ I keep thinking I should do something about this place but there's never any time.
▪ If the result is none too pleasant, it's time to do something about it.
▪ We've got to do something about the bomb before we start.
▪ We better do something about this deficiency right now.
▪ Whenever Gandhi felt distressed or disturbed he wanted to do something about it.
do sth at your peril
▪ These are grave environmental warnings, which we ignore at our peril.
▪ He spoke with the sort of quietly threatening tone that you ignored at your peril.
▪ Into this potent politicization of what remained, at heart, a medical mystery, scientists ventured at their peril.
▪ Kings neglected the sea at their peril.
▪ Mess with us at your peril.
▪ More than a million fled abroad, often at their peril.
▪ Some people say that lurking in its depths is a fish so dangerous that oarsmen venture out at their peril.
▪ Those who cross him do so at their peril.
▪ Yet it is also one of the most popular programs, and politicians have made changes to it at their peril.
do sth by the seat of your pants
do sth for a bet
▪ It was this book that Rincewind had once opened for a bet.
do sth for luck
▪ John always carried a rabbit's foot for luck.
▪ An extra teaspoonful for luck could well be disaster.
▪ By now the only part of Mr. Rainsford's brewery left standing was the taproom kept for luck like an old horseshoe.
▪ Certainly there may be the odd chart or graph thrown in for luck but the basic requirement is for high quality text.
▪ I gave him one for luck on the back of his neck.
▪ Is he the kind of man to lend you the rings for luck for a short time?
▪ Now he gave it one last violent shake for luck.
▪ One for luck, and farewell.
do sth in anticipation of sth
▪ Excitement rose in them, hardening muscles and quivering their sleek flanks in anticipation of the hunt.
▪ For weeks, Schwarzenegger has been meeting with other agencies, including William Morris, in anticipation of changing representation.
▪ Nothing looked familiar, and yet he'd gone around the block again and again in anticipation of something like this.
▪ Prime Minister Alberto Pandolfi said that police were securing the area in anticipation of eventual talks between the government and the rebels.
▪ She waited outside in the street, shaking in anticipation of the telephone call.
▪ The Chalice Quilt was made by slaves on a Texas plantation in 1860 in anticipation of a visit from an itinerant bishop.
▪ The house gives the impression of having been abandoned suddenly, in anticipation of some great disaster.
▪ The management at South Forks raised the rent in anticipation of downtown businesses relocating.
do sth in error
▪ It was discovered that the funds had been withdrawn in error.
do sth in favour of sth
▪ Books were published in reply and arguments advanced in favour of young women.
▪ He wasn't in favour of command-and-control solutions.
▪ On the economic front Taubira-Delannon was in favour of restricting the areas where gold-washing is authorised.
▪ That probably explains why public opinion is broadly in favour of euthanasia, or at least certain forms of it.
▪ The courts decided in favour of the men.
▪ The finance minister, Hans Eichel, then came out in favour of the euro's potential for appreciation.
▪ The following Sunday I took my husband into hospital to be relieved of a bony hip in favour of a titanium one.
▪ Whilst I am still in favour of a mutual fund, I think the current risk banding is rubbish.
do sth in sb's stead
▪ Garcia is unable to attend, but will send the foreign minister in his stead.
do sth like the devil
▪ They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil.
▪ He holds me like the devil himself.
▪ Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.
▪ It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil.
▪ Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.
▪ The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.
▪ They scampered off, barking like the devil.
▪ Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.
do sth like there's no tomorrow
▪ Ben drives like there's no tomorrow.
▪ I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow.
do sth of your own free will
▪ Bronson gave us his confession of his own free will.
▪ For all men serve him of their own free will.
▪ Her mouth opened of its own free will to his playfully probing tongue, welcoming the invader.
▪ I came back of my own free will on Friday, and went to the game yesterday.
▪ I say this of my own free will.
▪ She was placed in a safe house but later returned to the coven of her own free will.
▪ To some extent, adults can choose of their own free will whether to deal with their grief or not.
▪ Without any reason he left the Firm of his own free will and went to live in Brighton.
do sth off your own bat
▪ He had made the most ancient blunder in the business quite off his own bat.
▪ Instead, off her own bat, the girl went to see a solicitor in Newton Abbott, Devon.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ I overslept and had to go to class on an empty stomach.
▪ You shouldn't take the pills on an empty stomach.
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on the run
▪ I always seem to eat on the run these days.
▪ He threw on some clothes; now he was on the run.
▪ I'd like to hear why you're on the run.
▪ If you want innovation, try more of that, and less of halfbacks and wide receivers throwing deep on the run.
▪ John Butcher says at this moment a man on bail for rape is on the run ine the Midlands.
▪ Meanwhile Mrs thomas's other grandson James Bellamy is now on the run after escaping from police custody.
▪ Mostly, he was a man on the run, sacked six times and scrambling countless others.
▪ They were on the run, and in haste, or we should all be dead men.
▪ Two escapees, on the run, with nothing to lose.
do sth on your own responsibility
▪ I discussed the matter with John Montgomerie and on my own responsibility decided to telephone Harold Wilson to seek his advice.
do sth once too often
▪ The kids rang Brant's doorbell once too often, and he reported them to the police.
▪ But not Luke Denner - he's humiliated me once too often!
▪ He'd said it once too often, and this time she'd taken him at his word.
▪ He got into trouble once too often and wound up in continuation school.
▪ I can only assume she tried once too often to enter the nest, as the female died during the night.
▪ It had failed him in a crisis and that was once too often.
▪ Maybe she just turned him down once too often.
▪ One of these people had looked in my direction once too often, passed by once again just a little too slowly.
▪ Until, that is, it lived up to its original name once too often!
do sth out of the goodness of your heart
▪ Surely even an idiot must realise that they wouldn't donate this huge amount out of the goodness of their hearts.
do sth right off the bat
▪ I asked him to help, and he said yes right off the bat.
▪ At least not right off the bat.
do sth the hard way
▪ Despite problems at camp, the field army had learned a great deal by then, much of it the hard way.
▪ I have done it the hard way.
▪ I learned that the hard way, by losing a couple of first drafts of articles I was writing.
▪ I was brought up the hard way.
▪ Let them learn the lessons of capitalism the hard way.
▪ Los Angeles City Hall found that out the hard way last March.
▪ Needless to say, I learned about getting things done, the hard way.
do sth to death
▪ That joke has been done to death.
▪ Death sentences Three members of the illegal Hezbollah organization were condemned to death on March 1 by a criminal court in Tlemcen.
▪ And no, the baby never froze to death.
▪ Exclaiming that he was already a priest, Quirnus insisted that the magistrate put him to death.
▪ This approach to death was appealing.
▪ This is grief and hatred and people hacked to death.
▪ Two of the blacks arrested were reportedly machine-gunned to death by state troopers at the jail.
▪ We will be slowly strangled to death.
▪ Will he be caught at last, and put to death?
do sth to excess
▪ Irwin admitted he often used alcohol and drugs to excess.
do sth to size
do sth to the exclusion of sth
▪ The countries agreed to trade as much as possible among themselves, to the exclusion of outsiders.
▪ Completely and exclusively passionate to the exclusion of all else, even conversation.
▪ I thought about the sound of contact, to the exclusion of everything else.
▪ It would be a mistake to point to any single explanation to the exclusion of the others.
▪ Should you use one to the exclusion of the others?
▪ The focus of this book is upon the social element, but not to the exclusion of the physical parameters.
▪ The great need, in his view, is to cultivate selfless or detached action to the exclusion of egocentric activity.
▪ They will concentrate on reaching the eighteen-to-forty-nine-year-old population group, to the exclusion of all others.
▪ Two other Republican senators also objected to the exclusion of minor provisions in Colorado and Virginia.
do sth to your heart's content
▪ I was able to browse through the bookstore to my heart's content.
▪ And I can go fishing to my heart's content.
▪ He could come and argue to his heart's content.
▪ Instead she took refuge in the library where she could read and research to her heart's content.
▪ Once you've stuck your shapes and text on the page you can rotate and repeat they to your heart's content.
▪ She had lazed around the pool to her heart's content - and she had played tennis with Carlos three times.
▪ Throw it around to your heart's content.
do sth to your heart's content
do sth under protest
▪ They finally paid the full bill under protest.
do sth with impunity
do sth without a murmur
▪ And although we might challenge their right to run our lives we often let them run our language without a murmur.
▪ Of the Tuscan towns, Amelia and Otricoli were the only ones to accept papal domination without a murmur.
▪ One slip, and it would sweep you away without a murmur or a cry.
▪ She left without a murmur although she had only a year and a half to go to complete her secondary education.
▪ She took the punishments meted out to her without a murmur.
▪ The door was ajar and opened without a murmur.
do the business
▪ Come on you Reds and do the business for the supporters because they will be giving it everything for you!
▪ Don't drink water - fish do the business in it.
▪ If your regular antagonist has a Chaos army and favours daemons then a Daemonslayer will do the business very nicely.
▪ Inclined to be an unpredictable live outing, the Veggies do the business with an energising blur of Neds-ish guitar fodder.
▪ Now they appear to be looking to a Second Division centre forward to do the business.
▪ O'Connor will have that task and can do the business if on his game.
▪ They like the game of golf as much as they do the business of golf.
▪ Unfortunately, despite the commercial ban, whales are not being politely left alone to do the business.
do the honours
▪ And we must both help Mum to do the honours.
▪ Bill Gates will supposedly do the honours himself at his Windows World keynote.
▪ Good, then Francesca can do the honours from Thursday and work for him thereafter.
▪ Grimes went behind the bar to do the honours.
▪ Outer Kent has been asked to do the honours at the next meeting. 24.
do the job
▪ A little more glue should do the job.
▪ But society should not expect those outside influences to do the job a parent should, nor should a parent expect that.
▪ It is not age in itself which is important; it is people's ability to do the job.
▪ It was obvious, however, that he could not do the job while he remained in the space pod.
▪ Next time, I'd do the job properly.
▪ She should not have mentioned Mrs Skipton, must learn to do the job, just the job and no more.
▪ So can we do the job tonight?
▪ The equipment that lets you do the job at home turns home life into moonlighting.
▪ You have to trust that they want to do the job well and that when you delegate something it will be done.
do the necessary
▪ And many men are too afraid to let themselves feel enough need for a response to do the necessary wooing.
▪ If we didn't have butchers to do the necessary, we'd be vegetarians out of sheer ineptitude.
▪ Only a Legal Service Commission with executive powers could do the necessary research and co-ordination job.
do the rounds
▪ The first offered to do the rounds for five dollars.
▪ Without references, letters may do the rounds of various desks before the correct destination is found.
do the rounds of sth
▪ Without references, letters may do the rounds of various desks before the correct destination is found.
do the shopping
▪ I did all my shopping yesterday.
▪ On Saturdays we usually do the shopping and clean the house.
▪ She sent her husband out to do the week's shopping.
▪ We need to go grocery shopping - do you have the check book?
▪ But then, Harriet with her fair-haired plaits and smooth round forehead jiggling off to help Mummy do the shopping.
▪ Husbands can easily get out of touch with the cost of living unless they do the shopping regularly and see the bills.
▪ It is good for me to get out and do the shopping.
▪ Jane would light the fire, turn the heating on, put the horses and donkey out and do the shopping.
▪ Our sick ones received their injections, then off we went to do the shopping.
▪ While I do the shopping, Miles sits near the checkout counter reading.
▪ With Chancellor at the wheel, they had left enfamille to do the shopping.
▪ With Ivy and Ken she would take a weekly trip into Aberdeen or Banchory to do the shopping.
do the splits
do the trick
▪ The second surgery on my knee seemed to do the trick.
▪ A doctored ball should do the trick for both at the same time.
▪ In Tucson, January golf tournaments do the trick.
▪ It certainly seemed to do the trick.
▪ Luckily the second dose, a minor variant of the first, did the trick.
▪ Often a little give from one side will do the trick.
▪ Should you have any difficulty, a word with your Club rep will normally do the trick.
▪ Something less than a precision guided missile would do the trick.
▪ That seemed to do the trick, or at least he thought so.
do things to sb
▪ All women do things to themselves like that here; cut their wrists, scratch their faces.
▪ Suppose there were people here who did things to you?
▪ They didn't even know I could sing, but they said they could do things to my voice.
do time
▪ None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
▪ Sid's wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.
▪ In short, he can do time for just about anything the cops care to charge him with.
do violence to sth
▪ Excluding one-third of the population does violence to the principles of democracy.
▪ Exclusion of one third of the electorate does violence to all that we pretend by our adherence to democracy.
do well
▪ Gail seemed so anxious to do well, and she worked really hard.
▪ If the firm does well, your shares will be worth far more than you paid for them.
▪ Most of his tutors expected him to do well at Harvard.
▪ My friend left college and went into law, and he's doing very well for himself.
▪ Neither of the kids was doing well in school.
▪ The operation was successful and the patient is doing well.
▪ The producer would only say that sales of the video were 'doing very well indeed.'
▪ When the players do well, I praise them -- but there are no rewards for coming second.
▪ Blues singers do well in Ireland, as Celts have a feeling for Negro music.
▪ He represented the ability to do well in the world.
▪ I remember her 4-H teacher told me Molly inspired others in her class to do well because of her determination.
▪ Parents are likely to want children to do well in life.
▪ The players we have are good enough to do well without people like him.
▪ The presence of a star, Glenn Robinson, may be the reason it did well that year.
▪ Wall Street is not concerned about whether old people do well in retirement.
▪ You must do well at this, that, or the other.
do well by sb
▪ Economic constraints or limitations can be overcome given a sufficiently high motivation to do well by the individual entrepreneur.
do you have to do sth?
▪ How much do I have to tell you?
▪ No longer do we have to choose between the living or the mechanical because that distinction is no longer meaningful.
▪ The first is: do we have to change the law?
▪ What do they have to sell?
▪ What do you have to pay for a pair of men's shoes, for example?
▪ What, do you have to socialize the director to though.
▪ Why do they have to have arms?
do you mind!
▪ Do you mind! I just washed that floor!
do you read me?
▪ I do not want this to happen again! Do you read me?
do you suppose (that) ... ?
do you take sugar/milk?
do you think (that) ...?
do you understand?
▪ I am very pushed for money, Alice - do you understand that?
▪ I loved him, do you understand?
▪ I owe nothing to anybody, not gratitude or anything else, do you understand me?
▪ Oliver I have to be near her, do you understand?
▪ Question, do you understand what it means to terminate the employment at will?
▪ What do they understand of the temples themselves rising nearby?
▪ What do you understand of my situation or my mind?
▪ You are mine, do you understand? mine.
do your best
▪ But I did my best to feed them both.
▪ He wanted to do his best the first time he performed, and knew he was not in peak condition.
▪ Like Truman two decades earlier, Humphrey did his best to overcome the severe handicap of a badly split party.
▪ Once there, Drachenfels will do his best to isolate the crystal-wielding characters and rob them of their treasures.
▪ Remember, always do your best, don't let them hook you, however tempting the bait.
▪ We can only do our best.
▪ What I learned from them specifically of the techniques of teaching I have had to do my best to unlearn since.
do your bit
▪ I've done my bit - now it's up to you.
▪ We wanted to do our bit for the boys fighting in the war.
▪ Don't you want to do your bit towards stamping it out?
▪ Eva and several of the cadets from overseas were put in the West End brigade to do their bit.
▪ Help is desperately needed - and rugby friends can do their bit.
▪ I hope that you can all do your bit.
▪ Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.
▪ Nature did its bit as well.
▪ Now I am not unpatriotic, and I want to do my bit in this great movement.
▪ Stonehenge has gone, so I reckon I can do me bit of growing up at Skipton Hall.
do your head in
▪ He's so fussy about how he wants things done, it really does my head in.
▪ I've got to do an essay on Kant and it's doing my head in.
do your level best (to do sth)
▪ Even so he did his level best with the new ball.
▪ We did our level best to look fascinated.
do your nut
do your own thing
▪ As a kid, I wanted to do my own thing, but when I got older I realized I wanted to continue the family business.
▪ He's given up his job and is living in northern California, just doing his own thing.
▪ He has a couple of roommates but they kind of all do their own thing.
▪ The three women worked together on a stage play, and then each went off to do her own thing.
▪ We don't talk much anymore - we're both too busy doing our own thing.
▪ But I do know the difficulty the Major has in getting away to do his own things.
▪ Do you prefer structure in your exercise or to do your own thing? 9.
▪ I just want to live my own life, go my own way, do my own thing with whom I choose.
▪ I mean like royalty do, pretend to be married but do their own thing on the quiet.
▪ Keyboard, mouse and joystick are supported, but every now and then the planes seem to do their own thing!
▪ Lawrence was of the latter kind: very bright; very competent, and wanted to do his own thing.
▪ She wanted to be free to do her own thing - be independent - get a job, perhaps.
▪ You get on and do your own thing, and respect others who do the same.
do your sums
▪ I did my sums and I knew I could pay him.
▪ We can accumulate the figures and we can all do our sums.
▪ You will have to do your sums.
do your whack (of sth)
do your/his/her/their worst
▪ Let her do her worst to reach him.
▪ Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst.
do yourself a mischief
▪ My objection to his high heels was that he would do himself a mischief if he had to bale out!
do yourself justice
▪ I am sure he will do himself justice.
▪ If Rebecca is to do herself justice, she needs to define her terms.
do/show your stuff
▪ It's amazing to watch him do his stuff on the basketball court.
▪ Afterwards, I stood up to do my stuff.
▪ At times, it seems that Benson is unable to simply roll the camera and let them do their stuff.
▪ Derek Jefferson had abandoned his executive suit for a caddie's bib and was ready to do his stuff again.
▪ Having the appetite to get out there and do your stuff is the key factor for an international player.
▪ I should go and do my stuff.
do/try your damnedest
▪ We both tried our damnedest but it didn't work.
▪ All right, tell the girls, do your damnedest.
▪ But both the Trust and those of us lucky enough to live there will do our damnedest to prevent it.
▪ He had tried to make it work, tried his damnedest, but she had absolutely no sense of taste or refinement.
▪ If I do as you suggest and tell Billy about us, he will do his damnedest to destroy me in revenge.
do/use sth in anger
▪ You'd really need to re-fret this guitar before you used it in anger.
do/work wonders
▪ A long weekend away from work will do wonders for your peace of mind.
▪ A very little bit of sugar works wonders for dishes that are based on sour tastes.
▪ And the visit of a white lady from afar will do wonders for his reputation!
▪ Failing that, lectures don't seem to work but subtle, unspoken signs can work wonders.
▪ It does wonders for the individual, and it brings families together.
▪ Special teaching and therapy, plenty of encouragement and stimulation can work wonders.
▪ This will work wonders in terms of future sales.
▪ Time also has worked wonders, pruning many of the bad investigative reporters and retaining many of the good ones.
don't go doing sth
▪ It's a secret, so don't go telling everyone.
don't hesitate to do sth
▪ Don't hesitate to call me if you need any help.
done and dusted
done in
done to a turn
▪ Then the interviewer asked what needed to be done to turn things around.
easier said than done
easy does it
elect to do sth
▪ The committee elected not to fire Johnson.
▪ But both say the loan was paid off by December 1993, almost a year before Gentry was elected to the council.
▪ He then elects to take his new pet to California, but he only has five days to unload his pachyderm.
▪ In 1972, at the age of 23, he was elected to parliament.
▪ In a magnanimous fit of estate planning, Cook elects to divide the farm between his three daughters.
▪ More blacks have been elected to the state legislature, and a black also heads the Dade county commission.
▪ No new members were elected to the party central committee.
▪ No permission is required to photograph the monoline, unless you elect to do this inside a station.
▪ Out of which I was elected to help him rise.
failure to do sth
▪ Diagnostic difficulties in those cases were related to confusing radiological and endoscopic appearances or failure to obtain histological confirmation of lymphoma.
▪ Ewing lamented his failure to learn Gaelic, and he never managed to train enough priests who did.
▪ In that situation failure to accumulate in the face of rapidly rising real wage costs spells disaster.
▪ It helps to explain the conservatism of our class struggle, and its failure to mature into socialist struggle.
▪ Mind you, failure to display a phone number doesn't make them instantly dodgy.
▪ Outdated computer systems and the failure to help judges to implement the reforms were adding to the chaos.
▪ Sources of errors in searching mainly involve failure to find related papers due to inconsistencies in the use of personal names.
▪ The failure to find a referent results in a numerical penalty being awarded to the reading for which it occurs.
fall into/avoid the trap of doing sth
▪ But do not fall into the trap of doing something I saw recently.
▪ Don't fall into the trap of comparing your wages and conditions with other volunteers and development workers.
▪ Duffy refuses to fall into the trap of spoon-feeding the material to passive students, which only increases their passivity.
▪ During the 90s Washington fell into the trap of allowing events to dictate the relationship, with increasingly destabilising results.
▪ Journalists can fall into the trap of being hypercritical.
▪ She was not going to fall into the trap of thinking she wanted Vitor as Vitor.
▪ So answer this question truthfully, lest your smart organization fall into the trap of continuing to outsmart itself.
▪ When we tie it to jobs, or to survival needs, we fall into the trap of mechanistic literacy.
fall over yourself to do sth
▪ Freshers' fair is the traditional showground where societies fall over themselves to attract some of the 5000 new students.
▪ He was good box office and managements fell over themselves to get his name on their marquees.
▪ Suddenly, the Kremlin is falling over itself to get close to Uncle Sam.
▪ The owners are constantly carping about runaway salaries, then fall over themselves to jump the gun and up the ante.
▪ The receptionist had obviously recognised him too, had practically fallen over herself to bat her long dark eyelashes at him.
▪ The sight of so many senior politicians falling over themselves to kiss his hand was reminiscent of Tammany Hall at its worst.
▪ Those first days of their honeymoon in New York, the music publishers had fallen over themselves to entertain the couple.
▪ We almost fell over ourselves to oblige.
far be it from me to do sth
▪ Far be it from me to tell you what to wear.
feel like (doing) sth
▪ I just don't feel like doing anything tonight.
▪ Joe says he feels like Mexican food.
▪ But the whole thing feels like a retread.&.
▪ He feels like the captain of a sleeping ship, alone at the helm, steering his oblivious crew through dangerous seas.
▪ I hang up, feeling like a wind-up toy.
▪ She felt like screaming at him, but she was determined not to lose her self-control.
▪ The careful procession into the Hall had felt like a kind of funeral.
▪ They stepped forward, and his muscles stiffened until they felt like bone.
▪ You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.
feel the need to do sth
▪ Some magazines feel the need to be controversial.
▪ Adult players, by contrast, feel the need to equip themselves with the best.
▪ Don't you feel the need to pray?
▪ Nevertheless, I feel the need to unburden myself in print.
▪ She considered tracking them, but didn't feel the need to make any particular point of it.
▪ She had hoped that after so long here nomole would ever feel the need to ask her.
▪ They feel the need to inject young and hungry talent into the bank's deliberations at the highest level.
▪ Why he felt the need to record these deaths he could not explain.
fight shy of (doing) sth
▪ After fighting shy of the idea, Mr Mandela, 82, agreed to it during a visit to London last year.
▪ In considering the right to live issue, there is a tendency to fight shy of the emotive word of murder.
▪ Over the years, courts and tribunals have fought shy of laying down detailed procedural guidance.
▪ This, he says, accounts for developers fighting shy of putting money into the city.
▪ Yet the 18 counties fight shy of the risk, but what are they frightened of?
find it in your heart/yourself to do sth
▪ For this alone, I may find it in my heart to forgive her.
▪ He hoped the moon could find it in its heart to overlook his sins as it climbed the heavens.
▪ To his grief, Donny's widow would not find it in her heart to speak to him again.
for want of anything better (to do)
gently/gently does it!
get doing sth
get into the way of doing sth
▪ The women had got into the way of going up on the deck every evening.
get to do sth
▪ Do I get to stay up late when Dad comes home from his business trip?
▪ I didn't get to sit down all day.
▪ Tom gets to go to Disneyland this summer.
▪ We actually got to meet the president when he was here last week.
▪ A message I've got to work out.
▪ But if the case gets to the Law Lords, how could they conclude other than in Mr Straw's favour?
▪ I've got to go on studying.
▪ I got to the chemist five minutes before closing time and the place was jam-packed with the elderly and respectable.
▪ The movie gets to its mysterious combat island with a cool buildup and a sense of wonder.
▪ Unfortunately, getting to it remains unclear.
▪ When I got to my room, I opened the door and stood there with my eyes closed.
▪ You should have seen me-not too pleasant, but the pressure got to me.
go a long way towards doing sth
▪ And Monday's game will go a long way towards determining Wright's future.
▪ For it was he who arranged the finance which went a long way towards putting the station on the air.
▪ Friedman's statement of the natural rate hypothesis went a long way towards reconciling such evidence with basic classical theory.
▪ In doing so it can go a long way towards lifting the depression which has afflicted too many teachers in recent years.
▪ Schema theory can go a long way towards explaining the sender's choice and arrangement of information in communication.
▪ The new, improved materials available have gone a long way towards extending the lifespan of today's flat roof.
▪ This decision goes a long way towards demonstrating the untenability of the marital-rape exemption in modern times.
▪ This will also go a long way towards preventing your neighbour complaining about the noise you make.
go and do sth
▪ I'll go and get the car for you.
go out of your way to do sth
▪ Jennifer knew what a difficult time I was having, and went out of her way to be friendly.
▪ They went out of their way to make me feel welcome.
▪ When Annie arrived, Harriman went out of his way to make life pleasant for her.
▪ And the recording industry is going out of its way to help.
▪ How to be compassionate to their pain and go out of their way to help them?
▪ Neither do they go out of their way to look for targets, human or otherwise.
▪ So empty, in fact, that the United States seemed to go out of its way to insult Ismail.
▪ This is the second time to-night she has gone out of her way to be sensitive to Oregon.
▪ To register his annoyance, he seemed to go out of his way to ignore us.
▪ We are going out of our way to help him with it.
go so far/as far as to do sth
go some way towards doing sth
▪ But Mala had gone some way towards the opposite.
▪ Funding for public works, including community-based arts projects, went some way towards alleviating mass unemployment.
▪ However, the Commission has recently issued a notice which goes some way towards defining the elements of them.
▪ It is proposed that hypertext systems go some way towards providing students with alternative structures for organizing their knowledge of electronic publishing.
▪ Most of the old great Elf towns date from this period and it goes some way towards accounting for their remoteness.
▪ The theory also goes some way towards answering the question of why people speak indirectly.
▪ This goes some way towards typing the organism causing the disease.
▪ Will he go some way towards reviewing the process?
go through the motions (of doing sth)
▪ But the picking up strikes a chord and going through the motions always works.
▪ Everybody said the right thing; everybody went through the motions the way they should.
▪ Still others go through the motions but without any real desire to improve the relationship.
▪ The authorities occasionally go through the motions of clamping down.
▪ To Harry, Jack looked like a man going through the motions.
▪ Too many students are going through the motions without any significant engagement in learning.
▪ We just give up and go through the motions and we let our negativity harden inside us.
▪ You can go through the motions.
go to some/great/any lengths (to do sth)
▪ Both want to steal the show and they are going to great lengths to do it.
▪ Dealers, sometimes surreptitiously encouraged by their firms, would go to great lengths to extract information from employees of rival firms.
▪ Furthermore, bats go to great lengths to avoid confrontations with people.
▪ George Bush went to great lengths to keep out of his way on the campaign trail.
▪ The Medieval church went to some lengths to specify the roles of particular stones in religious imagery.
▪ When uninterrupted by unforeseen or unrecognized obstacles, parents will go to great lengths to provide these advantages for their children.
▪ Who knows whether Oppenheimer went to any lengths to find anyone who had anything good to say about Stewart.
▪ Yet Phillips climbed the wall anyway, went to great lengths to hurt his ex-girlfriend.
had sb done sth
▪ Had we known they were going to build a road right there, we would never have bought the house.
happen to do sth
▪ I'm sorry I didn't phone first -- I just happened to be passing and thought I'd drop in.
▪ I happened to see Hannah at the store today.
▪ Justin forgot the map but I happened to have another one in the glove compartment.
▪ We're not related -- we just happen to have the same name.
▪ I'd be arrested, Volkov wouldn't know what had happened to me.
▪ It happens to all of us.
▪ She kneels down and gathers me to her, sobbing and shaking in her terror at what might have happened to me.
▪ Tell me first, what happened to the world when I was in prison.
▪ These bands just happened to be black and popular.
▪ They don't learn by experience, don't really care what happens to them.
▪ What happens to the structure of a potato when it is cooked? 2.
▪ What will happen to her during the war?
have a habit of doing sth
▪ Be careful not to annoy the boss. He has a habit of losing his temper.
▪ My teenage daughter has a habit of leaving home without her house key.
▪ We shouldn't rule out a Democrat victory yet. These things have a habit of changing just when you least expect it.
▪ Arizonans have a habit of embracing wealthy businessmen with virtually no elective experience.
▪ Here, the guards have a habit of touching the women.
▪ I have a habit of filling small sketchbooks with hour or day-long sequences of watercolours.
▪ I have a habit of turning it off as soon as I hear the first commercial.
▪ Low-confidence people have a habit of trying to accomplish the impossible.-Praise yourself when you do something well.
▪ Myths have a habit of ignoring the truth.
▪ Things have a habit of disappearing there.
▪ Things he predicts have a habit of coming true.
have a job doing sth/have a job to do sth
have a knack of doing sth
▪ Children have a knack of choosing the most inconvenient or embarrassing times for their Socratic dialogues.
▪ I have spent years using buses, and seem to have a knack of sitting next to some very odd people.
have a perfect right to do sth
▪ You have a perfect right to say "no" if you don't want to do it.
▪ They have a perfect right to object to it.
have a trick of doing sth
▪ But the agents have tricks of their own.
have a way of doing sth
▪ Don't worry too much. These problems usually have a way of working out.
▪ And we have ways of making sure that the escapade of that silly young man at Southend gets widely reported.
▪ But the Washington Wizards have a way of bringing out the best in their opponents.
▪ Evenings like this have a way of going on!
▪ If history has taught us anything about imaginary customers, it is that they have a way of doing unexpected things.
▪ So do Humpbacks have ways of expressing the same request for the repetition of a pleasurable sonic experience?
▪ The powerful have a way of establishing contracts that suit them.
▪ Things like this have a way of surprising you.
▪ Yet things have a way of evening ut, and I paid a heavy price for my hypocrisy.
have done with sth
▪ I wonder what Grandmother would have done with such a husband?
▪ If they had, what would they have done with the bird's skull?
▪ She felt for Karen, but she had no idea what she would have done with her on the roster next year.
▪ This was something they could not have done with any other embassy.
▪ What Leapor would have done with the money can be surmised.
▪ What would they have done with all the money we drop every night at Convito Italiano?
▪ Why don't we just call it New Mancunian Express and have done with it?
▪ Why don't we just give Napoleon the keys to Berlin and have done with it?
have gone and done sth
▪ Kay's gone and lost the car keys!
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to just go home.
▪ I have half a mind to tell her what I really think of her.
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have no ambition to do sth
have no business doing sth/have no business to do sth
have no interest in doing sth
▪ I have no interest in continuing this conversation.
▪ He seemed to have no interest in doing anything.
▪ I have no interest in hating white people.
▪ I have no interest in high-tech commercial videos at all these days.
▪ I have no interest in the psychological interpretation of my sitters, I want to convey their physical appearance.
▪ Nor could they understand a young, good-looking man who appeared to have no interest in girls.
▪ Pound seems to have no interest in that.
▪ That is, leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves.
▪ You might have no interest in building a fancy themed site or even learning anything about creating Web pages.
have no problem (in) doing sth
have no right to do sth
▪ You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!
▪ But we have no right to force collection of child support for the kids.
▪ But you have no right to come in here meddling with my things.
▪ Finally, the relatives of patients have no right to make decisions on the patient's behalf.
▪ I have no right to be saying anything that goes against Church teaching.
▪ I have no right to intrude on their lives.
▪ The states have no rights to any money.
▪ You have no right to be here.
have no wish to do sth
▪ I have no wish to offend anybody.
▪ And believe me, I have no wish to keep score.
▪ I emphasize that I have no wish to come across here as the skunk at the process improvement garden party.
▪ I have no wish to attribute motives, but clearly finance intervenes.
▪ I have no wish to caddie for Brian Harley.
▪ I have no wish to change my nature over this matter and become a crusading journalist.
▪ I have no wish to create a posing pilots' paradise.
▪ I have no wish to get angry with my own invention, the so-named Miller.
▪ Mrs Hardman has grown used to her independence, and I have no wish to curtail her freedom.
have sb to thank for (doing) sth
▪ Do we have Lady Thatcher to thank for the improved state of the nation's teeth?
▪ I have Phil to thank for my first break on the Cutters.
▪ I have you to thank for that.
▪ In fact, I always have remembered - and I have Monty Lee to thank for that.
▪ Perhaps we have Pat Buchanan to thank for at least some of this raising of consciousness.
▪ We have Alan Austin to thank for this character-building little outing - an experience you won't forget in a hurry!
▪ We have Sigmund Freud to thank for a rather curious state of affairs.
have sth ready/done/finished etc
have the gall to do sth
▪ Congress actually had the gall to vote for a pay raise for themselves.
▪ I can't believe he had the gall to ask you for money.
▪ Ruth was always on the phone and yet she had the gall to tell me off for making one call.
have the goodness to do sth
▪ But I hope to learn these soon if anybody will have the goodness to bear with me.
have the wit to do sth
▪ Thankfully, Reid had the wit to see what was wrong with the plan.
have/be nothing to do with sb/sth
▪ But that smell might very well have nothing to do with it.
▪ Finally, he was publicly warned and barred from communion, and the people advised to have nothing to do with him.
▪ General Smuts will have nothing to do with you.
▪ He was nothing to do with her and Alan.
▪ I have nothing to do with the motel.
▪ These are things to be proud of, but they have nothing to do with rank or class.
▪ We have nothing to do with each other.
here he/she etc is (doing sth)
▪ And here she is, all freshly powdered.
▪ And now here she is, staying at my house.
▪ Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you.
▪ But here he is, in full measured flood.
▪ Her own said that she should never teach, and here she is doing it.
▪ I mean, here he is, installed at the Priory.
▪ Sam Sheppard knew Richard Eberling and here he is fighting with this intruder through the house and he never recognized him.
▪ Yet here he is, pleading for the life of the stubborn nation that caused him nothing but trouble!
how about that!/how do you like that!
how can/could sb do sth?
how do you do?
▪ But how do you do that?
▪ But assuming for the moment that we can do better than fight over the trough, how do we do it?
▪ It sounds pretty powerful stuff, but how do you do it?
▪ So how do they do it?
▪ What do trees do, and how do they do it?
▪ What I want to know is how do they do it?
how do you mean?
▪ Straight? How do you mean, straight?
▪ And now, how do you mean translated?
how do/can you expect ...?
how does sth grab you?
▪ How does going to Hawaii for Christmas grab you?
how should I know?/how am I to know?/how do I know?
how was I to know?/how did I know?
if you must (do sth)
▪ "Who was that girl?" "Well, if you must know, her name is Mabel."
▪ If you must travel at night in dangerous areas, turn on the interior light in your car.
▪ But I was extremely jealous of him, if you must know.
▪ But if you must know, Mrs. Jewkes was present.
▪ But if you must...
▪ It's better not to use a flannel, but if you must, keep a separate one. 6.
▪ Look, if you must know!
▪ These people here have so little conception of our world that sometimes I feel myself as if I must have dreamed it.
▪ Very well, she'd tell them, leave if you must, but I want no abuse, is that clear?
▪ What good was freedom if he must give up his home to win it?
in a fit state (to do sth)
▪ An innkeeper can refuse service to any person who is not in a fit state to be received at the inn.
▪ He ordered those of his crew still in a fit state to swim to take to the sea.
▪ If Cullam had been in a fit state to observe behaviour he might have thought the chief inspector bored or preoccupied.
▪ If she'd stayed in a fit state then she wouldn't have found herself in this situation now.
▪ She wasn't in a fit state to be on her own.
▪ The big thing about reading and all that is - you have to be in a fit state for it.
▪ When I was in a fit state she asked if I would like to talk to her.
▪ With so many major projects in hand she wanted to make sure that everything was in a fit state.
in good time (for sth/to do sth)
in no shape to do sth
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ His hand stung and his head hurt and he felt in no shape to begin the delicate task of restarting their relationship.
in order to do sth
▪ In order not to offend anyone, I did not tell them the real reason for my visit.
▪ In order to be a doctor, you have to study for six years.
▪ In order to speed things up, we agreed to have another meeting tomorrow.
▪ Many drug users get involved in crime simply in order to pay for their supplies of cocaine and heroin.
▪ They need to raise $5 million in order to pay for the repairs.
▪ And more men are turning down promotion or relocation in order to give more time to their families.
▪ He has decided not to play football in order to focus on schoolwork and lacrosse.
▪ He needs a certain measure of vanity in order to create the right kind of public impression.
▪ Jimmy was referred for a psychological evaluation in order to assess his cognitive and emotional functioning.
▪ She discusses the structure of the advertisement in order to understand why we don't question the contradictions of the image.
▪ Such pets will be fully animated robots, in constant communication with the outside world in order to serve you.
▪ The exploratory design is used to accumulate data in order to formulate more precise hypotheses and research questions.
▪ We attack anti-gay stigma in order to encourage homosexuality to flourish.
in your hurry to do sth
▪ But in my hurry to get away from whatever it was in the bed I missed my footing and fell.
▪ But in their hurry to get off the mountain, exhausted climbers have discarded tons of rubbish.
indisposed to do sth
insist on doing sth
▪ Finally, he insisted on carrying it.
▪ For example, insisting on conditions that would in theory make the employment of women more likely often has the opposite effect.
▪ I declined, but she insisted on following me for several hundred yards.
▪ In fact, the only thing likely to take any time is deciding which to have. Insist on the best.
▪ She insisted on cleaning my flat very thoroughly every Tuesday and Thursday, and often left me a casserole in the oven.
▪ Surely Harrison would have insisted on having it pose with him.
▪ Tanya insists on moving in many circles and, above all, on thinking for herself.
▪ Together the two books test what can be gained and lost by insisting on either innocence or experience.
it behoves sb to do sth
▪ Filling stations are rarities: it behoves car owners to keep a watch on their reserves of petrol.
▪ Of course, it behoves the legislator to distinguish the categories logically and justly.
▪ So it behoves you to be wary when planting.
▪ Some of them will be described soon; but first, as always, it behoves us to study their data.
▪ That is their secret, and will remain so; it behoves us not to pry, only to speculate in passing.
it does your heart good to see/hear sth
it doesn't take a rocket scientist (to do sth)
▪ It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to realize that the chain of events was no coincidence.
it is (not) for sb to do sth
▪ All the work in this approach must go into a persuasive account of what it is for reasons to be conclusive.
▪ How important it is for them to build theories out of what they see and think.
▪ I can tell him how important it is for us to have a home of our own.
▪ If one can notice the absence of something one must already know what it is for things to be absent.
▪ Look how difficult it is for women to get on in the medical or legal profession!
it is big of sb to do sth
▪ A whole dollar! Gee, that was very big of her!
▪ I think it was really big of Larry to admit that he made the wrong choice.
it is high time sb did sth
▪ It's high time we pulled together and got the job done right.
it is idle to do sth
it is incumbent upon/on sb to do sth
it is kind/stupid/careless etc of sb (to do sth)
▪ But, it, it is kind of funny.
▪ So it is kind of coming home and a change of focus.
▪ The idea of it is kind of cute: This little Frank guy is trying to find candy.
it is not sb's place (to do sth)
▪ But it is not my place and, frankly, I am not in the mood for a party.
it pains sb to do sth
▪ It pained her to see how much older Bill was looking.
▪ As much as it pains us to write this, now is time for Dan to step down.
▪ Most burglars, it pains me to say, are just looking for the easy dollar.
it was all I could do to do sth
▪ I followed one up the motorway just yesterday and it was all I could do to not retch.
▪ When pro golfer Tiger Woods won the Masters two weeks ago, it was all I could do to suppress a yawn.
it was as much as sb could do to do sth
it won't/wouldn't kill sb (to do something)
▪ It wouldn't kill you to do the dishes.
it wouldn't do sb any harm to do sth
▪ It wouldn't do you any harm to get some experience first.
it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth)
it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it
it's just/only/simply a question of doing sth
▪ Sometimes, it's simply a question of somewhere safe to go after school while parents are working.
it's no good (doing sth)
▪ But ... but I will worry if I think you are hanging on waiting, because it's no good.
▪ Here we are on the hills, and it's no better.
▪ It's no good just bleating on about the rising tide of crime to get money out of the government.
▪ It's no good pretending you've any aptitude for art when it's quite clear you've none at all.
▪ It's no good printing my letter if you're just going to do it again.
▪ It's no good tying up money for years unless you're certain you won't need it.
▪ It's no good, she rebuked herself sternly; there's no future in feeling like this about Luke Travis.
▪ It's very easy to tell an actor that it's no good.
it's no use doing sth
▪ It's no use complaining - you just need to take the test again later.
▪ But it's no use running away from it.
▪ He says it's no use having a ban if it can't be enforced.
▪ I've telephoned everyone I can think of, but it's no use.
▪ I can buy the best legal brains in the business, so it's no use your fighting.
▪ I said to him, Listen, George, it's no use living in the past.
▪ No, it's no use protesting!
▪ On the open road, it's no use pretending that the Bentley handles with the agility of a Porsche.
it's the least I can do
job done
just have to do sth
▪ I just have to get somewhere soon to sleep.
▪ My uncle said that now we ha-ha just have to do this.
▪ She would just have to get out and walk.
▪ Sometimes you just have to tell people what s best for them.
▪ That's the trouble with doing all these films and tellies - you just have to remember a little bit for a short take.
▪ We just have to do some more throat swabs.
▪ You can have it right back if you want it, you just have to ask.
▪ You don't just have to listen to stories.
justice has been done/served
▪ He can continue to appeal, or go to some other level, until he feels justice has been done.
▪ He has successfully persuaded the crowd that justice has been done.
▪ Mr Townsend says he feels justice has been done.
▪ Mrs Alliss' solicitor says justice has been done.
lay claim to (doing) sth
▪ Dole himself did not expect to lay claim to the title of presumptive nominee until after the March 26 primary in California.
▪ I'd guess it also can lay claim to the oldest leader of a still-functioning organisation today.
▪ Initially these had been one hundred and seventy-five men and twenty-five horses laying claim to an empire of fourteen million.
▪ They seem to lay claim to being purely of the mind's eye, a manifestation of pure objectivity.
▪ This latter idea could lay claim to a basis in ideas of collegiality - but only of a limited nature.
▪ With his victory in Florida officially certified, Bush announced new moves to lay claim to the White House.
leave it to sb (to do sth)
▪ And I will leave it to you, dear reader, to make a choice.
▪ At Thayer the clear intention is that if something is central to our mission, we will not leave it to chance.
▪ But I don't want to leave it to the last game of the season.
▪ He'd not leave it to some one who would turn it over.
▪ I leave it to your discretion whether you should tell the Professors that they are 114 both wrong, or both right.
▪ I find it difficult to put my thoughts and feelings about this into words, so I will leave it to others.
▪ They ought to leave it to the markets.
▪ Yeah, well, leave it to Esther.
liable to do sth
▪ Accountants will be held liable to third parties with whom they have no contractual or fiduciary relationship.
▪ Act 1974 is liable to unlimited fines and/or up to two years imprisonment after conviction by a Crown Court.
▪ But the hatred they aroused meant that they were liable to be brutally slaughtered if captured afterwards.
▪ Clerical Medical is liable to United Kingdom tax on the income and certain gains arising from the assets backing this policy.
▪ Participants who break any conditions are liable to arrest, conviction or a, 400 fine.
▪ Schools will therefore be liable to lose pupils and funds if they fail to satisfy parents.
▪ The Blackshirts deliberately concentrated on those areas where there were liable to be violent counter-demonstrations.
▪ This shows all those who are liable to pay community charge and specifies the particular type the individual will pay.
little did sb know/realize/think etc
▪ But little did he know at the time, how soon he'd need it.
look what you're doing/look where you're going etc
look what you've done!
▪ Now look what you've done! You'll have to clean it up.
lucky/unfortunate etc enough to be/do sth
▪ Alan was lucky enough to discover a scorpion in the fruit bowl.
▪ And handsome David Wood, who now runs his own hairdressing salon in Melbourne, was lucky enough to date her.
▪ And I was lucky enough to sit in the catbird seat and watch and learn and be changed myself.
▪ And when I was lucky enough to enjoy some rare hot weather my feet stayed as cool as I could have expected.
▪ I thought I had been lucky enough to pick up a shore current that was helping me along toward the rip.
▪ If you are lucky enough to see one, observe it from a distance.
▪ Regardless of their preferences, not every couple is lucky enough to find two equal jobs in the same community.
▪ Some authors are lucky enough to think naturally in terms of story.
make a (mental) note to do sth
▪ He made a mental note to call her and arrange a time to meet, away from her parents.
▪ He makes a mental note to call Keith a second time at 7:15.
▪ I made a note to myself to check for the box.
▪ I made a note to myself to come back in early spring to get scions for grafting.
▪ I made a mental note to ask about that.
▪ Mentally, I make a note to have the boy checked by our pediatrician.
▪ Thinking of that, he made a mental note to burn it in the morning.
▪ Vickie makes a note to raise the issue when she attends the management meeting.
make a mess of (doing) sth
▪ An explosion would have made a mess of them, and matchsticks of that tub.
▪ Convinced of his own plainness, Graham is here engaged in taking Jenny out and making a mess of kissing her.
▪ Hands were wrung in every quarter at the prospect of homosexuals making a mess of this fine, strong outfit.
▪ He made a mess of things in the park, but it's the first time he's got it wrong.
▪ If I make a mess of it that woman is going to be so glad.
▪ Most people make a mess of handling money.
▪ She made a mess of her life.
▪ The shell hit the roof of the building and made a mess of the inside of the building.
make a point of doing sth
▪ Bridget made a point of thanking each of us for the gift.
▪ He makes a point of letting his congregation know he takes care of his children.
▪ He seemed to make a point of taking two steps backward for every one step forward.
▪ Hitachi is expected to make a point of integration, management and directory synchronisation.
▪ It's a spectacular scene and I make a point of leaving my dictation and watching through the curtains each evening.
▪ Kramer braced and made a point of looking tough and bored.
▪ They'd made a point of it.
▪ They made a point of recruiting fledgling Latino engineers into the organization.
make as if to do sth
▪ Hardin made as if to rise from his seat.
▪ Then he made as if to resume their embrace, but Polly raised a hand to stop him.
make do
▪ As with eating, Quinn felt that he could make do with less than he was accustomed to.
▪ Have to make do with quick dip and lazy lie under the fronds.
▪ He is requested to make do with a sum of money.
▪ In Darcy's Utopia we will make do with listening to the radio.
▪ Others will have to make do with deliveries in the tens or hundreds depending on who they are.
▪ People have kept their fingers crossed and made do.
▪ There is little here about improvising or making do.
make it a rule (to do sth)
▪ I make it a rule not to take friends on as clients.
▪ I make it a rule to go at least three times.
▪ In fact, he made it a rule never to make any friend who could not be useful to him.
▪ Since I have made it a rule not to lie to a client, I assume reciprocal honesty from him.
▪ They made it a rule that she was never to be alone.
make it your business to do sth
▪ Ruth made it her business to get to know the customers.
▪ But before you leave I suggest that you make it your business to find out.
▪ I made it my business to be there at dinner the following day.
▪ I make it my business to acquaint myself with where objects properly belong in a house.
▪ Increasingly, companies are making it their business to develop programs for serving both the worker and the bottom line.
▪ Quinn knew this because he had made it his business to know such things.
▪ She made it her business to find out.
▪ These villagers - of course they would make it their business to know anyone who was rich and whose father lived so near!
▪ They made it their business to worm a curl of something out of you.
make no attempt to do sth
▪ We want to set up an attempt on the life of the President.
make no bones about (doing) sth
▪ Mr. Stutzman makes no bones about his religious beliefs.
▪ At least he made no bones about it.
▪ He made no bones about displaying his artistic temperament.
▪ He made no bones about stating his own views or criticising theirs.
▪ I make no apology or make no bones about being partisan.
▪ The secretary was enormously dissatisfied with how some of our programs were being managed, and made no bones about it.
▪ These five women made no bones about national honor or scientific achievement.
▪ Well, the two of them had made no bones about what they thought of her.
make noises about doing sth
▪ Apparently Bradford is interested in having it and Bristol has also made noises about it.
▪ I made noises about the absence of a bank in this so-called international airport; but what choice did I have?
▪ It was extended, but the Provisionals continued to make noises about renewing the violence.
make short work of (doing) sth
▪ Carmen would have made short work of Michael too.
▪ Fourth placed Guisborough made short work of the opposition at Saltburn.
▪ Guernsey made short work of the opposition when they won the event on home soil in 1990.
▪ He made short work of the remainder of his lunch, pushed his chair from the table, and stood up.
▪ It is fair to warn anglers that thousands of crabs soon make short work of rag and lugworm.
▪ It made short work of our Windows performance tests, WinTach, clocking up an impressive index of over 9.3.
▪ The second game we pull away early and make short work of it.
▪ These cannibalistic tadpoles make short work of one of their siblings.
make/be so bold (as to do sth)
may sb/sth do sth
▪ Activities, such as walking, standing, sitting or bending, may have to be learned anew.
▪ But I got lost in the doing of it, as navigators may, and we went beyond ourselves.
▪ If you forget to move your turkey from freezer to refrigerator in time, you may thaw the turkey in cold water.
▪ It may pay to be early at Catford where Dromina Duke looks the part in the second race.
▪ It will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and may have a knock-on effect.
▪ They also monitor the production run to make sure that it stays on schedule and correct any problems that may arise.
▪ To deny this power is dangerous, for, suppressed, it will find another outlet and may erupt uncontrollably.
▪ Worse yet, it may resort to additional expedient action to disguise or defuse the consequences of previous counterproductive actions.
mind you do sth
▪ A simple majority, mind you!
▪ In his mind he ran over his plan.
▪ In its mind it was convinced that the vet had returned to hurt it again.
▪ In my mind I heard the phone ringing.
▪ In our minds we may recreate a vanished dignity and grace.
▪ Never mind it was a wonderful evening.
▪ Not when you have them in your home, mind you.
▪ The ducks don't seem to mind it, cos there's quite a few swimming about now.
need to do sth
▪ But if repeated calls fail to produce an answer the officer may subsequently need to account for himself.
▪ Dolphins need to eat considerable quantities of food.
▪ He reminded himself that he needed to have a key made for the desk drawer where he kept her letters.
▪ Management needs to ensure that the expensive and long-term project has a good strategic pay-off.
▪ They may need to pause for a minute after each picture, since after-images tend to persist.
▪ We need to demonstrate how wrong they are.
▪ We need to let kids be responsible, make some choices, let them feel powerful.
neglect to do sth
▪ Marie decided not to move after all, but she neglected to inform the rental agency.
▪ Planners apparently neglected to consider future water and electricity requirements.
▪ The public are demanding to know why the government neglected to warn them of the oil shortages.
▪ Go to Lutece in in expert drag; neglect to shave.
▪ He neglects to notify you of a change of address.
▪ I frequently find out from some one else that my husband has lied or has neglected to tell me about something.
▪ Or Krauss's man neglected to follow one.
▪ Several of them, including Jeffries, often neglected to hand in grades at the end of the term.
▪ Still, our most severe misjudgments were not steps we had taken but steps we had neglected to take.
▪ Under the terms of the code, lenders refuse to deal with brokers who have neglected to sign up.
▪ Your adviser neglected to check you were happy with the risks of stock market investment.
nerve yourself to do sth/for sth
▪ Finally she nerved herself to go and have a drink.
▪ Ruth clenched her hands inside her cloak, nerving herself to follow him; but it was Fand who didn't move.
never fail to do sth
▪ But he would never fail to have a meal.
▪ He has never failed to acquit a client charged with murder.
▪ I can not bear this obscene, grubbing curiosity about the affairs of others, it has never failed to repel me.
▪ I have often worked black smokers in Alvin and I never fail to be awed by them.
▪ My genius never fails to amaze.
▪ They never failed to show up with the black jackets and the sneakers and the Pimp Roll.
▪ This mime of his never failed to invoke my deep defensiveness with regard to all things Kip.
never let a day/week/year etc go by without doing sth
never tire of doing sth
▪ He never tires of talking about the good old days.
▪ And it was true, as Christians never tired of pointing out, that a painful spiritual confusion reigned.
▪ And when speech gave way to the rhythmic breathing and small cries or even angry groans that I never tired of overhearing?
▪ As Otis never tired of saying, this was the promised land.
▪ I look at both my sewing and knitting as wonderful gifts that I will never tire of.
▪ I never tire of watching this strange beast that lurches like a turkey and sways its neck like a swan.
▪ She felt she would never tire of the way Ludo demonstrated each change in his mood.
▪ Still, never tired of handing them out.
▪ Yet certain films he would watch over and over again and never tire of them.
no amount of sth can/will etc do sth
▪ But no amount of bashful cuteness can disguise its humourless narcissism.
▪ But no amount of money can buy what Nakamatsu really wants -- lasting fame.
▪ It is due to the inefficiency of the Government which no amount of Budget bribery can possibly erase.
▪ So implausible, so achingly out of touch are they, no amount of Toytown trickery can disguise their ancient irrelevance.
▪ The key is in the cooking; no amount of marinating will tenderize a tough cut of meat.
▪ Therefore, no amount of personality can compensate for mediocre chili. o Judging chili is very personal and subjective.
▪ Translation here must be indeterminate because no amount of evidence will guarantee that the translation we offer will be uniquely correct.
▪ Voice over April's pursuing compensation though no amount of mony can make up for what she's lost.
no can do
no more does/has/will etc sb
▪ In practice, this situation will arise only very rarely if a regime of symptom control and no more has been adopted.
▪ Men appear to be no more willing to support women in their traditional roles than women are to assume them.
no sooner had/did ... than
no sooner said than done
no warrant for (doing) sth
not be about to do sth
▪ I wasn't about to let him pay for it.
not be above (doing) sth
not be alone in (doing) sth
▪ But this market has not yet developed, and when it does Pippin will not be alone in it.
not be in the business of doing sth
▪ Labour may not be in the business of re-connecting with the past, but its attachment to the future is still confused.
not believe/think/do sth for a/one moment
▪ His hand had not wavered for a moment.
▪ His leader did not believe for one moment the protestations of innocence.
▪ I do not concede for a moment that this is a devolution measure.
▪ I would not suggest for one moment that they existed here.
▪ Neither team will half-step, not even for a moment.
not care to do sth
▪ It's not something I care to discuss.
▪ Wyatt's old friends didn't care to visit, with a baby in the house.
▪ At least, not precisely in the act of anything Mrs Dallam would not care to know about.
▪ But I have to make one comment you might not care to hear: A woman does have a choice.
▪ De Gaulle apparently did not care to give ministers an opportunity to make important decisions without his supervision.
▪ He did not care to know how many female holly trees a single male could bring to berry.
▪ He suspected Hubert had erred in some way, but did not care to ask.
▪ I would not care to live in the vicinity of such a device.
▪ The poets did not care to linger in that gloom-hidden abode.
▪ Unfortunately, Roth did not care to focus on broader and more important issues about the fate of the seized-assets program itself.
not do a hand's turn
not do a stroke (of work)
not do sth by halves
▪ I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
▪ He comes from a family that does not do things by halves.
not flinch from (doing) sth
not for want of (doing) sth
▪ I never read any of them although it was not for want of trying.
▪ It is not for want of encouragement.
▪ This is not for want of official concern by education commissions, curriculum projects and national ministries.
▪ This is not for want of talent or know-how.
not have a prayer (of doing sth)
▪ The Seahawks don't have a prayer of winning the Superbowl.
▪ Boxing White Hopes like Cooney do not have a prayer of toppling Tyson.
not have the heart to do something
▪ I didn't have the heart to tell my daughter we couldn't keep the puppy.
not lift a finger (to do sth)
▪ King Charles did not lift a finger to save her.
▪ The Government are not lifting a finger to help the economy of Renfrewshire.
not make a habit of (doing) sth
▪ The nutritive arguments still stand and I would not make a habit of eating lots of white bread.
not mind doing sth
▪ I don't mind driving if you're tired.
▪ If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, we can check our records for you.
▪ San Diego's nice, I wouldn't mind living there.
▪ He did not mind being flippant about New York, but disliked to hear any one else take the same tone.
▪ He might not mind being placeless, but I mind.
▪ It had been worse than she had expected, but she had not minded it.
▪ It was remarkable the way people sought her out, often not minding that their conversation was public.
▪ Just as long, that is, as the masses do not mind interminable delays.
▪ The girls were late at breakfast, but Mrs Roberts did not mind.
▪ The world was giving to him, he did not mind giving back.
not scruple to do sth
▪ They did not scruple to bomb innocent civilians.
▪ Dumont does not scruple to show the naked corpse, left on the edge of a ploughed field.
not stand/have a cat in hell's chance (of doing sth)
not think to do sth
▪ I didn't even think to ask about him about how Christal's doing.
▪ Air pollution was not thought to be responsible.
▪ But U.S. officials said the signs of a possible attack were not thought to be related to the Khobar indictment.
▪ Most of the damage to trees was not thought to be permanent.
▪ Police said cause had not been established but there were not thought to have been suspicious circumstances.
▪ Police said that although the explosion was not thought to have been an accident no one was being sought.
▪ These are productive thoughts, but we do not want to lead Della Guardia to evidence he has not thought to obtain.
▪ They naturally did not think to apply it to their own empires.
▪ We were told that we could not buy the camels because we had not thought to bring the right piece of paper.
not trouble to do sth
▪ Do not trouble to don your hat and gloves, Holmes.
▪ I did not trouble to raise the matter with Keeble.
▪ Paul need not trouble to come down, everything had been arranged.
▪ She had not troubled to dress, despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that she had male visitors.
▪ The Attorney-General I have not troubled to inquire whether any firm has contributed to the Conservative party.
not/never be (a great) one for (doing) sth
not/never be one to do sth
▪ Tom is not one to show his emotions.
▪ I never was one to collect a bunch of guitars like some people do.
nothing doing
▪ Lend you $500? Nothing doing!
▪ Clinton did some frantic shuttle diplomacy, but there was nothing doing.
▪ I wanted to get to know him all right, but nothing doing.
now's the time (for sb) to do sth
omit to do sth
▪ Mrs Hobbs told me about the meeting but she omitted to tell me where it was.
▪ Starr's account omits to mention that it was his own actions that caused the fire.
▪ Whittier omitted to mention exactly where he had gotten the money.
▪ He'd agreed to ring her and had omitted to leave a phone number.
▪ It omitted to mention how much of its ever-increasing charges it contributed to WaterAid.
▪ My diary records the incident in a tone of self-righteousness, omitting to mention my feeling of incompetence.
▪ There's one of those towns marked with an asterisk that you omitted to mention.
▪ To refuse or to omit to leave is as much a trespass as to originally enter without any right.
▪ Understandably, some less important Western figures will be omitted to make room for those from other cultures.
▪ What your informers may have omitted to tell you was that he indeed came to our opening.
▪ While receiving money due to the court, Beaumont omitted to enter the receipts in his books and pocketed the proceeds.
only succeed in doing sth
▪ However, the utterance only succeeds in having this function if certain external conditions are fulfilled.
▪ It's always been a Dark Force, and you've only succeeded in harnessing a minuscule aspect of it.
▪ Laws against abortion only succeed in making it painful and dangerous.
▪ Revolutions only succeed in Britain if they pretend to be fondly restoring the past, not accelerating change.
▪ She tried to get out of it, but only succeeded in making herself the last to sing.
▪ Triumphant Rome tried to exterminate the Church of Mary, but only succeeded in driving it underground.
▪ We shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international cooperative effort.
owe it to sb to do sth
▪ We owe it to our children to clean up the environment.
▪ For health insurance reasons you owe it to yourself to take care of your one and only body - your working machine.
▪ He owed it to Sue to avenge Arabella.
▪ I owe it to Victoria to lend some retrospective weight to our parting.
▪ It was a lame excuse, and I bluntly told him that he owed it to posterity to relate his story.
▪ We owe it to clarity to disentangle the varieties of suffering possible in a given situation.
▪ We owe it to gastronomy to keep them alive.
▪ We owe it to ourselves to consider alternative futures, based on what we know and what we can project from that.
▪ You owe it to yourself to extract yourself from your present situation and reassess your life.
owe it to yourself to do sth
▪ Do I owe it to myself to finish?
▪ For health insurance reasons you owe it to yourself to take care of your one and only body - your working machine.
▪ We owe it to ourselves to consider alternative futures, based on what we know and what we can project from that.
▪ You owe it to yourself to extract yourself from your present situation and reassess your life.
pluck up (the) courage (to do sth)
▪ After a while, too, some of the more literary residents of Princeton plucked up the courage to speak to him.
▪ But eventually, he plucked up courage to see a solicitor.
▪ But why not pluck up the courage to do what you've always wanted?
▪ Eventually I plucked up courage and booked a ticket to Amsterdam with the sole purpose of getting laid.
▪ I think you should pluck up the courage to invite him out.
▪ Kent suspected that if the fellow ever did pluck up courage to call he would be disappointed.
▪ Nelly begged me not to leave her, and plucking up courage I stayed.
▪ On three occasions he had plucked up the courage to call her, but had never had a reply.
press-gang sb into doing sth
pride yourself on (doing) sth
▪ As a nation we pride ourselves on our strong sense of sportsmanship and fair play.
▪ At Midland, we pride ourselves on establishing long term relationships with our customers.
▪ But then at Boots we pride ourselves on our usefulness to mums.
▪ Likud prides itself on being the party of the outsiders, and they are now a majority.
▪ The accommodation is cool and spotless and staff pride themselves on offering a warm welcome.
▪ The school prides itself on its ethnic diversity, Schaeffer said.
▪ We pride ourselves on the front seven and tackling people.
proceed to do sth
▪ After listening carefully to my advice, she proceeded to do the exact opposite!
▪ Martin marched into the shop and proceeded to hurl abuse at the girl behind the counter,
▪ Royston then proceeded to deny all the accusations.
▪ Encouraged by this success, the rebels proceeded to organise a defensive network throughout the Holy Land.
▪ He had bought a number of blocks on the south side of Broadway and proceeded to develop them beginning in 1910.
▪ He then proceeded to stomp on it, in the presence of the emperor.
▪ Magilla was given a large sheet of plain white paper and a felt-tip pen and proceeded to write down all our thoughts.
▪ Then she proceeded to insult all the people on earth before she described the happenings in room 212.
▪ These begin with the girly accessories of dollies and dollies' accessories and proceed to clothes and fashion.
▪ We proceeded to state our respective positions, which took about fifteen minutes.
▪ Whipping out a bank roll, he proceeded to count it out on the table.
raring to do sth
rate sb's chances (of doing sth)
▪ But few analysts rate the chances of Washington's prefered successors very highly.
▪ But officials will not rate the survival chances above 50 percent until a month after birth.
▪ How high do you rate my chances?
▪ I didn't really rate his chances of living that long.
▪ The doctors rated his chances as virtually nil.
reduce sb to doing sth
▪ They were reduced to begging on the streets.
reserve the right to do sth
▪ The management reserves the right to refuse admission.
▪ Gazette reserves the right to publish at our discretion a photograph of the prize winner. 6.
▪ Human beings reserve the right to alter and change views.
▪ The editor reserves the right to select and edit questions.
▪ The Regional Council reserves the right to augment these observations in reply to the grounds of appeal.
▪ These charges and interest rates are variable and the Bank reserves the right to amend them from time to time.
▪ This must be returned within five days, otherwise we reserve the right to cancel the contract.
▪ We reserve the right to edit letters.
resign yourself to (doing) sth
▪ He seems to have resigned himself to living without her.
▪ Adair, who loves Virgilia, resigns himself to be her confidant and Fergus' mentor.
▪ Finally I resign myself to the truth: Anne Frank is dead, she will never write anything else.
▪ He had resigned himself to it.
▪ I resign myself to being among them soon enough.
▪ I resigned myself to merciless stick over the coming week.
▪ I never particularly relished torture, but I resigned myself to it when I arrived in Algiers...
▪ Lucille had seen the Prince's arrival and hasty departure, and had resigned herself to Sharpe's absence.
▪ Lydia was resigning herself to a long stretch of celibacy.
restrict yourself/sb to (doing) sth
▪ But some states have restricted access to medications.
▪ Even if you have restricted access to kids-only Internet sites and chat rooms, kids can still do it.
▪ Note, we do not restrict player A to use a linear strategy.
▪ Scarlet was enormously prestigious: the thirteenth-century sumptuary laws of the kingdom of Castile and Leon restricted its use to the king.
▪ She spent time with her friends and restricted herself to ten minutes on the perfection of Lucy.
▪ The funds do not, in practice, restrict themselves to big companies.
▪ We ow restrict our attention to simple pencils, where symmetric or not.
rush to do sth
▪ Investors rushed to buy the newly issued stocks.
▪ Everyone within 100 yards dropped their cell phones and rushed to the scrum.
▪ First-aid workers rushed to her and after about 10 minutes carried her out on a stretcher.
▪ These little fishes become quite tame and will respond at feeding time by rushing to their food like a litter of puppies.
▪ Thus the wise medical investigator assesses an apparent difference for biological implications before rushing to statistics.
▪ We rushed to join in, to help Dad.
▪ We have to rush to join the others in our foursome.
▪ When it stops, everyone rushes to stand on the newspapers.
▪ You rush to the gym, and... oh no!
sb can do sth in their sleep
sb can do sth standing on their head
sb can ill afford (to do) sth
▪ The senator can ill afford another scandal.
▪ If land is not suitable for efficient farming, we can ill afford it being used for inefficient agriculture.
▪ It does not make sense to squander important resources that the nation can ill afford to lose.
▪ Many of them are in fact very poor and can ill afford their habit.
▪ Often it is something they can ill afford.
▪ Sotheby's can ill afford to have its auction prices called into question.
▪ Surely it would be a drain on Party resources that it can ill afford.
▪ There may be no alternative to leave of absence, even though the nurse can ill afford the loss of income.
▪ Yet it is an area which practitioners can ill afford to ignore.
sb can't do sth to save his/her life
sb can't help (doing) sth
▪ I can't help it. I hear that song and I have to dance.
▪ I can't help wondering what happened to that little girl.
▪ Ron can't help the way he feels about her.
▪ You talk to the guy for five minutes, and you can't help but like him.
sb can't/couldn't be bothered (to do sth)
sb can/could do sth for England
sb cannot but do sth
sb could do worse than do sth
▪ A woman could do worse than be a nurse.
▪ He could do worse than spend his evening keeping an eye on her.
▪ In groping for useful precedents, one could do worse than heed the tale of a man named Sherwood Rowland.
▪ The West could do worse than to base its policy towards the Middle East on that aspiration.
▪ You could do worse than take a leaf out of the health economists' book.
sb had better/best do sth
sb is not shy about (doing) sth
sb may be pardoned for doing sth
sb will not be doing sth (again) in a hurry
sb won't thank you (for doing sth)
sb would give the world to do sth
sb would give their right arm to do sth
▪ These parents would give their right arms to get their kids into a prestigious school.
sb would sooner do sth (than)
sb/sth has yet to do sth
▪ Deion has yet to figure out how to throw to himself.
▪ Harland & Wolff has yet to show a profit, but the future looks good.
▪ His work retained a pronounced individuality and originality that has yet to be properly acknowledged.
▪ However, he said he has yet to consider his circumstances.
▪ However, the site this year has yet to be determined.
▪ If there is a success formula in that it has yet to be demonstrated.
▪ The savagery of our retaliation against the virus has yet to be played out.
▪ Whether it allows the exercise of force to be more controlled and effective has yet to be seen.
sb/sth is here to do sth
▪ We're here to serve you.
▪ Goebbels is here to show the pretty Magda the sights of Paris.
▪ Greg Lloyd is here to talk about defense, and the role of barely controlled violence in defense.
▪ In other words, the swimsuit issue is here to stay.
▪ Managed care is here to stay, experts at the conference agreed Wednesday.
▪ Miss Quinn is here to look after him.
▪ The Classics is here to stay.
▪ Those are the people, says Roth, he is here to serve.
▪ What Personal Computer is here to help you.
screw up the/enough courage to do sth
▪ But Janice's fear was so great she struggled through two more migraines before screwing up enough courage to try the injection.
▪ I eventually screwed up the courage to write to Richardson, pretending to be a drama student wanting advice.
see what sb/sth can do
▪ But I don't see what you can do about it.
▪ I hardly see what I can do that the consul can't.
▪ I will go into the streets and see what I can do.
▪ Perdita saw what they can do.
▪ The depth on this team -- you saw what Ship can do.
▪ Why not see what you can do?
▪ Will he see what he can do to persuade the public sector to follow the private sector's practice in this case?
see your way (clear) to doing sth
▪ Finally he could see his way clear to his goal.
▪ Small builders can not see their way to take on many trainees.
▪ There was just enough light for her to see her way to the bathroom.
see your way clear (to doing sth)
▪ If you can see your way clear, call this number to volunteer.
▪ Finally he could see his way clear to his goal.
see/think fit (to do sth)
▪ The government has seen fit to start testing more nuclear weapons.
▪ Add details as you see fit.
▪ For example, the firm can implement its own quality and inspection policies and amend these as they see fit.
▪ He was their final court of appeal and punished them as he saw fit.
▪ If particular LEAs see fit to alter their priorities and redeploy funds from one area to another, that is their decision.
▪ Meg had - this gift; the Lord saw fit - no qualms, she stole the jacket.
▪ Once the states knew the message of the day, they could reinforce it as they saw fit.
▪ The public can use, abuse or change the software in any way they see fit.
▪ There were some girls that I thought fit Selena more physically.
set on/upon/against (doing) sth
▪ A pail of cold water for washing was set on the floor so that performers had to bend over to use it.
▪ Lance Rees was set on as he passed the sorting office in Withernsea, Humberside, on his way to school.
▪ Manuel Perez's brother left after his house was set on fire.
▪ Margarett set upon the package, tearing at its wrappings, only to find beneath it another carton, then still another.
▪ Once again I detect a false opposition: an idealised reality set against the alien forces of darkness.
▪ They were hacked to death and their bodies set on fire.
▪ Time limits may be set on how long employees can leave their goods in storage and receive reimbursement from their employers.
▪ Were the limits set on their radiation exposure acceptable?
set to do sth
set your heart/mind/sights on (doing) sth
▪ But where there are sellers there are buyers, and it was this latter rare species we had set our sights on.
▪ Gazing intently into her computer screen, Christine Montgomery has set her sights on the next generation of electronic language translators.
▪ He knew he was bound to pull any girl he set his mind on - he always had.
▪ Heath had set her sights on the U. S. Senate seat from Colorado.
▪ Her youth and beauty elicited a predictable reaction from my father, who set his sights on her at once.
▪ Sofa Head's greatest asset is the realisation that you don't have to set your sights on one target.
▪ Wagner set his sights on a degree in electrical engineering, and he followed his star with a fervid intensity.
▪ Yes, she thought, if Tamar had set her mind on something she would never rest until it was accomplished.
set yourself against (doing) sth
▪ But pop sets itself against nature and abandons wisdom for folly, moments of dissipation.
▪ She leaned into him, set herself against him.
▪ The three Established Church representatives set themselves against; the other four who were Free Churchmen were for it.
▪ Why has the Supreme Court set itself against the will of the majority on such an unprecedented scale?
shame sb into doing sth
▪ His wife shamed him into handing the money back.
short of (doing) sth
▪ Short of selling the house, I don't know how we're going to get that amount of money.
▪ A pair to fit wellies which reach right up to the knee cost a penny short of a fiver.
▪ Apart from Ferkhan, everybody was short of food.
▪ Even in the best of years, Journal news coverage inevitably falls short of perfection.
▪ San Francisco may be running short of characters, but new communities pop up every day.
▪ That is nothing short of stupidity.
▪ The company said its earnings would fall short of previous expectations mainly because of lower earnings from its Gulf Printing unit.
▪ The House vote fell well short of the 291 required to override a veto.
sit down and do sth
▪ First we should sit down and work out the financing.
▪ But I found I could just sit down and play by ear.
▪ He sat down and pushed at the lid with one filthy paw.
▪ Something that makes you want to sit down and take notice.
▪ The harvesters stopped work, sat down and started to eat and drink.
▪ The Springboks sat down and waited.
▪ Then she sat down and started to eat.
▪ Then the Kuchas sat down and ate the fish in his honor.
▪ We can all sit down and analyze.
so as to do sth
▪ The little boy ran off so as not to be caught.
▪ Now it has just been seen that the laws of physics are efficiently ordered so as to produce highly desirable states.
▪ The regional economy has been reorganized so as to distribute tasks and responsibilities equitably.
▪ The spouts are placed so as to ensure no seed drops down the deep furrows immediately behind the subsoiler legs.
▪ Their identities are not revealed so as to prevent reprisals against their families.
▪ They immediately crossed the river and fired several houses in the village of DeSoto, so as to illuminate the river.
▪ Winsocks should be written so as to be accessible from either 32-bit or 16-bit workspace.
something to eat/drink/read/do etc
▪ But he was walking to a truck stop across the street, probably getting something to eat during his break.
▪ It had something to do with being a man.
▪ It had something to do with skills, and something to do with expectation and hope.
▪ Most calendar programs remind you gently when you have something to do.
▪ No, you can't dash out for something to eat.
▪ Of course, the beer might have had something to do with this.
▪ Then I rolled up my things in a blanket and went out and had something to eat.
▪ You've done it a thousand times already, but you do it again, just for something to do.
spare sb the trouble/difficulty/pain etc (of doing sth)
sporting chance (of doing sth)
▪ After all, you are meant to give the quarry a sporting chance.
stab at (doing) sth
▪ A few years earlier, the Sellers shops had taken some early stabs at the problem.
▪ But the extreme suffering of women and their children stabbed at my heart.
▪ But there was an interesting sequel, which gave him his first, insightful, small stab at directing.
▪ But this last little stab at optimism soon comes to naught.
▪ He stabbed at it with his talons and beak.
▪ I knew the day and the month and made a stab at the year.
▪ Of course, she thought with a stab at realism, all this could apply to anyone.
▪ There have been several other attempts with the Department of Defense that took a stab at a new vehicle.
stand a chance/hope (of doing sth)
▪ You'll stand a better chance of getting a job with a degree.
▪ C., woman fumed outside the museum where a crowd stood hoping to get a ticket to hear Wiesel.
▪ Dougal didn't struggle: even if he could have got out of the duvet, he wouldn't have stood a chance.
▪ In the face of Queeensrÿche they didn't stand a chance.
▪ No Labour rethink that ignores this will stand a chance of success in the future.
▪ Schools from across the country craved his talents, but only two stood a chance.
▪ The rest must keep pace if they are to stand a chance-advertising works.
▪ The women stand a chance in the foil competition with Charlene DiMiceli.
▪ This was the crunch match they really had to win to stand a chance of staying up.
stand to do sth
▪ He stands to make a good deal of money.
▪ The Senate stood to welcome the new President.
▪ Would you all please stand to sing hymn 106?
▪ A gene in a splurge-weed cell stands to gain by promoting the reproduction of its cell.
▪ Concierges also stand to make money out of sports tickets.
▪ Doug Jones stands to inherit the Myers' closer role.
▪ For a while we stand to one side, then sit down in the second row of benches.
▪ Kitty probably stands to gain a couple mill.
▪ One report suggested off-course bookmakers stood to lose as much as £100,000.
▪ The guide should have made us all stand to attention and salute.
▪ There are now nine partners who stand to profit from the sale.
stop short of (doing) sth
▪ Shepherd stopped short of calling him a liar.
▪ Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
▪ Eric Gray charged back up the court before stopping short of the center line.
▪ Even if it stops short of this extreme, retroactive cost justification is largely ineffective.
▪ He stopped short of making recommendations about weapons programs in his 90-minute meeting at the White House.
▪ I know people who would maim and yet stop short of murder.
▪ In fact, no general pattern is discernible, except that almost all stop short of full accountability to Parliament.
▪ Yet the argument against Ashdown's triumphalism has to stop short of encouraging the same fatal hubris among Labour politicians.
stop short of doing sth
▪ Paula stopped just short of calling me a thief.
▪ But they have stopped short of rejecting the idea altogether.
▪ Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
▪ Even then I stopped short of making a complaint.
▪ He believed in a kind of progressive development of forms, but like Forbes stopped short of an actual evolutionary theory.
▪ His passion has only just stopped short of writing a structural critique of the civil engineering faults at Valhalla.
▪ Wisely, perhaps, Marochnik stops short of drawing any dramatic conclusions, but two things are clear.
▪ Yet we stop short of analysing what it is.
take a bit of doing/explaining etc
▪ It took a bit of doing - for instance, the disposal site had to check out 100 percent.
▪ It took a bit of explaining.
▪ That's going to take a bit of explaining.
take advantage of sth (to do sth)
▪ Accordingly he took advantage of a new pope to address the curia for favourable letters.
▪ Meanwhile, authorities can take advantage of experience with the existing system in both rural and urban areas.
▪ Skaven erupt to take advantage of the disaster.
▪ The commission estimates that at least seven companies took advantage of the program.
▪ The Franks took advantage of this by seizing some islands which the Saxons had held.
▪ The Project also took advantage of the vast numbers of our supporters eager to stand up to the bullies at the clinics.
▪ We just hope tens of thousands of other Star subscribers can take advantage of this major price cut, too.
▪ While S-HTTP will be able to take advantage of ubiquitous certification infrastructures, its deployment does not require it.
take delight in (doing) sth
▪ My dad took delight in calling me "The Big Ox" when I started growing taller than the other girls.
▪ But do I take delight in pushing you down, making you worse?
▪ Congressional wives take delight in pointing out that kind of error to their husbands.
▪ John, of course, had long since lost his northern accent and took delight in his appearance as the well-heeled businessman.
▪ Or a human parent will take delight in teaching their child to walk and talk and do so many things.
▪ The story of the purchase of Sarah's burial plot is comedy, and comedy frequently takes delight in debunking heroes.
▪ They remember you at your most awkward and unformed and they take delight in reminding you of it.
▪ You take delight in vexing me.
take it upon/on yourself to do sth
▪ He didn't dare take it upon himself to enlighten her further.
▪ He might be unwelcome, but he had taken it upon himself to come on over the first moment he heard.
▪ If we want our children to know certain information, perhaps we should take it upon ourselves to teach them.
▪ It is a dangerous path, however, when the executive takes it upon itself to qualify Parliament's decisions.
▪ Many problems can be prevented if you take it upon yourself to keep the lines of communication clear.
▪ Pius took it upon himself to proclaim the Dogma of the Assumption.
▪ Sir Herbert Morgan took it upon himself to act as chairman of an unofficial committee to help realise the three-year project.
▪ So I took it upon myself to tell her, old nosey-parker that I am.
take some doing
▪ Getting this old car to run is going to take some doing.
▪ It took some doing, but I finally persuaded Jim to give me a few more days off.
▪ Winning 3 gold medals in the Olympic Games takes some doing.
▪ Catching up four goals will take some doing.
▪ It takes some doing for a couple to counter the opposition of either family.
▪ It took some doing, but I was out the next day.
▪ So I have to prise off the foe unassisted, which, believe me, takes some doing.
▪ This Series can be saved, but it will take some doing.
▪ This took some doing, as they seemed prepared to stay all night.
▪ Whew, that took some doing, I can tell you.
take the lead (in doing sth)
▪ It shows what is being done right now by companies taking the lead.
▪ It took only eight minutes for Portadown to take the lead.
▪ It was Olsson who had taken the lead with the jump immediately before Edwards when he leapt 17.47m.
▪ Meanwhile, in the brothers' partnership, Joe took the lead.
▪ Principals are key players and are encouraged to take the lead to ensure that identification procedures are implemented.
▪ Toronto took the lead on the power play with less than two minutes remaining in the second period.
▪ United took the lead midway through the first half.
take time out (to do sth)
▪ A: I am going to take time out and go to college.
▪ Actress Beverley D'Angelo is taking time out from her screen career to perform a risqué country set across the Bible belt.
▪ At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.
▪ Despite his increasingly hectic schedule, Haden graciously took time out to be interviewed about the Quartet and the Jazzfest tour.
▪ I shall take time out to call at Aurae Phiala.
▪ If you actually worked for Jobs, he took time out from preaching the Mac gospel to meddle in your life.
▪ Nurses in Training Questions: Do nurse teachers take time out to discuss their teaching methods with their peers?
▪ The 73-year-old Republican standard-bearer took time out of his busy campaign schedule last week to search for those roots.
take/go to (great) pains to do sth
▪ However, composers often go to great pains to keep to true intervals.
▪ Mr Lendrem has gone to great pains to establish one thing: that all of his preconceptions concerning bird behaviour are true.
tend to do sth
▪ Bill tends to talk too much when he's nervous.
▪ Dave tends to arrive late, so don't worry yet.
▪ It tends to rain a lot during the winter.
▪ My father tends to interfere too much in other people's business.
▪ Recent studies show that girls tend to be better at languages than boys.
▪ The problem with this model of car is that the gearbox tends to seize up.
▪ Elizabeth Dole, on the other hand, tends to keep her own moderate views bottled up inside.
▪ He died while tending to plague victims.
▪ Hodgskin expounded a minimalist conception of the state, insisting that government tended to shackle the energies and liberties of individuals.
▪ However; the defiant child also tends to have a little better postural control than the overly sensitive child.
▪ Just beyond the crest they will tend to accumulate, for the effect of the wind is felt less here.
▪ Modern planting tends to be done in large blocks, not for shelter, but as a crop in its own right.
▪ Since costs tend to rise inexorably, attempts to stabilize public spending have essentially meant cuts in actual services.
▪ The long-wave school tends to see historical phases more cyclically, and to encounter repetitions and similarities between cycles.
that will do nicely
that would/will never do
▪ Bless my best boots, that would never do at all.
▪ Oh, no, that would never do, would it?
that'll teach you (to do sth)
the damage is done
▪ Ed apologized a week later, but the damage was already done.
▪ Crew scurries to cover the lanes and approaches, but the damage is done.
▪ For the most part, the damage is done by soluble aluminium released from soil by acid water.
▪ It is when guilt lingers into adulthood that the damage is done.
▪ The concert is still reverberating in our ears and the damage is done.
▪ The symptoms are often obvious, identifiable, and even treatable before the damage is done.
▪ Well, the damage is done now.
the done thing
▪ For the great majority, the industrial co-operative is just not the done thing.
▪ I suppose it was not the done thing for a book of Rambles.
▪ It being, of course, not the done thing to drop your trousers in public.
the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing sth)
▪ I therefore inherited the dubious honour of making it available on loan to youth workers.
▪ Mr Edmond has the dubious honour of being tried by the District of Columbia's first anonymous jury.
▪ Sarah, left alone, had the dubious distinction of being the last of all the Titfords in Frome.
the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing
the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing
the mechanics of (doing) sth
▪ He may not understand the mechanics of cooking, but he certainly enjoys fine food.
▪ A lack of knowledge of the mechanics of the council may prejudice the success of a good proposal.
▪ Council members actively began to seek information about the mechanics of housing rehabilitation programs in other cities.
▪ Exhibit 4. 6 illustrates the mechanics of this process.
▪ For more on the mechanics of doing this see Behaviour modification on page 16.
▪ He scooped up the heavy wet snow, digging hard, his mind ticking through the mechanics of a last nifty illusion.
▪ The passages that follow illustrate the mechanics of this type of metaphor.
▪ We then use the diagram to go over the mechanics of monetary and fiscal policy.
▪ Yes, your garden-master was only a puppet, and yes, the mechanics of it were built by others in Spiderglass.
the minute (that) sb does sth
▪ The minute I say something is cute, she'll hate it.
the moment (that) sb does sth
▪ Been getting hold of a bit of meth, but it's fairly hard to come by at the moment.
▪ Does it enable them to make the right choice in the heat of the moment?
▪ In the heat of the moment it does not usually look as if there is anything to be done about the heat.
the obvious thing (to do)
▪ But they haven't done the obvious thing and abandoned ship.
▪ I had always loved walking so it seemed the obvious thing to do.
▪ It would be the obvious thing to do under the circumstances.
▪ Looking at it from a businessman's point of view, it's the obvious thing to do.
▪ To drop it as soon as it was ready seemed natural, the obvious thing to do.
the wherewithal to do sth
▪ His family didn't have the wherewithal to send him to college.
▪ A force of thirty-six tourists but he doubted they had the wherewithal to hold up a gas stat1on.
▪ And we were filling the orders at full retail price, which small businesses were suddenly finding the wherewithal to pay.
▪ Back then, I looked like some one with the wherewithal to buy things.
▪ But because they have the wherewithal to be heard.
▪ By the end of the emancipation process, the authorities lacked the wherewithal to pay for the transference of land.
▪ None of them have the wherewithal to conceive of a Reconciliation.
▪ Whereas conventional criminals lack the wherewithal to pay for being placed on probation, no such inability is true for corporations.
▪ Without images, he said, there would not even be the wherewithal to talk about the death of images.
there is no percentage in doing sth
there is no question of sth happening/sb doing sth
▪ Each has much to offer to the other and there is no question of one tradition being right and the other wrong.
▪ Even if the practice overspends its funds, there is no question of patients not getting the treatment they need.
▪ Since there is no means of changing the weather, there is no question of protest.
▪ This again suggests that the boys may have been in the wrong, which there is no question of in Ballantyne.
▪ This particularly applies where there is no question of a divorced previous spouse.
▪ This phenomenon is distinct from onomatopoeia - it is sometimes called sound symbolism: there is no question of auditory resemblance.
▪ Yet there is no question of one's hair rising.
there's no doing sth
▪ And there's no mystery to bands any more.
▪ But police experts say there's no evidence to support that.
▪ But there's no way to get money for real investment.
▪ He says that the budget is a disaster, there's no way that the county can now avoid charge capping.
▪ I - I've decided that since you've got everything under control there's no point in my staying here any longer.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Make sure there's no plan to change the exam format this year.
▪ With amateurs there's no point in paying, they're likely to kill the victim off anyway, out of fear.
there's no harm in doing sth/it does no harm to do sth
there's no need (for sb) to do sth
▪ There's no need to shout - I'm not deaf!
▪ There was no need for me to stay there.
▪ And there's no need for us to move to the city.
▪ But there's no need to join to get out on the water.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Police say there's no need for genuine fans to be any more worried now that Swindon's in the big league.
▪ Whatever the cause, there's no need for you to worry.
there's nothing for it but to do sth
think nothing of doing sth
▪ He'd think nothing of checking up on a fellow's credentials.
▪ He thought nothing of playing in ten or eleven consecutive events.
▪ He would think nothing of walking up and hugging you.
▪ I thought nothing of it, just that whoever closed the house up had overlooked it.
▪ She just found it hard to be owned by customers; men especially thought nothing of appraising her through her clothes.
▪ The Human Piranha, a Harvard graduate, thought nothing of it.
▪ They have been in the middle of war and think nothing of hearing shooting all round them.
▪ When she was young enough to travel alone and think nothing of it.
think of/about doing sth
▪ I've often thought about starting my own business.
think to do sth
▪ Conflicts long thought to be unsolvable are moving toward resolution.
▪ He needn't have feared, she thought to herself sadly.
▪ It's thought to be that of a man last seen in May after a fight in a pub.
▪ It was a good job I was a groom and didn't need to think to muck-out.
▪ Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has declared its intention of buying up to 15 percent and is thought to be quietly picking up stock.
▪ Not surprisingly, some of these patients are thought to have food intolerance.
▪ Sam Fong experienced an odd sensation on seeing some one he had always thought to be his enemy.
▪ They are thought to introduce too many complications.
tired of (doing) sth
▪ But by then, the hedgehog was tired of waiting and was walking away across the croquet-ground.
▪ His sister, Marie, his children-they had all grown tired of him.
▪ I am old, and tired of life.
▪ It was April, his children were tired of riding, and his wife, Clara, was pregnant.
▪ It was possible, of course, but not likely that Zacco had grown tired of his Christmas truce.
▪ She is tired of being asked.
▪ This line has won him widespread backing among middle class voters tired of 17 uninterrupted years of Tory rule.
▪ We are getting tired of people behaving like prima donnas.
trust you/him/them etc (to do sth)!
try your hand at (doing) sth
▪ A visit to West Dorset also offers a perfect opportunity to try your hand at windsurfing.
▪ If you have the urge to try your hand at a grant, do so!
▪ Isaac Mizrahi tried his hand at the corset, and in the process turned out some fabulous evening dresses.
▪ It's time to try my hand at the settled life.
▪ Just like Walsh, too, Robinson first tried his hand at broadcasting.
▪ Many who are in the process of acquiring these technical skills may wish to try their hand at grantsmanship.
▪ More than once, more than a dozen times I have been tempted to try my hand at another profession.
▪ Plenty of Christians have tried their hand at putting their beliefs into prose or poetry, usually with calamitous aesthetic results.
turn around and say/do etc sth
▪ After a couple of months, the Sioux turned around and came back west without permission.
▪ Each was turned around and the wrists cuffed behind their backs.
▪ He turned around and saw the first Stillman shuffling off in the other direction.
▪ He turned around and slowed down, seeing no sign of the monsters.
▪ Lepine turns around and starts spraying the students in the front rows with gunfire.
▪ She turned around and went back to sit in the road.
▪ There was no way to maneuver, even to turn around and get out if we had to.
▪ Why turn around and do the same to one of our own?
turn your hand to (doing) sth
▪ Adam Burns was probably good at everything he turned his hand to.
▪ Adult women could often turn their hand to more than one form of casual employment.
▪ Friday marks the start of a new music programme as Channel 4 turns its hand to dance.
▪ He has had to be able to turn his hand to almost anything.
▪ I have turned my hand to trying a bit of writing and I keep meaning to take it up again.
▪ Roth also turned his hand to poetry, his best-known volume being, as you no doubt guessed, his Shit Poems.
▪ She can also turn her hand to mending and spotting.
▪ She turned her hand to short stories, getting two published in the early 1990s.
unaccustomed to (doing) sth
▪ Hazel, like nearly all wild animals, was unaccustomed to look up at the sky.
▪ Human Resource departments are also unaccustomed to classifying employees according to these informal roles that are so vital to innovation.
▪ Many had, during marriage, distinct conjugal roles and were therefore quite unaccustomed to undertaking partners' household tasks.
▪ Some of these visitors will be unaccustomed to country roads and to the hazards of walking along a road with no footpath.
▪ They had grown unaccustomed to using their power of collective action.
▪ They were people who were unaccustomed to silence, who were comforted by the racket of their own voices.
▪ Unemployed or still at school, often unaccustomed to budget discipline, young people now have unprecedented opportunities to outspend their means.
▪ We became unaccustomed to silence, which was a signal for alarm.
undertake to do sth
▪ Each country undertakes to negotiate in good faith.
▪ ACE/AGIT recommend that one of the governors undertakes to look after the interests of the children with special educational needs.
▪ At the beginning of his reign, Herod undertook to establish currency and legitimacy for himself.
▪ But Claire Fraser was out there and he had undertaken to find her and persuade her to come home.
▪ In addition, extensive research is being undertaken to improve existing lines and develop new products.
▪ Labour must also undertake to curb spiralling local government spending.
▪ The artist must undertake to act reasonably at all times if offered fair advice by his or her manager.
▪ The government in turn undertook to keep price increases to a minimum.
▪ They agreed to return to their barracks after the government undertook to pay them their January and February salaries.
unprepared to do sth
▪ The ferry was unprepared to handle a disaster.
▪ And exposed unprepared to view a patient whose appearance caused me to warn a hardened policeman!
▪ It is unprepared to offer them the skilled attention that they need.
▪ Many grandparents are financially unprepared to care for their grandchildren.
▪ They were thus unprepared to deal with social and cultural problems of Tanganyikan hospitals in other than a technical fashion.
▪ This also left certain Negro Volunteers unprepared to make the necessary adjustment, and led to the same kind of painful surprise.
▪ When the four women finally did enroll last September, school officials were unwilling or unprepared to meet the challenge.
unused to (doing) sth
▪ He was a man who was unused to sitting still.
▪ I was unused to the heavy city traffic.
▪ He walked a little uncertainly, unused to the solid earth under his feet.
▪ If you are unused to exercise, it hurts.
▪ Jonathon's eyes, unprotected, blinked on and off, unused to open air.
▪ Negotiations are sometimes difficult, especially when styles vary and both sides are unused to such interactions.
▪ Of course it was faintly possible that masons unused to waterproofing could nevertheless carry out the architects' detailed instructions effectively.
▪ She was unused to booze, the bloody Marys; still a little woozy.
▪ The men, however, for the most part, were unused to marching.
▪ The tendency for anyone unused to such enormous forces is literally to be thrown over the handlebars.
up and do sth
warn sb off (doing) sth
was/were to do sth
waste no time (in) doing sth
▪ Peter wasted no time finding himself another girlfriend.
▪ Additionally, less electricity is used and the chef wastes no time waiting for the correct temperature to be reached.
▪ Emil, the crew and I wasted no time watching.
▪ If it demurred, the Corps might waste no time in trying to build it instead.
▪ Lee wasted no time entering Maryland, the men being in high spirits as the bold move was made.
▪ Ringwald wastes no time wedging herself between McGaw and his coed girlfriend, Sarah Lassez.
▪ Shouting to Wemyss to cope with this situation, Douglas wasted no time.
▪ The man's wife had wasted no time going through his closets picking up worn and odd pairs.
▪ The Right was wasting no time, meanwhile.
well done!/well played!
what can/do you expect?
▪ Nothing spectacular but what do you expect from beginners?!!!
▪ Sad about the Derwent but what can we expect?
▪ Sure, what do you expect for that kind of money?
▪ What can we expect in the future?
▪ What can you expect from those young people in the small towns.
▪ What do you expect from an also-ran business publication like Fortune?
what do you mean ...?
what do you say?
▪ How about going to Europe this summer? What do you say?
▪ And what do we say of the present day psychiatrist how mad, how mad?.
▪ Come on, what do ya say?
▪ I am like well what did she say?
▪ Now what do you say to a goofy question like that?
▪ Question, what did he say to your statements?
▪ Well, brother, what do you say to a girl not seen or heard from for five years.
▪ Well, hey; what do you say to us taking the card game someplace else?
what do you want?
▪ What do you want now? I'm busy.
▪ By the way, what do you want for your birthday?
▪ I can't pretend to be, and you know it, so what do you want?
▪ I was like, okay, what do you want to bet?
▪ Now what do you want me to do?
▪ So we have to ask ourselves, what do these machines really want to do, what do they want to wear?
what does it matter?
▪ We'll do it tomorrow or the next day. What does it matter?
▪ Hill people, valley people, what does it matter if gullibility remains unaffected by our environments?
▪ The same as what does it matter whether or not I was a virgin when I met Gillian?
▪ Well, what does it matter?
what does sb care?
▪ He tells the chauffeur to go gas up the limo, and what does he care?
what does sb know?
▪ I'm not going to listen to Martha. What does she know?
▪ My chaplain snorts in derision but what does he know?
what else can sb do/say?
▪ I told her it looked good. What else could I say?
▪ I do about three hundred sit-ups a day and it still refuses to firm up, but what else can I do?
▪ P.S. Awful - but what else can one do?
▪ So what else can Florida do?
▪ What else can a sinner say?
▪ What else can he realistically do?
▪ What else can I do for you Jim?
▪ What else can I do to improve things?
what possessed sb (to do sth)?
▪ I don't know what possessed me to buy such an ugly dress.
whatever you do
▪ Whatever you do, don't tell Judy that I spent so much money.
▪ But Tess, in answer to your question, whatever you do, don't tell your future husband anything about your past experience.
▪ But, whatever they do, says Quinn, they do not determine strategies.
▪ Gallagher understood that, whatever he did, he would violate his principles.
▪ I just go to a movie and come home, so whatever they do, they should stick to it.
▪ I tried, also, to accompany and chronicle whatever we did together with talk.
▪ Lawyers must be prepared to undergo scrutiny and be held accountable for whatever they do.
▪ The twenty fifth anniversary may be special but for some fans whatever they do the band just can't go wrong.
▪ This is the result of my experience and your money and a touch of genius that follows me whatever I do.
when all's said and done
where do you draw the line?
▪ Once you open the door to things that are not related to the Holocaust, where do you draw the line?
▪ That obviously does not extend to the levels of awareness which human consciousness exhibits, but where do you draw the line?
▪ Where do you draw the line?
where does sb/sth go from here?
▪ He has just turned 25 years old and the question is: Where does he go from here?
▪ So where does Dirk go from here?
▪ The question now is, where does UMass go from here?
who is sb to do sth?
▪ Who are you to tell me what to do?
▪ But who is qualified to lead us on this Crusade?
▪ Dean Cook, who is leaving to go back to university.
▪ Discussion about how each subject is to be covered will identify who is needed to do the teaching.
▪ First job is to check that Tony, a boy who is brought to school by mini-cab is in.
▪ It is not always the missionary who is reluctant to change outward forms.
▪ Rhodes is an outstanding defensive player who is expected to flourish as a small forward or shooting guard.
▪ This is a boon for anyone who is hypersensitive to the latter solvents.
▪ Thus Austen represents in her a portrait of one who is a stranger to love but wedded to reason.
who/what etc do you think?
▪ But what do you think my parents would think if I were to become involved with you?
▪ Cleaving to the bosom of my grieving family? What do you think they're doing?
▪ If I have a son, I think I shall send him. What do you think?
▪ Lady: What do you think is the most important aspect of herself a woman should preserve as she grows older?
▪ Let's see how you rate in that area. What do you think we go in for, here in Perugia?
▪ Q: Speaking of which, what do you think of Frank Gifford?
▪ What do you think of your manager? What do you think of our personnel policies and how they're working?
why doesn't sb do sth?
▪ Why don't you give me your number, and I'll call you.
▪ Why not have the picnic in Glendale?
will/would stop at nothing (to do sth)
▪ Clearly, Franco would stop at nothing to retain his hegemonic position.
▪ Detectives are hunting three masked raiders who they believe will stop at nothing.
▪ Luke Calder was a coolly calculating, ruthless man who would stop at nothing to get where or what he wanted.
▪ Robert Sheldrake is an unscrupulous man who will stop at nothing to get this practice.
with a view to (doing) sth
▪ They've torn down the old buildings with a view to renovating the whole neighborhood.
▪ Loyalists are rumoured to be arming themselves, with a view to throwing the federal government out of the kingdom.
▪ Once a year, take a look at how your investments have performed, with a view to dumping the persistent laggards.
▪ The Commerce Clause was not drawn with a view to having the validity of state laws turn on such pointless distinctions.
▪ The public policy of the United States is shaped with a view to the benefit of the nation as a whole.
with an eye to (doing) sth
▪ Departments with an eye to the ratings tend to appoint established researchers with proven records, rather than younger, unpublished candidates.
▪ Each side was building its forces with an eye to gaining military supremacy.
▪ He had the personality for it, strong, aggressive and with an eye to a bargain.
▪ He recently shed a number of pounds, which even some friends say he lost with an eye to a national race.
▪ Lord Taylor's main point is to suggest that judges should pass sentence with an eye to the public's expectations.
▪ So she works with an eye to adjusting the Outside world too.
▪ These are also designed with an eye to reassuring those who did well out of the switch from rates to poll tax.
within an ace of (doing) sth
▪ I came within an ace of slapping her around.
without wanting/wishing to do sth
▪ Without wanting to, Rose was drawn to watch.
▪ Without wishing to be demeaning, computer literacy and competence is not particularly high on the list of archival training.
▪ Without wishing to scare you unduly, you should be aware that sharks do lurk out there.
▪ Without wishing to tempt providence in any way, we appear to have got away lighting in so far as Winter is concerned.
▪ He had had enough experience of strangers probing his own hurts without wanting to pry into those of others.
▪ Lying in bed, she thought of him without wanting to hurt him at all.
▪ She sank deep down again, unable to stay alert, and saw without wanting to a giant Catherine-wheel in the sky.
▪ The expectation from government industrial ReD is one of reducing dependency on imports without wanting to achieve self-sufficiency.
work/effort etc involved in doing sth
▪ A further disadvantage is the work involved in returning the manure to the field.
▪ It is also often used to pay for the preliminary work involved in making applications for civil and criminal legal aid.
▪ She would like to know their reaction to the work involved in taking the course. 14.
▪ The chief drawback to small-scale silage-making is the extra physical work involved in handling the green crop with its high water content.
▪ The effort involved in constructing such circles was enormous.
▪ The work involved in writing this summation must have been back-breaking, and certainly took years of research.
▪ We have to do the more general piece of work involved in clearing one more bias from our morality.
worm your way out of (doing) sth
▪ Somehow Ben wormed his way out of mowing the lawn.
would it be possible (for sb) to do sth?
▪ Would it be possible to get together at 6:30 instead of 5?
would you be good enough to do sth?
▪ Would you be good enough to get my glasses for me?
▪ Would you be good enough to re-advise me of your full address so that I can send the documents to you?
would you be good/kind enough to do sth?
would you be kind enough to do sth/be so kind as to do sth
would you care to do sth?
▪ Would you care to comment on that, Senator?
would/do you mind ...?
wouldn't dream of (doing) sth
you know/do you know
you need only do sth/all you need do is ...
you won't catch me doing sth
▪ You won't catch me ironing his shirts!
you would be well-advised to do sth
you would be well/ill advised to do sth
II.verbCOLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
better
▪ He did better junior year, despite the fact that he spent nearly all of it arguing with the priests.
▪ Hoffert said the business grossed about $ 285,000 last year, and will do better in 2000.
▪ There are hopes it may do better as a hi-tech business park.
▪ At this she played cards with a bridge-a-matic, that she might do better in the neighborhood club.
▪ Alamaro and Patrick think they can do better.
▪ It is rarely about disloyalty but invariably about clients believing they can do better.
▪ As the two screamed at each other, Eng challenged Alvin to go out onstage and do better that night.
▪ If followed, children and their parents are likely to feel better and do better.
so
▪ Plainly, the first answer is that to do so encourages further violence.
▪ Countries that seem unable or unwilling to communicate directly with each other can do so indirectly by providing information to the media.
▪ If you wish to report an offence that was committed abroad, arrange to do so through your local police station.
▪ He did so even after being advised to stay away because he might interfere with firefighting efforts.
▪ But at other times they seem completely mystified by how to do so.
▪ White tablecloths and black napkins rolled and tucked with white paper napkins for a tuxedo appeal can only do so much.
▪ To do so he would have to ask Parliament to approve legislation to change the date.
▪ But never have parents been required to do so much.
well
▪ Haruo Arima, the Communists' chief campaign strategist, believes his party could do well.
▪ The children would do well, also, to become educated about the aging process.
▪ Our selectors would do well to not pay too much attention to birth certificates.
▪ The implication: one does well to regard oneself as a legendary figure.
▪ Even so we would do well to attend to what it has to tell us.
▪ Parents would do well to discuss them with their doctor or hospital personnel before birth. 1.
▪ She works hard, does well at school, gains a reputation for being clever and is liked only by her teachers.
▪ Management is a tough job to do well even under the best circumstances because of the demands and personal commitment required.
■ NOUN
harm
▪ On the other hand, she was gorgeous and it could do no harm to say hello.
▪ Bohemian protest did them the most harm.
▪ Prohibition does not work, and it does far more harm than the substance itis supposed to protect us against.
▪ Most people have been exposed to it, but if your-immune system is intact the protozoa will seldom do harm.
▪ A few days or weeks of not wanting to think about it will do no harm.
▪ One person choosing to have only sons does nobody else any harm, but if everybody does it, everybody suffers.
▪ When taken in the prescribed manner they have never been shown to do any harm.
▪ It was like a natural supplement and, I am sure, did no harm and may have done some good.
job
▪ Yet Britain's current choice is unchanged: do the job properly-or get out.
▪ Everyone has to do their job.
▪ It would probably have been alright if Jock hadn't been too busy to do the job himself.
▪ He did a really good job on those.
▪ The book does a good job in explaining the basics of the techniques to the novice reader.
▪ If this were all that the four officers had to do, the job would be hard enough.
▪ When duty calls, Bob Dole does his job.
▪ You all will write: The defense did its job, and then the rest of it will be about the offense.
lot
▪ That's a rookie manoeuvre that a lot of people do.
▪ Art critics have a lot of explaining to do.
▪ Wayne Gretzky had a lot to do with that.
▪ The level of arousal has a lot to do with general feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
▪ Getting people on your side has a lot to do with spirit, a lot to do with team atmosphere.
▪ Of course, if it gets nicked, you've got a lot of shopping to do.
▪ Getting people on your side has a lot to do with spirit, a lot to do with team atmosphere.
thing
▪ An appropriate time for Dole to speak his mind; and, at one level, an obviously sensible thing to do.
▪ And no one argued with any crazy thing she wanted to do for him.
▪ In contrast to boiling it alive, freezing an invertebrate to death is a humane thing to do.
▪ We believed that the first thing that you did for your country was to defend it.
▪ One of the things he tries to do in that interview is to create the impression there was a written agreement.
▪ I am not sure that I shot at anybody in particular, but it was a good thing to do.
▪ Is it the right thing to do?
▪ Certainly the best thing to do in remembering Allen Ginsberg is to read his work, and keep reading it.
things
▪ But there were frequent little things he did in speech that irritated me.
▪ Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith found that government must focus on fewer things and do them better.
▪ There are important things to do.
▪ There are some things that you can do to help yourself get through the three-phase transition process.
▪ Blackmailed Dear Blackmailed: You have two things you must do.
▪ But consensus-building is one of the things that Reyes Heroles does best.
▪ Peter asked me to identify the specific things each person did that I interpreted as bad.
▪ One of the first things it did was catch you in a lie, Doll.
way
▪ And look for ways to do so that chime with that inclusive side of Mr Bush's political character.
▪ And No. 2, the way we did it has done a lot of damage.
▪ But maybe not quite the way he did it.
▪ But there is one story which, in a cryptic and covert way, does.
▪ Nicotine appears to stimulate brain cells in nearly the same way that cocaine does, new research finds.
▪ You know these insurance companies discriminate against old houses the way they do old people.
▪ There are many ways to do this.
▪ You are finding a way to do this in a natural, not contrived, manner.
work
▪ It now needs to recruit or manufacture some additional fibres to enable it to do the work.
▪ We had planned for him to just be the contractor, to do the work.
▪ Then you can go home and you will be strong to do work tomorrow.
▪ The corporations are getting exceedingly rich, but manage to kiss off those who do the actual work for them.
▪ The person who does all this work is usually female.
▪ We are here to help you and we will do whatever work is required without complaint.
▪ We once did some work with a software firm whose competitor had introduced a wildly successful new home finance program.
▪ The owner told the boy to take a section of the car and do the repair work.
■ VERB
decide
▪ In short, I decided to do him in.
▪ She became quite skilled at this, so she decided to do an evening computer installation and repair qualification.
▪ The Republicans were expected to run a blue-ribbon reformer, so the Democrats decided to do the same.
▪ However much he thought about it, he just could not decide what to do or even what to do first.
▪ It took four years of falling glass for the architects and construction company to decide what to do.
▪ I decided to do the back.
▪ Often, it was up to each examiner to decide what to do to prevent contamination.
expect
▪ I expect her to do a cartwheel, and hope to see those pants again.
▪ Since you were professional, he expected you to do your job.
▪ We can not expect teachers to do the impossible.
▪ I expect that he will do his part to fulfil the agreement between us and him.
▪ I never expected to do this.
▪ His health was clearly failing, but he did what he always expected his boxers to do.
▪ But could they have been expected to do so, more than a hundred years ago?
▪ She had always looked for similarities and expected everyone else to do the same.
let
▪ If Mr Putin wants to coddle war criminals, let him do it on his own nickel.
▪ The equipment that lets you do the job at home turns home life into moonlighting.
▪ I prefer to let others do the persuading 1b.
▪ Find out what people do, and find ways to let them do more of it.
▪ But not all methods will let you do everything.
▪ Leese, as was his practice, let me do all the flying.
need
▪ All they need to do is walk down the stairs and it'd be the right time.
▪ What we need to do is franchise.
▪ We did everything we needed to do.
▪ And that they needed to do something quickly to shrink the brain a little.
▪ All that you need to do is persevere-and the rest will take care of itself.
▪ As a result, many businesses are having to scramble to get the overnight letters and packages they need to do business.
▪ As a society we need to do something about it-soon.
▪ What we needed to do was win football games.
suppose
▪ And what was he as the pastor of Holy Trinity supposed to do to satisfy them?
▪ What are unemployed job hunters supposed to do? &038;.
▪ What was I supposed to do?
▪ Yes, Harbaugh passes, as present-day quarterbacks are supposed to do, but he also runs, and sometimes on purpose.
▪ I suppose I do, Willie.
▪ Now I was supposed to do something.
try
▪ Large corporations, to the extent that they innovated at all, tried to do it all in-house.
▪ I have a definite idea of what I am trying to do and I want to stay with it.
▪ If we do snap, though, it's only fair to apologise and try to do better next time.
▪ What will the president and his presumed Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill try to do to force consideration of the measure?
▪ It's really a wonder that he hasn't tried to do her in.
▪ And, in part because he tried to do too many things.
▪ A lonely person who was trying to do something about it.
▪ We try to do it without much fuss.
want
▪ You may not want to do what you know is right.
▪ Many people I know can not understand why I would want to do it.
▪ They liked the gardens and wildlife they saw on television and wanted to do something.
▪ What they want to do is find a way to use the technology to make money, a prospect that remains unclear.
▪ But I just know what I want to do.
▪ And of course, what you want to do is prevent it from happening.
▪ All Miss Bird wanted to do was to contemplate the Falls in solitude, but that was difficult.
▪ Do we want to do the rest of the wilderness with it, too?
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(do/try) the ... thing
▪ Rick's doing the starving artist thing right now.
Do you have a problem with that?
▪ "You're going to wear that dress?" "Do you have a problem with that?"
England expects that every man will do his duty
I do so/it is so etc
I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth)
▪ I wouldn't put it past Colin to lie to his wife.
I'm not in the habit of doing sth
▪ I'm not in the habit of lying to my friends.
I'm not prepared to do sth
▪ I'm not prepared to let them take my business without a fight.
I'm only/just doing my job
When in Rome (, do as the Romans do)
a done deal
▪ Not a done deal Despite the agreement, the preservation of the Headwaters Grove still is not a done deal.
▪ Still, there are many who say prions are not a done deal.
a genius for (doing) sth
▪ He has a genius for conducting but he doesn't enjoy doing it.
▪ I recall one private who had a genius for drawing....
▪ Joan was discovered to have a genius for turning an ancient block of stone into a home.
▪ Jobs had a genius for building group identity.
▪ Mat had a genius for sensitivity.
▪ Mr Havel, who has a genius for pinpointing the absurd, smiled gently and sipped at some mineral water.
▪ The Clinton staff developed a genius for tapping into the emotions and aspirations of a winning number of voters.
▪ Woosnam has a genius for golf that Teravainen lacks, or at least has not yet developed.
all the more reason why/to do sth
▪ But that's all the more reason why we should go off this time with a car well filled, eh?
▪ If some material is lost already, that is all the more reason to stop a lapse becoming a loophole.
▪ That means there is all the more reason to oppose the willed destruction of old things.
▪ That possibility is all the more reason to end the conflict soon.
▪ This is all the more reason to find a more democratic way of deciding the state for the first primary.
any fool can do sth
▪ Any fool can make a baby, but it takes a real man to raise his children.
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ Conversely, any fool can sit down at a slot machine.
▪ Of course any fool can write down 1,2,3,4 and even 5,6,7,8 opposite the names of candidates on a ballot paper.
as is/was/does etc
▪ And as is the way of things in nature, given sufficient heat and hammering, the result is forged steel.
▪ For his contemporaries, Gloucester clearly filled a double role, as is illustrated by his dealings with the city of York.
▪ In fact, as is clearly illustrated by this data, inequalities are relatively consistent throughout childhood.
▪ It is as unique in its way as was the original White Paper.
▪ It was a small, intimate gathering that was assembled, as was the custom among nice Atchison families.
▪ Now he desires, as is but right, that my dowry should be returned with me.
▪ The classic Sinatra phrasing remains intact, as does that easy-breeze delivery.
▪ The human was now seen as a biomechanical machine, as was the entire universe.
as you do
at the risk of doing sth
▪ A school has to be able to make rules about students' dress, even at the risk of upsetting parents.
▪ At the risk of being boring, I have to say again how much I enjoyed myself.
▪ At the risk of sounding like your mother, you'd better dress up warm.
▪ This is a point which -- at the risk of being boring -- I must emphasize once again.
▪ Cantor figured he could afford caution, even at the risk of insulting the caller.
▪ How I loved being normal, even at the risk of becoming a Red Cross water-safety statistic.
▪ However, at the risk of underestimating such differences, certain current issues can be picked out.
▪ However, there is no point investing for the long term at the risk of being caned in the short term.
▪ Proceed with caution and, at the risk of sounding like a tabloid astrologer, look before you leap.
▪ There were even imitation sheepskins, but worn at the risk of being considered a total nebbish.
▪ Which, at the risk of uttering sacrilege, may not be such a bad thing.
bar to (doing) sth
▪ A goy enters a bar to have a little glass of wine.
▪ Every hash-house club needs a hash house, a bar to hang out in before the run.
▪ However, a private practice background, either during or after articles, is no bar to subsequent progress in local government.
▪ It was as if she'd been given a glimpse of paradise, and then had it barred to her for ever.
▪ Like a 996 it needs a lot of encouragement at the bars to start turning.
▪ Nor is there any double jeopardy bar to a civil case following a criminal acquittal.
▪ The opera crowd was jamming the bars from bar to wall.
▪ The program opens with a blank drawing screen and a single menu bar to the left-hand side.
be (hard) pushed to do sth
be a matter of doing sth
▪ Below that level it is a matter of getting bogged down.
▪ How much money Simpson has is a matter of intense speculation and debate.
▪ It is a matter of perception.
▪ Nearly all his problems are a matter of remembering things.
▪ This seems to be a matter of level of attention.
▪ This was a matter of both intellectual curiosity and national security.
▪ This was a matter of extreme concern - with its many implications, for both jurisdictions of Church and State.
be able to do sth
▪ After the accident it was a long time before she was able to walk again.
▪ Ammiano still isn't able to make a living from acting.
▪ Because of the drop in stock prices, investors were able to find some bargains this week.
▪ Consumers are now able to buy the drug without a prescription.
▪ In 1944, we were able to return to Hawaii.
▪ My grandpa's getting old now and he can't do all the things he used to be able to.
▪ She was able to get her watch repaired the same day.
▪ Thomas is expected to be able to play again next weekend.
▪ Those bags look really heavy - are you sure you'll be able to carry them on your own?
▪ To take the class, you have to be able to use a computer.
▪ You might be able to get a temporary passport.
▪ Do you really think the uneducated people they leave behind will be able to keep the artificial environments stable?
▪ For example, ants are able to memorize the path through a maze and are capable of applying this learning to other mazes.
▪ However, further studies are required to be able to reach significant conclusions on the economics of such an attempt.
▪ Once he was able to communicate his feelings, he and his wife were able to resolve the situation.
▪ Table 16-2 shows that the first Thatcher government was able to reduce marginal tax rates substantially, especially for the very rich.
▪ The men most likely to be able to give the news, she said, were Nestor and Menelaus.
▪ The taxi driver was a friend of ours so we were able to relax driving to the Airport.
▪ Working without advisers and with a poor slate of generals, Lincoln was able to reunite the country and end slavery.
be about to do sth
▪ Oh, I was just about to leave you a message.
▪ Bridges go two ways, though, and what is about to arrive going the other way is a stultifying 600-year empire.
▪ Gav's under pressure from his missus to be home earlier while Paul's wife is about to walk out.
▪ I had seen Bella, when she was about to fry meat, cutting it with a scissors instead of a knife.
▪ So it looks as though this dish is about to get the smile wiped off its face.
▪ The gridlock that characterized the Lamm years was about to end.
▪ They may have started, or are about to start a family.
▪ Well, the two days of hiking were about to begin.
▪ You are about to assume a place of responsibility which requires giving yourself up for your wife as per Ephesians 5:25-33.
be accustomed to (doing) sth
▪ I'm not accustomed to getting up so early.
▪ Steph was accustomed to a regular paycheck.
▪ A judge, however, perhaps more than any other person, is accustomed to making and announcing his decisions in public.
▪ Allen Iverson had been spectacular, but he is accustomed to that.
▪ I am accustomed to a political argument that cuts to the core.
▪ Pagans were accustomed to using temples as safe-deposits for their treasures.
▪ She was accustomed to hanging up her own coat.
▪ The two girls were accustomed to not talking at meals.
▪ Watson, I am accustomed to being baffled by complexity.
▪ We are accustomed to the infinite length of the horizon all about us.
be apt to do sth
▪ He was apt to get very upset when things went wrong.
▪ Some of the employees are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
▪ The pond was apt to dry up during summer.
▪ Clients are apt to minimise numbers of assignments, whilst headhunters maximise them, and neither are willing to divulge exact figures.
▪ Farm workers are apt to complain that they now feel like strangers in their own village.
▪ In the evenings, when I am apt to recede to a withdrawn vacancy, she will come to stroke my hand.
▪ Mr Spock's ears are distractingly perky and he is apt to panic or, worse, to smile.
▪ One of these was apt to be Catholic Social Services.
▪ Our more skeptical age is apt to greet a performance like this with a smirk, as just more fussy Victorian moralism.
▪ Somehow, without guidance and peer influence, cricketers are apt to bite the hand that feeds them.
▪ When a moving object catches their attention, babies are apt to focus on it.
be at liberty to do sth
▪ The secretary of state told reporters, "I am not at liberty to get into the details" of the proposal.
▪ We are not at liberty to discuss our hiring practices.
▪ You are quite at liberty to make an official complaint if you wish.
▪ Also, of course, a trust is at liberty to raise new capital by an issue of additional ordinary or debenture shares.
▪ And the world will say: now she is at liberty to pursue her inclination, the parson is the man.
▪ But we are at liberty to form our own judgement of the person doing so.
▪ Elsewhere anyone was at liberty to hang up a shingle and go into practice as a physician.
▪ Freed from the trappings of conventional morality, Van Ness is at liberty to invent his own.
▪ Staff in these Departments considering additional computers are at liberty to submit suggestions through line management in the usual way. 3.
▪ Time when he was at liberty to go fishing or take a drive along the coast.
▪ While I am still free, I am at liberty to take my pleasure when I choose.
be at pains to do sth
▪ Mrs Henessy was at pains to say that she was fighting for a principle, not just for financial compensation.
▪ The U.S. military has been at pains not to offend its Muslim host.
▪ A year on they acknowledge the problems, but are at pains to defend the good name of their community.
▪ I was at pains to show how and why.
▪ Officials were at pains to point out that it was focused on resolving border disputes and promoting trade.
▪ She taught in a racially mixed school and was at pains to correct simple stereotypes and unthinking prejudices.
▪ She was at pains to tell me - several times - that her male friends were divided into two groups.
▪ These he is at pains to hide in order to promote the fiction of his rise from rags to riches.
▪ They are at pains to insist that they are not called to be a denomination.
▪ Writers in the early art and photographic journals were at pains to define its precise meaning.
be beyond sb's power (to do sth)
▪ I am afraid that is beyond my powers.
▪ So he adopted the simple expedient of not opening it until it was beyond his power to act on it.
▪ The taxpayer, it said, had not established that it was beyond his powers to obtain the information.
▪ Then they discovered that this was beyond their power.
▪ Unfortunately, I think it may be beyond my powers as a programmer to set up such a counterfeit world.
be doing nicely
▪ Hockey is doing nicely by itself without FoxTrax.
▪ The government says farmers are doing nicely, thank you, and that savings in agricultural cooperatives are rising.
▪ Your boyfriend said to say he was sorry he had missed you, and he'd be writing and was doing nicely.
be done
▪ Mom won't let me watch television till all my homework's done.
▪ Showing affection in public just isn't done in Japan.
▪ We'll send you a bill when the repairs are done.
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done for
▪ If we get caught we're done for.
▪ All his surviving work was done for religious houses in the south-west.
▪ Also in the intertidal zones, animals find that much of their work is done for them.
▪ Anything that is done for shock value has no future because it's done for the moment.
▪ If this is done for all five possibilities, the result is a series of points as shown in Figure 4-I.
▪ It seemed to her that if she thought about pulling out even for a minute, she would be done for.
▪ Sometimes this means taking a very definite stand on certain issues, but it has to be done for both your sakes.
▪ What can be done for it?
be done with it
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ He might as well capsize the dinghy and be done with it.
▪ If you're running Windows, update your system to the latest version of Internet Explorer and be done with it.
▪ In fact, the mayor could submit a written report to the Board of Supervisors and be done with it.
▪ Nigel Lawson showed what could be done with it.
▪ Once a cancer is detected there is no consensus as to what should be done with it.
▪ The goal of reading is to be done with it, to be able to close the book and play.
▪ There was so much anger in her she could not see what might be done with it.
be fond of (doing) sth
▪ All this results in a rare phenomenon: Marks and Spencer is a company people are fond of.
▪ Commentators are fond of discovering and praising a guidebook clarity in the novel.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ I am fond of him, he has been unfailingly kind to me.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ Like Dad, he was fond of whisky.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
▪ There was a desk I was fond of, it's true.
be fond of doing sth
▪ "The only reason I make money is so I can give it away," Quigley is fond of saying.
▪ Sue's very fond of hiking and backpacking.
▪ Dad was fond of whisky, but normally only drank on an evening when work was done.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ He is fond of Machiavelli the rake, the prankster and the scoundrel.
▪ He travelled extensively, was fond of music, and was a competent pianist.
▪ Just why this is called a boil-off and just why auditors are fond of the term is obscure.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
be forever doing sth
▪ He never does his homework on time and is forever getting into trouble at school.
▪ Science is forever trying to pinpoint the truth.
▪ We bought a new washing machine. The old one was forever breaking down.
be given to (doing) sth
▪ Some adults are still given to temper tantrums.
▪ But when that remedy was given to a sick person exhibiting those same symptoms, it helped cure the person.
▪ Consideration should be given to arranging for a banker's guarantee in the firm's favour.
▪ Examination also needs to be given to the type of religious environment which permits the abuse of women to occur without reparations.
▪ Extra funds were given to agricultural production, food subsidies, and housing for armed forces personnel.
▪ For example, careful attention is given to communication in writing.
▪ I would like my poem to be given to such a man by the Police.
▪ Some thought has to be given to what is possible and it may be that time out can not be used.
▪ We were young and our waking hours were given to games.
be glad to (do sth)
▪ Agitated by these disclosures, Esther is glad to walk out along the river with Felix Holt.
▪ But he was glad to have them because they too seemed to offer some assurance that Amy would stay.
▪ For a dwindling congregation to be glad to become part of an implanted group in their own building is even rarer.
▪ Hon. Members will be glad to hear him speak again.
▪ I was glad to throw mine away.
▪ My contract runs for a year, and I shall be glad to get away.
▪ She was glad to be free of her past, and like it or not, Miguel was part of that.
▪ Still, most of us were glad to be relieved of responsibility for our failing learners for a few months.
be happy to do sth
▪ I'd be happy to cook if you want me to.
▪ I am happy to say that the change brought immediate results.
▪ International Chapters offers flexible accommodation arrangements and will be happy to advise on alternative travel plans.
▪ Management was happy to get a proven sniper on the left side, something the club had lacked for eons.
▪ Mr. Forsyth I should be happy to look into that correspondence and to consider the hon. Gentleman's point.
▪ She was a bad dancer and he would be happy to improve this lack and ignorance.
▪ The employer may be happy to find another applicant who wants the other half.
▪ They are happy to do so because the rent is fair.
be hard put/pressed/pushed to do sth
▪ Aunt Edie was in such a rage about it that she was hard put to contain herself.
▪ Governments will then be hard put to get it on to their national statute books by mid-1993.
▪ I can assure you that any busybody would be hard put to it to prove maltreatment!
▪ Leinster will be hard pushed to keep the score within the respectable margins of defeat set by their predecessors.
▪ Once an apology is given, the defendant will be hard put to contest liability later.
▪ The slave's side ... and even Miss Phoebe would be hard put to understand.
▪ With his height and features, he was hard put to pass as a native.
▪ You will be hard pressed to choose a single main course because so many are mouth-watering.
be in a position to do sth
▪ Maybe next year we'll be in a better position to buy a house.
▪ Once the loan is paid off, Jones will be in a position to run the casino himself.
▪ Only the governor is now in a position to stop the execution.
▪ We will have to run more tests before we are in a position to say whether the document is authentic or not.
▪ Well, given her appalling record, she's not in any position to criticize my work.
▪ When I've read the whole report I'll be in a better position to comment.
▪ In the case of the parents, they are unlikely to be in a position to make a rational judgement.
▪ More than a generation has passed since the child of a sitting president was in a position to apply to college.
▪ So few will ever be in a position to appreciate the magnitude of what has been lost.
▪ The proxy must be in a position to filter dangerous URLs and malformed commands.
▪ The strange metallic noises continued at intervals, whenever he was in a position to hear them.
▪ Then they'd be in a position to tell their parents what had happened.
▪ This is quite unreasonable as the pilot should always be in a position to recover and make a normal landing.
▪ We just happen to be in a position to do something about it.
be in line for sth/be in line to do sth
be in no hurry/not be in any hurry (to do sth)
be in no mood for sth/to do sth
▪ But Branson was in no mood for reconciliation.
▪ But he talks as if he knows perfectly well that the country is in no mood for his reprise of Reaganism.
▪ Frye was in no mood for Socratic dialogue, and he irritably resumed his oration.
▪ However, Mr Yeltsin, rejuvenated by victory, is in no mood for compromise.
▪ I am looking thoughtful, but she is in no mood for meaningful gazes across the room.
▪ She was in no mood for visitors.
▪ The nation at large, however, was in no mood for any such thing.
be in no position to do sth
▪ Besides, they are in no position to squander a little favorable scheduling.
▪ Despite the scale of the sector's misjudgments, the City is in no position to criticise.
▪ Divided élite leading the assault upon itself may be in no position to withstand the pressures of a restless population.
▪ I had relatives who took me in, but they were in no position to support me through school.
▪ Ian was in no position to disagree with her.
▪ Petitioner does not purport to have made, and is in no position to make, such findings.
▪ Ralph, though, was in no position to be picky.
be in the middle of (doing) sth
▪ He's in the middle of a meeting.
▪ I'm in the middle of fixing dinner -- can I call you back?
▪ I listened to others' crises but didn't want to accept that I was in the middle of my own.
▪ It was in the middle of the miners' strike, and feelings were running high.
▪ Mr Malik was in the middle of a group crowded round Mafouz.
▪ The grunts were in the middle of a fire mission.
▪ The kid who still enrolled at the school where he was in the middle of all that trouble.
▪ The Z42 is in the middle of the field on print speed.
▪ Todd Dexter was in the middle of the Tet Offensive near Saigon and had little time to appreciate his surroundings.
▪ We were in the middle of that when he was called inside to do his homework and I was sent home.
be in the process of (doing) sth
▪ He is in the process of changing his swing and said his old method had started to show up a little too much.
▪ Many who are in the process of acquiring these technical skills may wish to try their hand at grantsmanship.
▪ Sadly, Attia Hosain died while this book was in the process of being put together.
▪ Some 300 native applications are said to be in the process of moving to Solaris x86.
▪ Thames Water Authority are in the process of carrying out a general refurbishment programme at the plant.
▪ The chain was in the process of curling round as if to join and form a circle.
▪ The Committee is in the process of finalizing its first draft.
▪ The gluten is in the process of setting and the crust is deceptively crisp, hiding the immature bread within.
be in with a shout (of doing sth)
▪ Dave Mitchell is running about and is in with a shout.
be in/within sb's power (to do sth)
▪ Data from the 1990 census indicate exactly how crucial higher education is in determining earning power.
▪ I most heartily wish it may be in my power to serve and save so much innocence, beauty and merit.
▪ I shall be in his power.
▪ It is within your power to concentrate on selected aspects of your work environment and ignore others.
▪ It was in their power to make and break military reputations; men gave of their best in front of them.
▪ They were in the power of these dragons.
▪ We must do whatever is in our power to convince them not to marry until they are old enough to know themselves.
be inclined to do sth/inclined to sth
be instrumental in (doing) sth
▪ Siegel was instrumental in creating the Las Vegas as it is today.
▪ By virtue of their ubiquity, popular prints were instrumental in helping to shape the perceptions of the vast majority.
▪ In objectification, the artefact appears to be instrumental in linking these major processes of abstraction and specificity.
▪ Last December they were instrumental in getting rid of Mr Gaidar and replacing him with one of those industrialists.
▪ Page was instrumental in the creation of the new Mainan ambitious public works project funded through a public-private partnership.
▪ The symbolism of the room was instrumental in setting the tone.
▪ These developments are instrumental in the increased regulation and stability of affective thought.
▪ Yaki, who was instrumental in negotiating the leases as an aide to Rep.
▪ You will also be instrumental in preparing reports on the effects of immediate and short term changes in electricity supply and demand.
be intent on/upon (doing) sth
▪ Abortion foes are intent on changing the laws allowing abortion.
▪ And as they were intent on their work, Bill was getting hysterical, calling his agent.
▪ Even then, too, Alvin was intent on displaying the male dancer in all his vitality.
▪ His best work is done far in advance, and he is intent on broadening his base.
▪ If his opponents were intent on overplaying their hand, it could only improve his position with the cardinal.
▪ Mr Mieno is still talking and acting tough because he is intent on bursting the speculative bubbles in shares and property.
▪ No-one spoke, everyone was intent on listening.
▪ The company is intent upon shielding them from the prying eyes of reporters.
▪ The staff at Howard were intent on giving their students the best they could offer.
be like to do sth
▪ But already she knew what it was like to be going home.
▪ Had we forgotten what it was like to be young?
▪ He'd enjoyed that, letting the good alderman know what it was like to be awoken just before dawn.
▪ I could even imagine what it must be like to have a baby.
▪ Leonie knew what it was like to have to give up your baby, never to see your child grow up.
▪ People in Britain tend to have strong feelings about what it is like to live in rural or urban areas.
▪ We were learning what it was like to be legionnaires.
be loath to do sth
▪ Congressmen are loath to limit the amount of time they can be in office.
▪ He seemed loath to raise the subject.
▪ His mother was still asleep and he was loath to wake her.
▪ By the time Frodo reaches Mount Doom he is loath to get rid of the Ring.
▪ None the less, doctors were loath to reveal their predictions to patients, unless, of course, complete recovery was expected.
▪ On the other hand, if I were just too fascinating the gallant gentlemen might be loath to drown me.
▪ People at that time were loath to take any action.
▪ She is loath to encourage folks to sit tight.
▪ White House officials said that President Bush was loath to impose burdens on industry as the country began to emerge from recession.
▪ Yet he is loath to part with skilled people who could prove difficult to replace come the upturn.
be minded to do sth
▪ At about this time the plaintiff became suspicious that the appellants were minded to sell the property at Westbourne Grove.
be on the point of (doing) sth
▪ And I was on the point of telling you about Gwendoline.
▪ For a second she was on the point of executing Ace for insubordination.
▪ He thought she might be on the point of offering him a nip of whisky but she did not go that far.
▪ He was on the point of saying so when he despaired.
▪ Now Propane is on the point of pulling out because of insufficient interest.
▪ She was on the point of saying something but changed her mind.
▪ This was important, for Bonar Law's health was on the point of finally breaking up.
be only too glad/pleased to do sth
▪ Cliff is only too pleased to prepare a celebratory meal for any special occasion.
▪ I was only too glad to help.
▪ If none is required, they will be only too pleased to tell you.
▪ She was only too glad to have even this talk bouncing against walls that had become a tomb.
▪ The governments were only too pleased to oblige.
▪ The Library would be only too pleased to explore further suggestions along similar lines. 13.4.
▪ They know the way that the wind is blowing, and would be only too pleased to be redeployed into another trade.
▪ We would be only too pleased to provide information on the Association.
be out for sth/be out to do sth
be prepared to do sth
▪ Griffiths was prepared to spend up to $500,000 to renovate the old theater.
▪ He was prepared to use force if necessary.
▪ The Pentagon is prepared to build an emergency camp for refugees.
▪ You'll never learn to speak another language unless you're prepared to make an effort.
▪ But, as a scientist, she was and is prepared to tolerate this drive while it lasts without satisfying it.
▪ He was prepared to talk with complete honesty about it.
▪ He was very busy but he was prepared to see me because Lynda had recommended me.
▪ It is very thorough but requires the user to be prepared to look in depth at each technical area of painting.
▪ My sister can never understand what I am prepared to do for her, for our welfare.
▪ Now sadder but wiser, we are prepared to admit that the implementation of curriculum change is a complicated business.
▪ Now, because she needed something from him, she was prepared to give in.
▪ Or be prepared to go home without it.
be quick to do sth
▪ Coach Killick was quick to point out that the team is playing very well.
▪ I don't think he'll be so quick to forgive you.
▪ By contrast, Mrs Thatcher leads from the front, has views on most issues, and is quick to voice them.
▪ Company leaders were quick to discern this.
▪ However, Lang is quick to add that non-alcoholic beverages will also be served.
▪ It was quicker to go and ask there.
▪ Joey was quick to see his cousin, but slow to react.
▪ Kids talk candidly and loudly about their Santa experience, and are quick to point out body odor and bad breath.
▪ Movie writers and directors are quick to acknowledge differences between the genres.
▪ Yet his spokesperson was quick to explain that this was coincidence, not a coded reference to the coalition bargaining in Vienna.
be ready to do sth
▪ I'm always ready to help if you need me.
▪ If you really want to sell, price your house sensibly and be ready to make a deal.
▪ We are ready to consider any serious proposals.
▪ An individual's sexuality is their own affair and they will come to terms with it when they are ready to.
▪ By early evening, he is ready to start work.
▪ By the end of the year, it is ready to insert its new priorities into the biennial budget.
▪ Leave in the marinade until you are ready to cook.
▪ Look out for the envelope that will bring your invitation, and be ready to tell us your preference as soon as it arrives.
▪ My body ached, I was ready to drop, I wanted to cry.
▪ The city authorities were ready to remove 10, 000 people from their homes and offices.
▪ The first of these devices will be ready to fly in about 18 months, the companies said.
be resigned to (doing) sth
▪ BAshley, cynical beyond her 10 years, is resigned to more disappointment.
▪ Even the players are resigned to the prospect of starting their Premier League campaign without him.
▪ He is resigned to public indifference to the benefits of efficiency, as well as to the effects of greenhouse gases.
▪ He was resigned to his own fate.
▪ Most women are resigned to this and some use their martyrdom to manipulate their men.
▪ Opponents of the bill said they are resigned to its passage in the House.
▪ She had been thinking about it all night and was resigned to it.
▪ They are resigned to this battle.
be sb's (own) doing
▪ Nixon may blame others, but the scandal was his own doing.
▪ Am I really doing him a disservice if I leave it as one big C: drive?
▪ And however much men seem to be involved in the movie versions, women are the ones doing it.
▪ Claudia ... what the hell are you doing?
▪ If column 3 exceeds column 2, the Jones Enterprise would be better off doing something else with its resources.
▪ Sony and Disney are not doing this for charity.
▪ Then what on earth is she doing here?
▪ What is your country doing to prevent Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge returning to power?
▪ What was the Army doing there?
be sick (and tired) of (doing) sth
▪ Gad, I was sick and tired of life.
▪ I think the archivist who helped me is sick of the sight of me by now.
▪ I was sick of concealments - those retentions of his.
▪ I was sick of following baseball through the abbreviated box scores of the international Herald Tribune.
▪ No one, knowing the Patriarch, could doubt that, after a day of his voice, Zacco was sick of him.
▪ People were sick of the war.
▪ We are sick and tired of the proliferation of guns.
▪ When we first started we were sick of the way many groups would adopt a cool persona for interviews.
be sure of (doing) sth
▪ After all, he was sure of 100 percent of the vote from the north.
▪ And I was sure of it!
▪ But nobody is sure of the white extremists' power.
▪ Females evolved the ability to be charmed to be sure of picking the best males.
▪ Mummy was worried because she didn't know when daddy was coming home - Anna was sure of that now.
▪ The prisoners can each be sure of benefiting if they have a previously agreed pact never to confess, whatever the circumstances.
▪ The reporters were sure of their facts, he told Moore.
▪ The sea was such a mess that it took him a few moments to be sure of the reef.
be sure to do sth
▪ Be sure to read all the directions carefully.
▪ Minnie would be sure to notice - interested as she was in every tiny thing Polly did or said.
▪ New paradigms are sure to emerge.
▪ Partners should watch each other and be sure to agree on the moves.
▪ Payton is sure to be compensated come July 1, when he becomes a free agent.
▪ Third, as you are doing your taxes, be sure to check the box requesting your contributions to federal campaign funds.
▪ To punch a ticket is to play a game you are sure to win.
▪ Tuesday, she made news that was sure to get around, even to out-of-the-way McClain.
▪ Unemployment is sure to play its part.
be to do sth
be welcome to do sth
▪ You're welcome to borrow my bike.
▪ Any neighbor was welcome to drop in for tea.
▪ Any reader wanting the right detector to suit his pocket and plenty of sound advice is welcome to give me a ring.
▪ But he'd be welcome to come.
▪ That will be matched from here and others are welcome to join in.
▪ The public -- from upstarts to old pros -- is welcome to join this latest Friends social event.
▪ We must somehow transcend this and create an atmosphere at our meetings which is welcoming to people from all types of background.
▪ You'd be welcome to stay as long as you wanted.
be wont to do sth
▪ Be still, my beating heart, as T. Wogan was wont to say.
▪ Hapsburg officers, especially hussars, were wont to please themselves what they wore.
▪ Ickes is wont to yawn in mid-conversation.
▪ Indeed Bourdieu is wont to speak of functions or their functional equivalent.
▪ It transpired that there was a secluded roof on her house where she was wont to sunbathe totally naked.
▪ It was not often that the High King searched me for truth as he was wont to search lesser men.
be worth (doing) sth
▪ But for the converted it was worth the wait.
▪ He hoped some day some one would play it - if it was worth playing.
▪ It must demonstrate to consumers that a Pro Logic receiver is worth $ 859.
▪ Obviously it is worth keeping watch over the pond during these times to ensure that the fish do not become stuck.
▪ Symington has maintained that the funds had locked themselves into making the loans regardless of what he said his holdings were worth.
▪ The gazettes are worth an army of 300,000 men to Napoleon.
▪ To him an evening with one woman is worth an evening with ten of us.
▪ When the railroads provided a market for beef, suddenly the six million longhorns running loose in Texas were worth something.
be worth sb's while (to do/doing sth)
▪ And finally the Soft Sell - it will always be worth your while to invest in a stout umbrella!
▪ Controversy really begins when there are varying views as to whether a house is worth saving.
▪ Dardis assured Bernstein that it would be worth his while to fly down to Miami again.
▪ However, rather than getting upset about this it spurs her on to try harder to show that they are worth watching.
▪ I had to make her see that the exercise was worth her while.
▪ If he! ital! is! off! going to fight, he wants it to be worth his while.
▪ It could be worth your while.
▪ The try is to be worth five points while the drop goal will count for two points.
be/come/go halfway to doing sth
be/feel bound to do sth
▪ Even as she felt bound to her family, she felt a childish need to rebel.
▪ If you were married to me I wouldn't expect you to be bound to the house all day, every day.
▪ It had been a solemn and impressive ceremony and, whatever my uncertainties, I felt bound to respond.
▪ Just as, in writing, I think little men should be bound to mere journeyman work...
▪ She seemed unwilling to acknowledge that this might not be wise and would be bound to cause her parents concern.
▪ Some human would be bound to see you.
▪ They would be bound to see such a use as virtual expropriation, without compensation.
be/feel constrained to do sth
▪ I feel constrained to tell the truth.
▪ Alternatively, the collective good is seen as paramount, and individual freedom must be constrained to achieve that collective good.
▪ Because they are unsure of their male identities, they feel constrained to prove them continually.
▪ Mr. Davis felt constrained to accept that such a case might be within the purview of the legislation.
▪ Republicans who used to back it because the president liked it will no longer feel constrained to do so.
▪ You could take Richard anywhere too but you would feel constrained to keep explaining he was a genius.
be/feel disinclined to do sth
▪ The President said that he was disinclined to send in American troops.
▪ He felt disinclined to argue while the calendar was there to remind him that he was down to his last twenty-five days.
be/feel hard done by
▪ Having played in the previous winning Eisenhower Trophy team with distinction I think he can feel hard done by.
▪ The idea of a passenger going without pudding and then leaving the aircraft feeling hard done by troubles them.
▪ Thomas felt hard done by, contested the will and lost.
▪ To any readers who feel hard done by or annoyed please accept my sincere apologies.
▪ You've every right to feel hard done by, so don't start thinking that you're being selfish.
be/feel honour bound to do sth
▪ Don't you tell him either, because he'd feel honour bound to do something about it.
be/feel inclined (to do sth)
▪ After reading this book, you might be inclined to think so.
▪ I would be inclined to add an external canister filter to your set-up, such as an Eheim 2215.
▪ I would be inclined to remove the odd fish, though.
▪ Still, when he makes a statement such as you refer to, I would be inclined to believe him.
▪ The faster the heart beats the more rapidly we may be inclined to breathe and the more oxygen we take in.
▪ The Fed chief implied the central bank might be inclined to wait until its March 20 meeting before taking such a step.
▪ We might be inclined to reject the arrangement because it seems unattractive and not what we want.
▪ We naturally feel inclined to reject these theories for that reason.
be/feel/seem etc disposed to do sth
▪ Congress has had a torrent of learned advice on this amendment, none of which it seems disposed to listen to.
▪ Ernest Conway had never felt disposed to adopt a conventional, benign, grandfatherly role.
▪ Gradually the talkative groups settled into a contented silence, but no one seemed disposed to go to sleep.
▪ Headteachers say governors come to school on special occasions but don't seem disposed to become involved more routinely in school affairs.
▪ James didn't seem disposed to take the hint.
▪ Seb's father was a large, comfortable-looking man who did not seem disposed to make a fuss.
▪ The brothers exchanged glances, neither saying a word, though they seemed disposed to.
▪ The very houses seemed disposed to pack up and take trips.
be/get done
▪ A lot of hard work needs to be done.
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ Casting off may be daunting, but it has to be done.
▪ If there is any uncertainty about that, a pelvic exam or sonogram may be done.
▪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
▪ To her, some things obviously had to be done, and that was that.
▪ Unless this could be done, he asserted, its occupation would be pointless.
▪ Where work will be done should not be an assumption; it is a question that must be asked.
be/get used to (doing) sth
▪ Zach's not used to such spicy food.
▪ Could it be used to predict the mating system of species that had not been studied?
▪ He walked like an old man trying to get used to new glasses.
▪ In housing, the market can not be used to move to the market.
▪ Left: Scenes shot on telephoto appear to have compressed perspectives which can be used to good effect.
▪ The bulldozer would be used to load them.
▪ The password which will be used to limit access to the packages created.
▪ The threat of this ex ante can then be used to ensure adherence to the agreement.
▪ This money would be used to provide education, job-training assistance, childcare and program administration beginning later this year.
been there, seen that, done that
bend/lean over backwards (to do sth)
▪ Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
▪ Stuart was leaning over backwards to see Oliver's point of view.
▪ The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
▪ The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
▪ They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
▪ You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
by dint of (doing) sth
▪ A peculiar light seemed shed over everything, by dint of it being that house and no other!
▪ And though his grades each week never varied much from 9 and 10, it was only by dint of hard work.
can do sth blindfold
can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back
can do sth with your eyes shut/closed
can't do sth for toffee
can't very well (do sth)
can/could always do sth
capable of (doing) sth
▪ He was capable of sudden aggressiveness, such as over Matkovsky's telephone account.
▪ Instead, he had proved himself to be capable of great human emotion.
▪ Now she could relax, she thought, if she was still capable of thinking.
▪ Redundant systems won't provide such clear-cut results because all of the modules are capable of doing the same job.
▪ Roman had said half an hour and he was quite capable of walking in on her if she was late.
▪ The system must be capable of identifying any new entries or sense sections which have been incorporated into the dictionary text.
▪ We are all fully capable of managing that responsibility.
come close (to doing sth)
▪ A loose end, Kirov reminded himself as he came close to the man.
▪ A visit to the ancient ruins, especially on a quiet weekday, comes close to a religious experience.
▪ And this night, he comes close to getting seriously injured.
▪ Even La Scala, where an opening-night stall seat goes for £500, rarely comes close to breaking even.
▪ He can come close, perhaps, but the closer he comes, the greater the risk of slippage.
▪ Her horse came close and watched her.
▪ Later Mr O'Malley came close to confirming that his party would quit the coalition later this week.
▪ Miguel wanted to trust Firebug; he came close to letting everything spill out.
come within a whisker of (doing) sth
compelling need/desire/urge (to do sth)
▪ And it was from these experiments that Work place 2000 emerged as the response to a compelling need for change.
▪ Most women with bulimia, particularly those with a history of anorexia, have a compelling desire to be thinner.
▪ Such freedoms can be abridged only if the state shows it has a compelling need to do so.
▪ Suddenly I had a compelling urge to look at Wilkerson.
content (for sb) to do sth
▪ By and large, the academic community seems content simply to accommodate to the instrumental needs of post-industrial society.
▪ Eighteen months previously I would have been content merely to be alive.
▪ He must therefore demonstrate this rational content without appealing to church doctrine.
▪ I was so content as to be completely unprepared for the obvious eventuality of his return.
▪ Learn the Net is continually updated and tastefully devoid of commercial content.
▪ The city has been content historically to stand on its natural attractions to draw business.
▪ The Kingdom gives content and purpose to the act of commitment.
▪ They also offer parents the best controls over the content available to young children.
could do with sth
▪ And Katherine could do with all the comfort she could get for the illness was slowly and inexorably taking its toll.
▪ But the Olympic gold medal was so far away from what I thought I could do with my life.
▪ He could do with a warm bed.
▪ I could do with a change of scenery.
▪ Just imagine what we could do with this idea.
▪ That was nice, she could do with settling.
▪ The governor said he could do with something to eat.
▪ We could do with another girl in the chorus.
could/may/might yet do sth
did he heck/will it heck etc
do a Lord Lucan
do a Reggie Perrin
do a bunk
▪ And it looks as if Ivor was planning to do a bunk.
▪ We were ready to do a bunk.
do a disappearing/vanishing act
do a double take
▪ Colleagues and friends often walked past me in the hallway, then stopped and did a double take.
▪ He had to do a double take, bumping into a filing cabinet.
▪ When he got to Mrs Luegerhe had never known her first name-he did a double take.
do a job on sb/sth
▪ The sun does quite a job on people's skin.
▪ I watch Maintenance do a job on a paper machine, shut the whole thing down to change a secondary valve.
▪ If you tell Spider yuh out, he may do a job on you.
do a moonlight (flit)
do a number on sb/sth
▪ Danny did a real number on the car.
▪ It was a small piece of shrapnel, but it did a number on the left cheek of my hind end.
do a roaring trade (in sth)
do a runner
do a slow burn
▪ Coach Bowen stood on the sidelines, doing a slow burn.
do a strip
do a wheelie
do all right (for yourself/herself etc)
▪ Anyway, I did all right.
▪ He did all right in that Navy movie, whatever it was.
▪ Wow, so you guys must do all right then, him?
do battle (with sb)
▪ The citizens group said they are prepared to do battle with City Hall over the passage of the bill.
▪ A chapter from Harrogate came down to do battle in Bedale.
▪ And under the plate, among the spinning wheels, diamonds and rubies do battle against friction.
▪ I wanted them to get up on their hind legs and do battle.
▪ On certain nights all the ghosts do battle and the distant echoes of their screams and war-cries are born on the wind.
▪ Such doubts energized the smaller community of demographic revisionists, who emerged to do battle with their Malthusian brethren.
▪ The 49ers at this time of the year reload and get ready to do battle.
▪ The hero, a knight named Peter Loschy, went to do battle with the dragon.
▪ The Sandinistas were forced into a temporary retreat but returned later with reinforcements to do battle in the streets.
do better
▪ Harris argued that the economy is doing better than it was five years ago.
▪ I was convinced that many of the students could have done better if they'd tried.
▪ If you are saving 5 percent of your income each year, you're doing better than most people.
▪ Mark ran the distance in 30 minutes in the fall, but we're hoping he'll do better this season.
▪ Some roses do better in different types of soil.
▪ The British champion has completed the course in three minutes -- let's see if his Canadian rival can do better.
▪ We did better than we expected.
▪ Alamaro and Patrick think they can do better.
▪ Incumbents who vote against new regulations, paperwork and taxes -- usually conservatives -- do better on the scorecard.
▪ It leads to a lethargy I think we do better without.
▪ Some may do better than our scenario represents.
▪ Surely we can do better for people with mental problems and their families?
▪ The index did better than the broader market.
▪ We can do better than that now.
▪ We need to do better than that, and we can.
do bird
▪ How do birds and fishes carry out their far-flung migrations, unless led by deities in their own image?
▪ So how do birds find their way?
▪ So, why do birds sing?
do circuits
do double duty
▪ Choose a sofa that will do double duty as a guest bed.
do duty as sth
do fine
▪ Once Hutton relaxes, he should do fine in the role.
▪ Standard hooks and nails should do just fine for hanging the painting.
▪ And if the place is allowed to manage itself, it will do fine.
▪ As will be seen, their picks did fine.
▪ I have done a bit myself, but possess neither the ability nor the patience to do fine work.
▪ Savoys do fine in hot weather if given some shade.
do justice to sb/sth
▪ TV doesn't do the excitement of the game justice.
▪ A reading that cancels out the contradictory and equally valid meanings the text yields does not do justice to its complexity.
▪ At times only swear words can truly do justice to an emotion.
▪ How ethical theory might do justice to both these points remains to be seen. 9.
▪ It is virtually impossible to do justice to a book of this size in such a short review.
▪ Many are drunks-but that term does not do justice to the devastation they embody.
▪ No way at all that a few hundred words are going to do justice to this deeply affecting novel.
▪ This brief note can not do justice to all the facts and arguments involved.
▪ To do otherwise, I would require to write in volume in order to do justice to them.
do me/us a favour!
do sb a good/bad turn
▪ She was only trying to do James a good turn.
do sb a power of good
▪ It can also be funny and it can do you a power of good.
▪ Yeltsin could do his country a power of good by directing public attention to these issues.
do sb a world of good
▪ A week by the ocean will do you a world of good.
▪ A good run in pastures new would do you a world of good.
▪ All of them stressed that a holiday would do Valerie the world of good.
▪ All the family can enjoy eating the low-fat way and it will do everyone a world of good.
▪ But physically - this type of exercise will do you the world of good.
▪ Come on a Club 18-30 holiday and there's every chance it will do you the world of good.
▪ He could become so unaccountably miserable that a small amount of collusion some-times did him a world of good.
▪ Not only do they do you a world of good if you drink them but they also have cosmetic uses.
do sb an injustice
▪ Cutting the benefits of war veterans would be doing them a great injustice.
▪ But they do themselves an injustice.
▪ Indeed, it may well serve to do some injustice and violence to the integrity of the substantive phenomena.
do sb proud
▪ The soldiers have done their country proud.
do sb the courtesy of doing sth
▪ He always did us the courtesy of a reply, mind.
do sb wrong
▪ Most of Peggy's songs are about men who've done her wrong.
do sb's bidding
do sb's dirty work
▪ Tell Fran I'm not going to do her dirty work for her.
▪ Her unnecessary decision to do the dirtiest work in the place struck them as alarming.
do sb/sth a disservice
▪ The fans' rude behavior has done the game a great disservice.
▪ Such uninformed views do the industry a disservice.
▪ The remedial programs we knew about did a disservice to their students by thinking of them as remedial.
▪ When Mr Non-Productive Employee gets a raise, it does a disservice to the productive employee.
do sb/sth no favours,
do some good/do sb good
do something
▪ Quick, do something - there's water all over the kitchen floor.
▪ Teenagers were dropping out of school in huge numbers, until a group of parents and teachers decided to do something about it.
▪ We need to do something before everyone gets fed up and quits.
▪ When are you going to do something about this broken window?
▪ At this stage, the urge to do something was unfocused, but it was extraordinary how people threw themselves into it.
▪ But the ballot stuffing was so blatant that even the Labor Department was roused to do something.
▪ I always feel I have to do something new.
▪ I mean, who'd do something like this, eh?
▪ I was vaguely aware that junior was trying to persuade the others to do something.
▪ If it doesn't want to do something it will refuse to, probably by dropping stitches or jamming the carriage.
▪ One can always try to do something for individuals.
do something about sth
▪ And the second view shows a marked advantage when we begin to do something about behavior.
▪ For those who are reluctant, understand why and do something about it.
▪ I'd better do something about improving it.
▪ I keep thinking I should do something about this place but there's never any time.
▪ If the result is none too pleasant, it's time to do something about it.
▪ We've got to do something about the bomb before we start.
▪ We better do something about this deficiency right now.
▪ Whenever Gandhi felt distressed or disturbed he wanted to do something about it.
do sth at your peril
▪ These are grave environmental warnings, which we ignore at our peril.
▪ He spoke with the sort of quietly threatening tone that you ignored at your peril.
▪ Into this potent politicization of what remained, at heart, a medical mystery, scientists ventured at their peril.
▪ Kings neglected the sea at their peril.
▪ Mess with us at your peril.
▪ More than a million fled abroad, often at their peril.
▪ Some people say that lurking in its depths is a fish so dangerous that oarsmen venture out at their peril.
▪ Those who cross him do so at their peril.
▪ Yet it is also one of the most popular programs, and politicians have made changes to it at their peril.
do sth by the seat of your pants
do sth for a bet
▪ It was this book that Rincewind had once opened for a bet.
do sth for luck
▪ John always carried a rabbit's foot for luck.
▪ An extra teaspoonful for luck could well be disaster.
▪ By now the only part of Mr. Rainsford's brewery left standing was the taproom kept for luck like an old horseshoe.
▪ Certainly there may be the odd chart or graph thrown in for luck but the basic requirement is for high quality text.
▪ I gave him one for luck on the back of his neck.
▪ Is he the kind of man to lend you the rings for luck for a short time?
▪ Now he gave it one last violent shake for luck.
▪ One for luck, and farewell.
do sth in anticipation of sth
▪ Excitement rose in them, hardening muscles and quivering their sleek flanks in anticipation of the hunt.
▪ For weeks, Schwarzenegger has been meeting with other agencies, including William Morris, in anticipation of changing representation.
▪ Nothing looked familiar, and yet he'd gone around the block again and again in anticipation of something like this.
▪ Prime Minister Alberto Pandolfi said that police were securing the area in anticipation of eventual talks between the government and the rebels.
▪ She waited outside in the street, shaking in anticipation of the telephone call.
▪ The Chalice Quilt was made by slaves on a Texas plantation in 1860 in anticipation of a visit from an itinerant bishop.
▪ The house gives the impression of having been abandoned suddenly, in anticipation of some great disaster.
▪ The management at South Forks raised the rent in anticipation of downtown businesses relocating.
do sth in error
▪ It was discovered that the funds had been withdrawn in error.
do sth in favour of sth
▪ Books were published in reply and arguments advanced in favour of young women.
▪ He wasn't in favour of command-and-control solutions.
▪ On the economic front Taubira-Delannon was in favour of restricting the areas where gold-washing is authorised.
▪ That probably explains why public opinion is broadly in favour of euthanasia, or at least certain forms of it.
▪ The courts decided in favour of the men.
▪ The finance minister, Hans Eichel, then came out in favour of the euro's potential for appreciation.
▪ The following Sunday I took my husband into hospital to be relieved of a bony hip in favour of a titanium one.
▪ Whilst I am still in favour of a mutual fund, I think the current risk banding is rubbish.
do sth in sb's stead
▪ Garcia is unable to attend, but will send the foreign minister in his stead.
do sth like the devil
▪ They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil.
▪ He holds me like the devil himself.
▪ Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.
▪ It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil.
▪ Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.
▪ The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.
▪ They scampered off, barking like the devil.
▪ Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.
do sth like there's no tomorrow
▪ Ben drives like there's no tomorrow.
▪ I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow.
do sth of your own free will
▪ Bronson gave us his confession of his own free will.
▪ For all men serve him of their own free will.
▪ Her mouth opened of its own free will to his playfully probing tongue, welcoming the invader.
▪ I came back of my own free will on Friday, and went to the game yesterday.
▪ I say this of my own free will.
▪ She was placed in a safe house but later returned to the coven of her own free will.
▪ To some extent, adults can choose of their own free will whether to deal with their grief or not.
▪ Without any reason he left the Firm of his own free will and went to live in Brighton.
do sth off your own bat
▪ He had made the most ancient blunder in the business quite off his own bat.
▪ Instead, off her own bat, the girl went to see a solicitor in Newton Abbott, Devon.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ I overslept and had to go to class on an empty stomach.
▪ You shouldn't take the pills on an empty stomach.
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on the run
▪ I always seem to eat on the run these days.
▪ He threw on some clothes; now he was on the run.
▪ I'd like to hear why you're on the run.
▪ If you want innovation, try more of that, and less of halfbacks and wide receivers throwing deep on the run.
▪ John Butcher says at this moment a man on bail for rape is on the run ine the Midlands.
▪ Meanwhile Mrs thomas's other grandson James Bellamy is now on the run after escaping from police custody.
▪ Mostly, he was a man on the run, sacked six times and scrambling countless others.
▪ They were on the run, and in haste, or we should all be dead men.
▪ Two escapees, on the run, with nothing to lose.
do sth on your own responsibility
▪ I discussed the matter with John Montgomerie and on my own responsibility decided to telephone Harold Wilson to seek his advice.
do sth once too often
▪ The kids rang Brant's doorbell once too often, and he reported them to the police.
▪ But not Luke Denner - he's humiliated me once too often!
▪ He'd said it once too often, and this time she'd taken him at his word.
▪ He got into trouble once too often and wound up in continuation school.
▪ I can only assume she tried once too often to enter the nest, as the female died during the night.
▪ It had failed him in a crisis and that was once too often.
▪ Maybe she just turned him down once too often.
▪ One of these people had looked in my direction once too often, passed by once again just a little too slowly.
▪ Until, that is, it lived up to its original name once too often!
do sth out of the goodness of your heart
▪ Surely even an idiot must realise that they wouldn't donate this huge amount out of the goodness of their hearts.
do sth right off the bat
▪ I asked him to help, and he said yes right off the bat.
▪ At least not right off the bat.
do sth the hard way
▪ Despite problems at camp, the field army had learned a great deal by then, much of it the hard way.
▪ I have done it the hard way.
▪ I learned that the hard way, by losing a couple of first drafts of articles I was writing.
▪ I was brought up the hard way.
▪ Let them learn the lessons of capitalism the hard way.
▪ Los Angeles City Hall found that out the hard way last March.
▪ Needless to say, I learned about getting things done, the hard way.
do sth to death
▪ That joke has been done to death.
▪ Death sentences Three members of the illegal Hezbollah organization were condemned to death on March 1 by a criminal court in Tlemcen.
▪ And no, the baby never froze to death.
▪ Exclaiming that he was already a priest, Quirnus insisted that the magistrate put him to death.
▪ This approach to death was appealing.
▪ This is grief and hatred and people hacked to death.
▪ Two of the blacks arrested were reportedly machine-gunned to death by state troopers at the jail.
▪ We will be slowly strangled to death.
▪ Will he be caught at last, and put to death?
do sth to excess
▪ Irwin admitted he often used alcohol and drugs to excess.
do sth to size
do sth to the exclusion of sth
▪ The countries agreed to trade as much as possible among themselves, to the exclusion of outsiders.
▪ Completely and exclusively passionate to the exclusion of all else, even conversation.
▪ I thought about the sound of contact, to the exclusion of everything else.
▪ It would be a mistake to point to any single explanation to the exclusion of the others.
▪ Should you use one to the exclusion of the others?
▪ The focus of this book is upon the social element, but not to the exclusion of the physical parameters.
▪ The great need, in his view, is to cultivate selfless or detached action to the exclusion of egocentric activity.
▪ They will concentrate on reaching the eighteen-to-forty-nine-year-old population group, to the exclusion of all others.
▪ Two other Republican senators also objected to the exclusion of minor provisions in Colorado and Virginia.
do sth to your heart's content
▪ I was able to browse through the bookstore to my heart's content.
▪ And I can go fishing to my heart's content.
▪ He could come and argue to his heart's content.
▪ Instead she took refuge in the library where she could read and research to her heart's content.
▪ Once you've stuck your shapes and text on the page you can rotate and repeat they to your heart's content.
▪ She had lazed around the pool to her heart's content - and she had played tennis with Carlos three times.
▪ Throw it around to your heart's content.
do sth to your heart's content
do sth under protest
▪ They finally paid the full bill under protest.
do sth with impunity
do sth without a murmur
▪ And although we might challenge their right to run our lives we often let them run our language without a murmur.
▪ Of the Tuscan towns, Amelia and Otricoli were the only ones to accept papal domination without a murmur.
▪ One slip, and it would sweep you away without a murmur or a cry.
▪ She left without a murmur although she had only a year and a half to go to complete her secondary education.
▪ She took the punishments meted out to her without a murmur.
▪ The door was ajar and opened without a murmur.
do the business
▪ Come on you Reds and do the business for the supporters because they will be giving it everything for you!
▪ Don't drink water - fish do the business in it.
▪ If your regular antagonist has a Chaos army and favours daemons then a Daemonslayer will do the business very nicely.
▪ Inclined to be an unpredictable live outing, the Veggies do the business with an energising blur of Neds-ish guitar fodder.
▪ Now they appear to be looking to a Second Division centre forward to do the business.
▪ O'Connor will have that task and can do the business if on his game.
▪ They like the game of golf as much as they do the business of golf.
▪ Unfortunately, despite the commercial ban, whales are not being politely left alone to do the business.
do the honours
▪ And we must both help Mum to do the honours.
▪ Bill Gates will supposedly do the honours himself at his Windows World keynote.
▪ Good, then Francesca can do the honours from Thursday and work for him thereafter.
▪ Grimes went behind the bar to do the honours.
▪ Outer Kent has been asked to do the honours at the next meeting. 24.
do the job
▪ A little more glue should do the job.
▪ But society should not expect those outside influences to do the job a parent should, nor should a parent expect that.
▪ It is not age in itself which is important; it is people's ability to do the job.
▪ It was obvious, however, that he could not do the job while he remained in the space pod.
▪ Next time, I'd do the job properly.
▪ She should not have mentioned Mrs Skipton, must learn to do the job, just the job and no more.
▪ So can we do the job tonight?
▪ The equipment that lets you do the job at home turns home life into moonlighting.
▪ You have to trust that they want to do the job well and that when you delegate something it will be done.
do the necessary
▪ And many men are too afraid to let themselves feel enough need for a response to do the necessary wooing.
▪ If we didn't have butchers to do the necessary, we'd be vegetarians out of sheer ineptitude.
▪ Only a Legal Service Commission with executive powers could do the necessary research and co-ordination job.
do the rounds
▪ The first offered to do the rounds for five dollars.
▪ Without references, letters may do the rounds of various desks before the correct destination is found.
do the rounds of sth
▪ Without references, letters may do the rounds of various desks before the correct destination is found.
do the shopping
▪ I did all my shopping yesterday.
▪ On Saturdays we usually do the shopping and clean the house.
▪ She sent her husband out to do the week's shopping.
▪ We need to go grocery shopping - do you have the check book?
▪ But then, Harriet with her fair-haired plaits and smooth round forehead jiggling off to help Mummy do the shopping.
▪ Husbands can easily get out of touch with the cost of living unless they do the shopping regularly and see the bills.
▪ It is good for me to get out and do the shopping.
▪ Jane would light the fire, turn the heating on, put the horses and donkey out and do the shopping.
▪ Our sick ones received their injections, then off we went to do the shopping.
▪ While I do the shopping, Miles sits near the checkout counter reading.
▪ With Chancellor at the wheel, they had left enfamille to do the shopping.
▪ With Ivy and Ken she would take a weekly trip into Aberdeen or Banchory to do the shopping.
do the splits
do the trick
▪ The second surgery on my knee seemed to do the trick.
▪ A doctored ball should do the trick for both at the same time.
▪ In Tucson, January golf tournaments do the trick.
▪ It certainly seemed to do the trick.
▪ Luckily the second dose, a minor variant of the first, did the trick.
▪ Often a little give from one side will do the trick.
▪ Should you have any difficulty, a word with your Club rep will normally do the trick.
▪ Something less than a precision guided missile would do the trick.
▪ That seemed to do the trick, or at least he thought so.
do things to sb
▪ All women do things to themselves like that here; cut their wrists, scratch their faces.
▪ Suppose there were people here who did things to you?
▪ They didn't even know I could sing, but they said they could do things to my voice.
do time
▪ None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
▪ Sid's wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.
▪ In short, he can do time for just about anything the cops care to charge him with.
do violence to sth
▪ Excluding one-third of the population does violence to the principles of democracy.
▪ Exclusion of one third of the electorate does violence to all that we pretend by our adherence to democracy.
do well
▪ Gail seemed so anxious to do well, and she worked really hard.
▪ If the firm does well, your shares will be worth far more than you paid for them.
▪ Most of his tutors expected him to do well at Harvard.
▪ My friend left college and went into law, and he's doing very well for himself.
▪ Neither of the kids was doing well in school.
▪ The operation was successful and the patient is doing well.
▪ The producer would only say that sales of the video were 'doing very well indeed.'
▪ When the players do well, I praise them -- but there are no rewards for coming second.
▪ Blues singers do well in Ireland, as Celts have a feeling for Negro music.
▪ He represented the ability to do well in the world.
▪ I remember her 4-H teacher told me Molly inspired others in her class to do well because of her determination.
▪ Parents are likely to want children to do well in life.
▪ The players we have are good enough to do well without people like him.
▪ The presence of a star, Glenn Robinson, may be the reason it did well that year.
▪ Wall Street is not concerned about whether old people do well in retirement.
▪ You must do well at this, that, or the other.
do well by sb
▪ Economic constraints or limitations can be overcome given a sufficiently high motivation to do well by the individual entrepreneur.
do your best
▪ But I did my best to feed them both.
▪ He wanted to do his best the first time he performed, and knew he was not in peak condition.
▪ Like Truman two decades earlier, Humphrey did his best to overcome the severe handicap of a badly split party.
▪ Once there, Drachenfels will do his best to isolate the crystal-wielding characters and rob them of their treasures.
▪ Remember, always do your best, don't let them hook you, however tempting the bait.
▪ We can only do our best.
▪ What I learned from them specifically of the techniques of teaching I have had to do my best to unlearn since.
do your bit
▪ I've done my bit - now it's up to you.
▪ We wanted to do our bit for the boys fighting in the war.
▪ Don't you want to do your bit towards stamping it out?
▪ Eva and several of the cadets from overseas were put in the West End brigade to do their bit.
▪ Help is desperately needed - and rugby friends can do their bit.
▪ I hope that you can all do your bit.
▪ Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.
▪ Nature did its bit as well.
▪ Now I am not unpatriotic, and I want to do my bit in this great movement.
▪ Stonehenge has gone, so I reckon I can do me bit of growing up at Skipton Hall.
do your head in
▪ He's so fussy about how he wants things done, it really does my head in.
▪ I've got to do an essay on Kant and it's doing my head in.
do your level best (to do sth)
▪ Even so he did his level best with the new ball.
▪ We did our level best to look fascinated.
do your nut
do your own thing
▪ As a kid, I wanted to do my own thing, but when I got older I realized I wanted to continue the family business.
▪ He's given up his job and is living in northern California, just doing his own thing.
▪ He has a couple of roommates but they kind of all do their own thing.
▪ The three women worked together on a stage play, and then each went off to do her own thing.
▪ We don't talk much anymore - we're both too busy doing our own thing.
▪ But I do know the difficulty the Major has in getting away to do his own things.
▪ Do you prefer structure in your exercise or to do your own thing? 9.
▪ I just want to live my own life, go my own way, do my own thing with whom I choose.
▪ I mean like royalty do, pretend to be married but do their own thing on the quiet.
▪ Keyboard, mouse and joystick are supported, but every now and then the planes seem to do their own thing!
▪ Lawrence was of the latter kind: very bright; very competent, and wanted to do his own thing.
▪ She wanted to be free to do her own thing - be independent - get a job, perhaps.
▪ You get on and do your own thing, and respect others who do the same.
do your sums
▪ I did my sums and I knew I could pay him.
▪ We can accumulate the figures and we can all do our sums.
▪ You will have to do your sums.
do your whack (of sth)
do your/his/her/their worst
▪ Let her do her worst to reach him.
▪ Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst.
do yourself a mischief
▪ My objection to his high heels was that he would do himself a mischief if he had to bale out!
do yourself justice
▪ I am sure he will do himself justice.
▪ If Rebecca is to do herself justice, she needs to define her terms.
do/show your stuff
▪ It's amazing to watch him do his stuff on the basketball court.
▪ Afterwards, I stood up to do my stuff.
▪ At times, it seems that Benson is unable to simply roll the camera and let them do their stuff.
▪ Derek Jefferson had abandoned his executive suit for a caddie's bib and was ready to do his stuff again.
▪ Having the appetite to get out there and do your stuff is the key factor for an international player.
▪ I should go and do my stuff.
do/try your damnedest
▪ We both tried our damnedest but it didn't work.
▪ All right, tell the girls, do your damnedest.
▪ But both the Trust and those of us lucky enough to live there will do our damnedest to prevent it.
▪ He had tried to make it work, tried his damnedest, but she had absolutely no sense of taste or refinement.
▪ If I do as you suggest and tell Billy about us, he will do his damnedest to destroy me in revenge.
do/use sth in anger
▪ You'd really need to re-fret this guitar before you used it in anger.
do/work wonders
▪ A long weekend away from work will do wonders for your peace of mind.
▪ A very little bit of sugar works wonders for dishes that are based on sour tastes.
▪ And the visit of a white lady from afar will do wonders for his reputation!
▪ Failing that, lectures don't seem to work but subtle, unspoken signs can work wonders.
▪ It does wonders for the individual, and it brings families together.
▪ Special teaching and therapy, plenty of encouragement and stimulation can work wonders.
▪ This will work wonders in terms of future sales.
▪ Time also has worked wonders, pruning many of the bad investigative reporters and retaining many of the good ones.
done and dusted
done in
done to a turn
▪ Then the interviewer asked what needed to be done to turn things around.
easier said than done
easy does it
failure to do sth
▪ Diagnostic difficulties in those cases were related to confusing radiological and endoscopic appearances or failure to obtain histological confirmation of lymphoma.
▪ Ewing lamented his failure to learn Gaelic, and he never managed to train enough priests who did.
▪ In that situation failure to accumulate in the face of rapidly rising real wage costs spells disaster.
▪ It helps to explain the conservatism of our class struggle, and its failure to mature into socialist struggle.
▪ Mind you, failure to display a phone number doesn't make them instantly dodgy.
▪ Outdated computer systems and the failure to help judges to implement the reforms were adding to the chaos.
▪ Sources of errors in searching mainly involve failure to find related papers due to inconsistencies in the use of personal names.
▪ The failure to find a referent results in a numerical penalty being awarded to the reading for which it occurs.
fall into/avoid the trap of doing sth
▪ But do not fall into the trap of doing something I saw recently.
▪ Don't fall into the trap of comparing your wages and conditions with other volunteers and development workers.
▪ Duffy refuses to fall into the trap of spoon-feeding the material to passive students, which only increases their passivity.
▪ During the 90s Washington fell into the trap of allowing events to dictate the relationship, with increasingly destabilising results.
▪ Journalists can fall into the trap of being hypercritical.
▪ She was not going to fall into the trap of thinking she wanted Vitor as Vitor.
▪ So answer this question truthfully, lest your smart organization fall into the trap of continuing to outsmart itself.
▪ When we tie it to jobs, or to survival needs, we fall into the trap of mechanistic literacy.
far be it from me to do sth
▪ Far be it from me to tell you what to wear.
for want of anything better (to do)
gently/gently does it!
get into the way of doing sth
▪ The women had got into the way of going up on the deck every evening.
go a long way towards doing sth
▪ And Monday's game will go a long way towards determining Wright's future.
▪ For it was he who arranged the finance which went a long way towards putting the station on the air.
▪ Friedman's statement of the natural rate hypothesis went a long way towards reconciling such evidence with basic classical theory.
▪ In doing so it can go a long way towards lifting the depression which has afflicted too many teachers in recent years.
▪ Schema theory can go a long way towards explaining the sender's choice and arrangement of information in communication.
▪ The new, improved materials available have gone a long way towards extending the lifespan of today's flat roof.
▪ This decision goes a long way towards demonstrating the untenability of the marital-rape exemption in modern times.
▪ This will also go a long way towards preventing your neighbour complaining about the noise you make.
go out of your way to do sth
▪ Jennifer knew what a difficult time I was having, and went out of her way to be friendly.
▪ They went out of their way to make me feel welcome.
▪ When Annie arrived, Harriman went out of his way to make life pleasant for her.
▪ And the recording industry is going out of its way to help.
▪ How to be compassionate to their pain and go out of their way to help them?
▪ Neither do they go out of their way to look for targets, human or otherwise.
▪ So empty, in fact, that the United States seemed to go out of its way to insult Ismail.
▪ This is the second time to-night she has gone out of her way to be sensitive to Oregon.
▪ To register his annoyance, he seemed to go out of his way to ignore us.
▪ We are going out of our way to help him with it.
go so far/as far as to do sth
go some way towards doing sth
▪ But Mala had gone some way towards the opposite.
▪ Funding for public works, including community-based arts projects, went some way towards alleviating mass unemployment.
▪ However, the Commission has recently issued a notice which goes some way towards defining the elements of them.
▪ It is proposed that hypertext systems go some way towards providing students with alternative structures for organizing their knowledge of electronic publishing.
▪ Most of the old great Elf towns date from this period and it goes some way towards accounting for their remoteness.
▪ The theory also goes some way towards answering the question of why people speak indirectly.
▪ This goes some way towards typing the organism causing the disease.
▪ Will he go some way towards reviewing the process?
go through the motions (of doing sth)
▪ But the picking up strikes a chord and going through the motions always works.
▪ Everybody said the right thing; everybody went through the motions the way they should.
▪ Still others go through the motions but without any real desire to improve the relationship.
▪ The authorities occasionally go through the motions of clamping down.
▪ To Harry, Jack looked like a man going through the motions.
▪ Too many students are going through the motions without any significant engagement in learning.
▪ We just give up and go through the motions and we let our negativity harden inside us.
▪ You can go through the motions.
go to some/great/any lengths (to do sth)
▪ Both want to steal the show and they are going to great lengths to do it.
▪ Dealers, sometimes surreptitiously encouraged by their firms, would go to great lengths to extract information from employees of rival firms.
▪ Furthermore, bats go to great lengths to avoid confrontations with people.
▪ George Bush went to great lengths to keep out of his way on the campaign trail.
▪ The Medieval church went to some lengths to specify the roles of particular stones in religious imagery.
▪ When uninterrupted by unforeseen or unrecognized obstacles, parents will go to great lengths to provide these advantages for their children.
▪ Who knows whether Oppenheimer went to any lengths to find anyone who had anything good to say about Stewart.
▪ Yet Phillips climbed the wall anyway, went to great lengths to hurt his ex-girlfriend.
had sb done sth
▪ Had we known they were going to build a road right there, we would never have bought the house.
have a habit of doing sth
▪ Be careful not to annoy the boss. He has a habit of losing his temper.
▪ My teenage daughter has a habit of leaving home without her house key.
▪ We shouldn't rule out a Democrat victory yet. These things have a habit of changing just when you least expect it.
▪ Arizonans have a habit of embracing wealthy businessmen with virtually no elective experience.
▪ Here, the guards have a habit of touching the women.
▪ I have a habit of filling small sketchbooks with hour or day-long sequences of watercolours.
▪ I have a habit of turning it off as soon as I hear the first commercial.
▪ Low-confidence people have a habit of trying to accomplish the impossible.-Praise yourself when you do something well.
▪ Myths have a habit of ignoring the truth.
▪ Things have a habit of disappearing there.
▪ Things he predicts have a habit of coming true.
have a job doing sth/have a job to do sth
have a knack of doing sth
▪ Children have a knack of choosing the most inconvenient or embarrassing times for their Socratic dialogues.
▪ I have spent years using buses, and seem to have a knack of sitting next to some very odd people.
have a perfect right to do sth
▪ You have a perfect right to say "no" if you don't want to do it.
▪ They have a perfect right to object to it.
have a trick of doing sth
▪ But the agents have tricks of their own.
have a way of doing sth
▪ Don't worry too much. These problems usually have a way of working out.
▪ And we have ways of making sure that the escapade of that silly young man at Southend gets widely reported.
▪ But the Washington Wizards have a way of bringing out the best in their opponents.
▪ Evenings like this have a way of going on!
▪ If history has taught us anything about imaginary customers, it is that they have a way of doing unexpected things.
▪ So do Humpbacks have ways of expressing the same request for the repetition of a pleasurable sonic experience?
▪ The powerful have a way of establishing contracts that suit them.
▪ Things like this have a way of surprising you.
▪ Yet things have a way of evening ut, and I paid a heavy price for my hypocrisy.
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to just go home.
▪ I have half a mind to tell her what I really think of her.
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have no ambition to do sth
have no business doing sth/have no business to do sth
have no interest in doing sth
▪ I have no interest in continuing this conversation.
▪ He seemed to have no interest in doing anything.
▪ I have no interest in hating white people.
▪ I have no interest in high-tech commercial videos at all these days.
▪ I have no interest in the psychological interpretation of my sitters, I want to convey their physical appearance.
▪ Nor could they understand a young, good-looking man who appeared to have no interest in girls.
▪ Pound seems to have no interest in that.
▪ That is, leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves.
▪ You might have no interest in building a fancy themed site or even learning anything about creating Web pages.
have no problem (in) doing sth
have no right to do sth
▪ You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!
▪ But we have no right to force collection of child support for the kids.
▪ But you have no right to come in here meddling with my things.
▪ Finally, the relatives of patients have no right to make decisions on the patient's behalf.
▪ I have no right to be saying anything that goes against Church teaching.
▪ I have no right to intrude on their lives.
▪ The states have no rights to any money.
▪ You have no right to be here.
have no wish to do sth
▪ I have no wish to offend anybody.
▪ And believe me, I have no wish to keep score.
▪ I emphasize that I have no wish to come across here as the skunk at the process improvement garden party.
▪ I have no wish to attribute motives, but clearly finance intervenes.
▪ I have no wish to caddie for Brian Harley.
▪ I have no wish to change my nature over this matter and become a crusading journalist.
▪ I have no wish to create a posing pilots' paradise.
▪ I have no wish to get angry with my own invention, the so-named Miller.
▪ Mrs Hardman has grown used to her independence, and I have no wish to curtail her freedom.
have the gall to do sth
▪ Congress actually had the gall to vote for a pay raise for themselves.
▪ I can't believe he had the gall to ask you for money.
▪ Ruth was always on the phone and yet she had the gall to tell me off for making one call.
have the goodness to do sth
▪ But I hope to learn these soon if anybody will have the goodness to bear with me.
have the wit to do sth
▪ Thankfully, Reid had the wit to see what was wrong with the plan.
have/be nothing to do with sb/sth
▪ But that smell might very well have nothing to do with it.
▪ Finally, he was publicly warned and barred from communion, and the people advised to have nothing to do with him.
▪ General Smuts will have nothing to do with you.
▪ He was nothing to do with her and Alan.
▪ I have nothing to do with the motel.
▪ These are things to be proud of, but they have nothing to do with rank or class.
▪ We have nothing to do with each other.
here he/she etc is (doing sth)
▪ And here she is, all freshly powdered.
▪ And now here she is, staying at my house.
▪ Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you.
▪ But here he is, in full measured flood.
▪ Her own said that she should never teach, and here she is doing it.
▪ I mean, here he is, installed at the Priory.
▪ Sam Sheppard knew Richard Eberling and here he is fighting with this intruder through the house and he never recognized him.
▪ Yet here he is, pleading for the life of the stubborn nation that caused him nothing but trouble!
how about that!/how do you like that!
how can/could sb do sth?
how do you do?
▪ But how do you do that?
▪ But assuming for the moment that we can do better than fight over the trough, how do we do it?
▪ It sounds pretty powerful stuff, but how do you do it?
▪ So how do they do it?
▪ What do trees do, and how do they do it?
▪ What I want to know is how do they do it?
how do you mean?
▪ Straight? How do you mean, straight?
▪ And now, how do you mean translated?
if you must (do sth)
▪ "Who was that girl?" "Well, if you must know, her name is Mabel."
▪ If you must travel at night in dangerous areas, turn on the interior light in your car.
▪ But I was extremely jealous of him, if you must know.
▪ But if you must know, Mrs. Jewkes was present.
▪ But if you must...
▪ It's better not to use a flannel, but if you must, keep a separate one. 6.
▪ Look, if you must know!
▪ These people here have so little conception of our world that sometimes I feel myself as if I must have dreamed it.
▪ Very well, she'd tell them, leave if you must, but I want no abuse, is that clear?
▪ What good was freedom if he must give up his home to win it?
in a fit state (to do sth)
▪ An innkeeper can refuse service to any person who is not in a fit state to be received at the inn.
▪ He ordered those of his crew still in a fit state to swim to take to the sea.
▪ If Cullam had been in a fit state to observe behaviour he might have thought the chief inspector bored or preoccupied.
▪ If she'd stayed in a fit state then she wouldn't have found herself in this situation now.
▪ She wasn't in a fit state to be on her own.
▪ The big thing about reading and all that is - you have to be in a fit state for it.
▪ When I was in a fit state she asked if I would like to talk to her.
▪ With so many major projects in hand she wanted to make sure that everything was in a fit state.
in good time (for sth/to do sth)
in no shape to do sth
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ His hand stung and his head hurt and he felt in no shape to begin the delicate task of restarting their relationship.
in order to do sth
▪ In order not to offend anyone, I did not tell them the real reason for my visit.
▪ In order to be a doctor, you have to study for six years.
▪ In order to speed things up, we agreed to have another meeting tomorrow.
▪ Many drug users get involved in crime simply in order to pay for their supplies of cocaine and heroin.
▪ They need to raise $5 million in order to pay for the repairs.
▪ And more men are turning down promotion or relocation in order to give more time to their families.
▪ He has decided not to play football in order to focus on schoolwork and lacrosse.
▪ He needs a certain measure of vanity in order to create the right kind of public impression.
▪ Jimmy was referred for a psychological evaluation in order to assess his cognitive and emotional functioning.
▪ She discusses the structure of the advertisement in order to understand why we don't question the contradictions of the image.
▪ Such pets will be fully animated robots, in constant communication with the outside world in order to serve you.
▪ The exploratory design is used to accumulate data in order to formulate more precise hypotheses and research questions.
▪ We attack anti-gay stigma in order to encourage homosexuality to flourish.
in your hurry to do sth
▪ But in my hurry to get away from whatever it was in the bed I missed my footing and fell.
▪ But in their hurry to get off the mountain, exhausted climbers have discarded tons of rubbish.
indisposed to do sth
it does your heart good to see/hear sth
it doesn't take a rocket scientist (to do sth)
▪ It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to realize that the chain of events was no coincidence.
it is (not) for sb to do sth
▪ All the work in this approach must go into a persuasive account of what it is for reasons to be conclusive.
▪ How important it is for them to build theories out of what they see and think.
▪ I can tell him how important it is for us to have a home of our own.
▪ If one can notice the absence of something one must already know what it is for things to be absent.
▪ Look how difficult it is for women to get on in the medical or legal profession!
it is big of sb to do sth
▪ A whole dollar! Gee, that was very big of her!
▪ I think it was really big of Larry to admit that he made the wrong choice.
it is high time sb did sth
▪ It's high time we pulled together and got the job done right.
it is idle to do sth
it is incumbent upon/on sb to do sth
it is kind/stupid/careless etc of sb (to do sth)
▪ But, it, it is kind of funny.
▪ So it is kind of coming home and a change of focus.
▪ The idea of it is kind of cute: This little Frank guy is trying to find candy.
it is not sb's place (to do sth)
▪ But it is not my place and, frankly, I am not in the mood for a party.
it was all I could do to do sth
▪ I followed one up the motorway just yesterday and it was all I could do to not retch.
▪ When pro golfer Tiger Woods won the Masters two weeks ago, it was all I could do to suppress a yawn.
it was as much as sb could do to do sth
it wouldn't do sb any harm to do sth
▪ It wouldn't do you any harm to get some experience first.
it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth)
it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it
it's just/only/simply a question of doing sth
▪ Sometimes, it's simply a question of somewhere safe to go after school while parents are working.
it's no good (doing sth)
▪ But ... but I will worry if I think you are hanging on waiting, because it's no good.
▪ Here we are on the hills, and it's no better.
▪ It's no good just bleating on about the rising tide of crime to get money out of the government.
▪ It's no good pretending you've any aptitude for art when it's quite clear you've none at all.
▪ It's no good printing my letter if you're just going to do it again.
▪ It's no good tying up money for years unless you're certain you won't need it.
▪ It's no good, she rebuked herself sternly; there's no future in feeling like this about Luke Travis.
▪ It's very easy to tell an actor that it's no good.
it's no use doing sth
▪ It's no use complaining - you just need to take the test again later.
▪ But it's no use running away from it.
▪ He says it's no use having a ban if it can't be enforced.
▪ I've telephoned everyone I can think of, but it's no use.
▪ I can buy the best legal brains in the business, so it's no use your fighting.
▪ I said to him, Listen, George, it's no use living in the past.
▪ No, it's no use protesting!
▪ On the open road, it's no use pretending that the Bentley handles with the agility of a Porsche.
it's the least I can do
job done
just have to do sth
▪ I just have to get somewhere soon to sleep.
▪ My uncle said that now we ha-ha just have to do this.
▪ She would just have to get out and walk.
▪ Sometimes you just have to tell people what s best for them.
▪ That's the trouble with doing all these films and tellies - you just have to remember a little bit for a short take.
▪ We just have to do some more throat swabs.
▪ You can have it right back if you want it, you just have to ask.
▪ You don't just have to listen to stories.
justice has been done/served
▪ He can continue to appeal, or go to some other level, until he feels justice has been done.
▪ He has successfully persuaded the crowd that justice has been done.
▪ Mr Townsend says he feels justice has been done.
▪ Mrs Alliss' solicitor says justice has been done.
liable to do sth
▪ Accountants will be held liable to third parties with whom they have no contractual or fiduciary relationship.
▪ Act 1974 is liable to unlimited fines and/or up to two years imprisonment after conviction by a Crown Court.
▪ But the hatred they aroused meant that they were liable to be brutally slaughtered if captured afterwards.
▪ Clerical Medical is liable to United Kingdom tax on the income and certain gains arising from the assets backing this policy.
▪ Participants who break any conditions are liable to arrest, conviction or a, 400 fine.
▪ Schools will therefore be liable to lose pupils and funds if they fail to satisfy parents.
▪ The Blackshirts deliberately concentrated on those areas where there were liable to be violent counter-demonstrations.
▪ This shows all those who are liable to pay community charge and specifies the particular type the individual will pay.
little did sb know/realize/think etc
▪ But little did he know at the time, how soon he'd need it.
lucky/unfortunate etc enough to be/do sth
▪ Alan was lucky enough to discover a scorpion in the fruit bowl.
▪ And handsome David Wood, who now runs his own hairdressing salon in Melbourne, was lucky enough to date her.
▪ And I was lucky enough to sit in the catbird seat and watch and learn and be changed myself.
▪ And when I was lucky enough to enjoy some rare hot weather my feet stayed as cool as I could have expected.
▪ I thought I had been lucky enough to pick up a shore current that was helping me along toward the rip.
▪ If you are lucky enough to see one, observe it from a distance.
▪ Regardless of their preferences, not every couple is lucky enough to find two equal jobs in the same community.
▪ Some authors are lucky enough to think naturally in terms of story.
make a (mental) note to do sth
▪ He made a mental note to call her and arrange a time to meet, away from her parents.
▪ He makes a mental note to call Keith a second time at 7:15.
▪ I made a note to myself to check for the box.
▪ I made a note to myself to come back in early spring to get scions for grafting.
▪ I made a mental note to ask about that.
▪ Mentally, I make a note to have the boy checked by our pediatrician.
▪ Thinking of that, he made a mental note to burn it in the morning.
▪ Vickie makes a note to raise the issue when she attends the management meeting.
make a mess of (doing) sth
▪ An explosion would have made a mess of them, and matchsticks of that tub.
▪ Convinced of his own plainness, Graham is here engaged in taking Jenny out and making a mess of kissing her.
▪ Hands were wrung in every quarter at the prospect of homosexuals making a mess of this fine, strong outfit.
▪ He made a mess of things in the park, but it's the first time he's got it wrong.
▪ If I make a mess of it that woman is going to be so glad.
▪ Most people make a mess of handling money.
▪ She made a mess of her life.
▪ The shell hit the roof of the building and made a mess of the inside of the building.
make a point of doing sth
▪ Bridget made a point of thanking each of us for the gift.
▪ He makes a point of letting his congregation know he takes care of his children.
▪ He seemed to make a point of taking two steps backward for every one step forward.
▪ Hitachi is expected to make a point of integration, management and directory synchronisation.
▪ It's a spectacular scene and I make a point of leaving my dictation and watching through the curtains each evening.
▪ Kramer braced and made a point of looking tough and bored.
▪ They'd made a point of it.
▪ They made a point of recruiting fledgling Latino engineers into the organization.
make it a rule (to do sth)
▪ I make it a rule not to take friends on as clients.
▪ I make it a rule to go at least three times.
▪ In fact, he made it a rule never to make any friend who could not be useful to him.
▪ Since I have made it a rule not to lie to a client, I assume reciprocal honesty from him.
▪ They made it a rule that she was never to be alone.
make it your business to do sth
▪ Ruth made it her business to get to know the customers.
▪ But before you leave I suggest that you make it your business to find out.
▪ I made it my business to be there at dinner the following day.
▪ I make it my business to acquaint myself with where objects properly belong in a house.
▪ Increasingly, companies are making it their business to develop programs for serving both the worker and the bottom line.
▪ Quinn knew this because he had made it his business to know such things.
▪ She made it her business to find out.
▪ These villagers - of course they would make it their business to know anyone who was rich and whose father lived so near!
▪ They made it their business to worm a curl of something out of you.
make no attempt to do sth
▪ We want to set up an attempt on the life of the President.
make no bones about (doing) sth
▪ Mr. Stutzman makes no bones about his religious beliefs.
▪ At least he made no bones about it.
▪ He made no bones about displaying his artistic temperament.
▪ He made no bones about stating his own views or criticising theirs.
▪ I make no apology or make no bones about being partisan.
▪ The secretary was enormously dissatisfied with how some of our programs were being managed, and made no bones about it.
▪ These five women made no bones about national honor or scientific achievement.
▪ Well, the two of them had made no bones about what they thought of her.
make noises about doing sth
▪ Apparently Bradford is interested in having it and Bristol has also made noises about it.
▪ I made noises about the absence of a bank in this so-called international airport; but what choice did I have?
▪ It was extended, but the Provisionals continued to make noises about renewing the violence.
make short work of (doing) sth
▪ Carmen would have made short work of Michael too.
▪ Fourth placed Guisborough made short work of the opposition at Saltburn.
▪ Guernsey made short work of the opposition when they won the event on home soil in 1990.
▪ He made short work of the remainder of his lunch, pushed his chair from the table, and stood up.
▪ It is fair to warn anglers that thousands of crabs soon make short work of rag and lugworm.
▪ It made short work of our Windows performance tests, WinTach, clocking up an impressive index of over 9.3.
▪ The second game we pull away early and make short work of it.
▪ These cannibalistic tadpoles make short work of one of their siblings.
make/be so bold (as to do sth)
may sb/sth do sth
▪ Activities, such as walking, standing, sitting or bending, may have to be learned anew.
▪ But I got lost in the doing of it, as navigators may, and we went beyond ourselves.
▪ If you forget to move your turkey from freezer to refrigerator in time, you may thaw the turkey in cold water.
▪ It may pay to be early at Catford where Dromina Duke looks the part in the second race.
▪ It will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and may have a knock-on effect.
▪ They also monitor the production run to make sure that it stays on schedule and correct any problems that may arise.
▪ To deny this power is dangerous, for, suppressed, it will find another outlet and may erupt uncontrollably.
▪ Worse yet, it may resort to additional expedient action to disguise or defuse the consequences of previous counterproductive actions.
no amount of sth can/will etc do sth
▪ But no amount of bashful cuteness can disguise its humourless narcissism.
▪ But no amount of money can buy what Nakamatsu really wants -- lasting fame.
▪ It is due to the inefficiency of the Government which no amount of Budget bribery can possibly erase.
▪ So implausible, so achingly out of touch are they, no amount of Toytown trickery can disguise their ancient irrelevance.
▪ The key is in the cooking; no amount of marinating will tenderize a tough cut of meat.
▪ Therefore, no amount of personality can compensate for mediocre chili. o Judging chili is very personal and subjective.
▪ Translation here must be indeterminate because no amount of evidence will guarantee that the translation we offer will be uniquely correct.
▪ Voice over April's pursuing compensation though no amount of mony can make up for what she's lost.
no can do
no more does/has/will etc sb
▪ In practice, this situation will arise only very rarely if a regime of symptom control and no more has been adopted.
▪ Men appear to be no more willing to support women in their traditional roles than women are to assume them.
no sooner had/did ... than
no sooner said than done
no warrant for (doing) sth
not be about to do sth
▪ I wasn't about to let him pay for it.
not be above (doing) sth
not be alone in (doing) sth
▪ But this market has not yet developed, and when it does Pippin will not be alone in it.
not be in the business of doing sth
▪ Labour may not be in the business of re-connecting with the past, but its attachment to the future is still confused.
not believe/think/do sth for a/one moment
▪ His hand had not wavered for a moment.
▪ His leader did not believe for one moment the protestations of innocence.
▪ I do not concede for a moment that this is a devolution measure.
▪ I would not suggest for one moment that they existed here.
▪ Neither team will half-step, not even for a moment.
not do a hand's turn
not do a stroke (of work)
not do sth by halves
▪ I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
▪ He comes from a family that does not do things by halves.
not for want of (doing) sth
▪ I never read any of them although it was not for want of trying.
▪ It is not for want of encouragement.
▪ This is not for want of official concern by education commissions, curriculum projects and national ministries.
▪ This is not for want of talent or know-how.
not have a prayer (of doing sth)
▪ The Seahawks don't have a prayer of winning the Superbowl.
▪ Boxing White Hopes like Cooney do not have a prayer of toppling Tyson.
not have the heart to do something
▪ I didn't have the heart to tell my daughter we couldn't keep the puppy.
not make a habit of (doing) sth
▪ The nutritive arguments still stand and I would not make a habit of eating lots of white bread.
not stand/have a cat in hell's chance (of doing sth)
not/never be (a great) one for (doing) sth
not/never be one to do sth
▪ Tom is not one to show his emotions.
▪ I never was one to collect a bunch of guitars like some people do.
nothing doing
▪ Lend you $500? Nothing doing!
▪ Clinton did some frantic shuttle diplomacy, but there was nothing doing.
▪ I wanted to get to know him all right, but nothing doing.
now's the time (for sb) to do sth
raring to do sth
sb can do sth in their sleep
sb can ill afford (to do) sth
▪ The senator can ill afford another scandal.
▪ If land is not suitable for efficient farming, we can ill afford it being used for inefficient agriculture.
▪ It does not make sense to squander important resources that the nation can ill afford to lose.
▪ Many of them are in fact very poor and can ill afford their habit.
▪ Often it is something they can ill afford.
▪ Sotheby's can ill afford to have its auction prices called into question.
▪ Surely it would be a drain on Party resources that it can ill afford.
▪ There may be no alternative to leave of absence, even though the nurse can ill afford the loss of income.
▪ Yet it is an area which practitioners can ill afford to ignore.
sb can/could do sth for England
sb cannot but do sth
sb could do worse than do sth
▪ A woman could do worse than be a nurse.
▪ He could do worse than spend his evening keeping an eye on her.
▪ In groping for useful precedents, one could do worse than heed the tale of a man named Sherwood Rowland.
▪ The West could do worse than to base its policy towards the Middle East on that aspiration.
▪ You could do worse than take a leaf out of the health economists' book.
sb had better/best do sth
sb is not shy about (doing) sth
sb will not be doing sth (again) in a hurry
sb would give the world to do sth
sb would give their right arm to do sth
▪ These parents would give their right arms to get their kids into a prestigious school.
sb would sooner do sth (than)
sb/sth has yet to do sth
▪ Deion has yet to figure out how to throw to himself.
▪ Harland & Wolff has yet to show a profit, but the future looks good.
▪ His work retained a pronounced individuality and originality that has yet to be properly acknowledged.
▪ However, he said he has yet to consider his circumstances.
▪ However, the site this year has yet to be determined.
▪ If there is a success formula in that it has yet to be demonstrated.
▪ The savagery of our retaliation against the virus has yet to be played out.
▪ Whether it allows the exercise of force to be more controlled and effective has yet to be seen.
sb/sth is here to do sth
▪ We're here to serve you.
▪ Goebbels is here to show the pretty Magda the sights of Paris.
▪ Greg Lloyd is here to talk about defense, and the role of barely controlled violence in defense.
▪ In other words, the swimsuit issue is here to stay.
▪ Managed care is here to stay, experts at the conference agreed Wednesday.
▪ Miss Quinn is here to look after him.
▪ The Classics is here to stay.
▪ Those are the people, says Roth, he is here to serve.
▪ What Personal Computer is here to help you.
see your way clear (to doing sth)
▪ If you can see your way clear, call this number to volunteer.
▪ Finally he could see his way clear to his goal.
see/think fit (to do sth)
▪ The government has seen fit to start testing more nuclear weapons.
▪ Add details as you see fit.
▪ For example, the firm can implement its own quality and inspection policies and amend these as they see fit.
▪ He was their final court of appeal and punished them as he saw fit.
▪ If particular LEAs see fit to alter their priorities and redeploy funds from one area to another, that is their decision.
▪ Meg had - this gift; the Lord saw fit - no qualms, she stole the jacket.
▪ Once the states knew the message of the day, they could reinforce it as they saw fit.
▪ The public can use, abuse or change the software in any way they see fit.
▪ There were some girls that I thought fit Selena more physically.
set on/upon/against (doing) sth
▪ A pail of cold water for washing was set on the floor so that performers had to bend over to use it.
▪ Lance Rees was set on as he passed the sorting office in Withernsea, Humberside, on his way to school.
▪ Manuel Perez's brother left after his house was set on fire.
▪ Margarett set upon the package, tearing at its wrappings, only to find beneath it another carton, then still another.
▪ Once again I detect a false opposition: an idealised reality set against the alien forces of darkness.
▪ They were hacked to death and their bodies set on fire.
▪ Time limits may be set on how long employees can leave their goods in storage and receive reimbursement from their employers.
▪ Were the limits set on their radiation exposure acceptable?
set to do sth
short of (doing) sth
▪ Short of selling the house, I don't know how we're going to get that amount of money.
▪ A pair to fit wellies which reach right up to the knee cost a penny short of a fiver.
▪ Apart from Ferkhan, everybody was short of food.
▪ Even in the best of years, Journal news coverage inevitably falls short of perfection.
▪ San Francisco may be running short of characters, but new communities pop up every day.
▪ That is nothing short of stupidity.
▪ The company said its earnings would fall short of previous expectations mainly because of lower earnings from its Gulf Printing unit.
▪ The House vote fell well short of the 291 required to override a veto.
so as to do sth
▪ The little boy ran off so as not to be caught.
▪ Now it has just been seen that the laws of physics are efficiently ordered so as to produce highly desirable states.
▪ The regional economy has been reorganized so as to distribute tasks and responsibilities equitably.
▪ The spouts are placed so as to ensure no seed drops down the deep furrows immediately behind the subsoiler legs.
▪ Their identities are not revealed so as to prevent reprisals against their families.
▪ They immediately crossed the river and fired several houses in the village of DeSoto, so as to illuminate the river.
▪ Winsocks should be written so as to be accessible from either 32-bit or 16-bit workspace.
something to eat/drink/read/do etc
▪ But he was walking to a truck stop across the street, probably getting something to eat during his break.
▪ It had something to do with being a man.
▪ It had something to do with skills, and something to do with expectation and hope.
▪ Most calendar programs remind you gently when you have something to do.
▪ No, you can't dash out for something to eat.
▪ Of course, the beer might have had something to do with this.
▪ Then I rolled up my things in a blanket and went out and had something to eat.
▪ You've done it a thousand times already, but you do it again, just for something to do.
sporting chance (of doing sth)
▪ After all, you are meant to give the quarry a sporting chance.
stab at (doing) sth
▪ A few years earlier, the Sellers shops had taken some early stabs at the problem.
▪ But the extreme suffering of women and their children stabbed at my heart.
▪ But there was an interesting sequel, which gave him his first, insightful, small stab at directing.
▪ But this last little stab at optimism soon comes to naught.
▪ He stabbed at it with his talons and beak.
▪ I knew the day and the month and made a stab at the year.
▪ Of course, she thought with a stab at realism, all this could apply to anyone.
▪ There have been several other attempts with the Department of Defense that took a stab at a new vehicle.
stop short of doing sth
▪ Paula stopped just short of calling me a thief.
▪ But they have stopped short of rejecting the idea altogether.
▪ Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
▪ Even then I stopped short of making a complaint.
▪ He believed in a kind of progressive development of forms, but like Forbes stopped short of an actual evolutionary theory.
▪ His passion has only just stopped short of writing a structural critique of the civil engineering faults at Valhalla.
▪ Wisely, perhaps, Marochnik stops short of drawing any dramatic conclusions, but two things are clear.
▪ Yet we stop short of analysing what it is.
take a bit of doing/explaining etc
▪ It took a bit of doing - for instance, the disposal site had to check out 100 percent.
▪ It took a bit of explaining.
▪ That's going to take a bit of explaining.
take advantage of sth (to do sth)
▪ Accordingly he took advantage of a new pope to address the curia for favourable letters.
▪ Meanwhile, authorities can take advantage of experience with the existing system in both rural and urban areas.
▪ Skaven erupt to take advantage of the disaster.
▪ The commission estimates that at least seven companies took advantage of the program.
▪ The Franks took advantage of this by seizing some islands which the Saxons had held.
▪ The Project also took advantage of the vast numbers of our supporters eager to stand up to the bullies at the clinics.
▪ We just hope tens of thousands of other Star subscribers can take advantage of this major price cut, too.
▪ While S-HTTP will be able to take advantage of ubiquitous certification infrastructures, its deployment does not require it.
take delight in (doing) sth
▪ My dad took delight in calling me "The Big Ox" when I started growing taller than the other girls.
▪ But do I take delight in pushing you down, making you worse?
▪ Congressional wives take delight in pointing out that kind of error to their husbands.
▪ John, of course, had long since lost his northern accent and took delight in his appearance as the well-heeled businessman.
▪ Or a human parent will take delight in teaching their child to walk and talk and do so many things.
▪ The story of the purchase of Sarah's burial plot is comedy, and comedy frequently takes delight in debunking heroes.
▪ They remember you at your most awkward and unformed and they take delight in reminding you of it.
▪ You take delight in vexing me.
take some doing
▪ Getting this old car to run is going to take some doing.
▪ It took some doing, but I finally persuaded Jim to give me a few more days off.
▪ Winning 3 gold medals in the Olympic Games takes some doing.
▪ Catching up four goals will take some doing.
▪ It takes some doing for a couple to counter the opposition of either family.
▪ It took some doing, but I was out the next day.
▪ So I have to prise off the foe unassisted, which, believe me, takes some doing.
▪ This Series can be saved, but it will take some doing.
▪ This took some doing, as they seemed prepared to stay all night.
▪ Whew, that took some doing, I can tell you.
take the lead (in doing sth)
▪ It shows what is being done right now by companies taking the lead.
▪ It took only eight minutes for Portadown to take the lead.
▪ It was Olsson who had taken the lead with the jump immediately before Edwards when he leapt 17.47m.
▪ Meanwhile, in the brothers' partnership, Joe took the lead.
▪ Principals are key players and are encouraged to take the lead to ensure that identification procedures are implemented.
▪ Toronto took the lead on the power play with less than two minutes remaining in the second period.
▪ United took the lead midway through the first half.
take time out (to do sth)
▪ A: I am going to take time out and go to college.
▪ Actress Beverley D'Angelo is taking time out from her screen career to perform a risqué country set across the Bible belt.
▪ At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.
▪ Despite his increasingly hectic schedule, Haden graciously took time out to be interviewed about the Quartet and the Jazzfest tour.
▪ I shall take time out to call at Aurae Phiala.
▪ If you actually worked for Jobs, he took time out from preaching the Mac gospel to meddle in your life.
▪ Nurses in Training Questions: Do nurse teachers take time out to discuss their teaching methods with their peers?
▪ The 73-year-old Republican standard-bearer took time out of his busy campaign schedule last week to search for those roots.
take/go to (great) pains to do sth
▪ However, composers often go to great pains to keep to true intervals.
▪ Mr Lendrem has gone to great pains to establish one thing: that all of his preconceptions concerning bird behaviour are true.
that will do nicely
that would/will never do
▪ Bless my best boots, that would never do at all.
▪ Oh, no, that would never do, would it?
the damage is done
▪ Ed apologized a week later, but the damage was already done.
▪ Crew scurries to cover the lanes and approaches, but the damage is done.
▪ For the most part, the damage is done by soluble aluminium released from soil by acid water.
▪ It is when guilt lingers into adulthood that the damage is done.
▪ The concert is still reverberating in our ears and the damage is done.
▪ The symptoms are often obvious, identifiable, and even treatable before the damage is done.
▪ Well, the damage is done now.
the done thing
▪ For the great majority, the industrial co-operative is just not the done thing.
▪ I suppose it was not the done thing for a book of Rambles.
▪ It being, of course, not the done thing to drop your trousers in public.
the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing sth)
▪ I therefore inherited the dubious honour of making it available on loan to youth workers.
▪ Mr Edmond has the dubious honour of being tried by the District of Columbia's first anonymous jury.
▪ Sarah, left alone, had the dubious distinction of being the last of all the Titfords in Frome.
the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing
the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing
the mechanics of (doing) sth
▪ He may not understand the mechanics of cooking, but he certainly enjoys fine food.
▪ A lack of knowledge of the mechanics of the council may prejudice the success of a good proposal.
▪ Council members actively began to seek information about the mechanics of housing rehabilitation programs in other cities.
▪ Exhibit 4. 6 illustrates the mechanics of this process.
▪ For more on the mechanics of doing this see Behaviour modification on page 16.
▪ He scooped up the heavy wet snow, digging hard, his mind ticking through the mechanics of a last nifty illusion.
▪ The passages that follow illustrate the mechanics of this type of metaphor.
▪ We then use the diagram to go over the mechanics of monetary and fiscal policy.
▪ Yes, your garden-master was only a puppet, and yes, the mechanics of it were built by others in Spiderglass.
the minute (that) sb does sth
▪ The minute I say something is cute, she'll hate it.
the moment (that) sb does sth
▪ Been getting hold of a bit of meth, but it's fairly hard to come by at the moment.
▪ Does it enable them to make the right choice in the heat of the moment?
▪ In the heat of the moment it does not usually look as if there is anything to be done about the heat.
the obvious thing (to do)
▪ But they haven't done the obvious thing and abandoned ship.
▪ I had always loved walking so it seemed the obvious thing to do.
▪ It would be the obvious thing to do under the circumstances.
▪ Looking at it from a businessman's point of view, it's the obvious thing to do.
▪ To drop it as soon as it was ready seemed natural, the obvious thing to do.
the wherewithal to do sth
▪ His family didn't have the wherewithal to send him to college.
▪ A force of thirty-six tourists but he doubted they had the wherewithal to hold up a gas stat1on.
▪ And we were filling the orders at full retail price, which small businesses were suddenly finding the wherewithal to pay.
▪ Back then, I looked like some one with the wherewithal to buy things.
▪ But because they have the wherewithal to be heard.
▪ By the end of the emancipation process, the authorities lacked the wherewithal to pay for the transference of land.
▪ None of them have the wherewithal to conceive of a Reconciliation.
▪ Whereas conventional criminals lack the wherewithal to pay for being placed on probation, no such inability is true for corporations.
▪ Without images, he said, there would not even be the wherewithal to talk about the death of images.
there is no percentage in doing sth
there is no question of sth happening/sb doing sth
▪ Each has much to offer to the other and there is no question of one tradition being right and the other wrong.
▪ Even if the practice overspends its funds, there is no question of patients not getting the treatment they need.
▪ Since there is no means of changing the weather, there is no question of protest.
▪ This again suggests that the boys may have been in the wrong, which there is no question of in Ballantyne.
▪ This particularly applies where there is no question of a divorced previous spouse.
▪ This phenomenon is distinct from onomatopoeia - it is sometimes called sound symbolism: there is no question of auditory resemblance.
▪ Yet there is no question of one's hair rising.
there's no doing sth
▪ And there's no mystery to bands any more.
▪ But police experts say there's no evidence to support that.
▪ But there's no way to get money for real investment.
▪ He says that the budget is a disaster, there's no way that the county can now avoid charge capping.
▪ I - I've decided that since you've got everything under control there's no point in my staying here any longer.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Make sure there's no plan to change the exam format this year.
▪ With amateurs there's no point in paying, they're likely to kill the victim off anyway, out of fear.
there's no harm in doing sth/it does no harm to do sth
there's no need (for sb) to do sth
▪ There's no need to shout - I'm not deaf!
▪ There was no need for me to stay there.
▪ And there's no need for us to move to the city.
▪ But there's no need to join to get out on the water.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Police say there's no need for genuine fans to be any more worried now that Swindon's in the big league.
▪ Whatever the cause, there's no need for you to worry.
there's nothing for it but to do sth
tired of (doing) sth
▪ But by then, the hedgehog was tired of waiting and was walking away across the croquet-ground.
▪ His sister, Marie, his children-they had all grown tired of him.
▪ I am old, and tired of life.
▪ It was April, his children were tired of riding, and his wife, Clara, was pregnant.
▪ It was possible, of course, but not likely that Zacco had grown tired of his Christmas truce.
▪ She is tired of being asked.
▪ This line has won him widespread backing among middle class voters tired of 17 uninterrupted years of Tory rule.
▪ We are getting tired of people behaving like prima donnas.
try your hand at (doing) sth
▪ A visit to West Dorset also offers a perfect opportunity to try your hand at windsurfing.
▪ If you have the urge to try your hand at a grant, do so!
▪ Isaac Mizrahi tried his hand at the corset, and in the process turned out some fabulous evening dresses.
▪ It's time to try my hand at the settled life.
▪ Just like Walsh, too, Robinson first tried his hand at broadcasting.
▪ Many who are in the process of acquiring these technical skills may wish to try their hand at grantsmanship.
▪ More than once, more than a dozen times I have been tempted to try my hand at another profession.
▪ Plenty of Christians have tried their hand at putting their beliefs into prose or poetry, usually with calamitous aesthetic results.
turn your hand to (doing) sth
▪ Adam Burns was probably good at everything he turned his hand to.
▪ Adult women could often turn their hand to more than one form of casual employment.
▪ Friday marks the start of a new music programme as Channel 4 turns its hand to dance.
▪ He has had to be able to turn his hand to almost anything.
▪ I have turned my hand to trying a bit of writing and I keep meaning to take it up again.
▪ Roth also turned his hand to poetry, his best-known volume being, as you no doubt guessed, his Shit Poems.
▪ She can also turn her hand to mending and spotting.
▪ She turned her hand to short stories, getting two published in the early 1990s.
unaccustomed to (doing) sth
▪ Hazel, like nearly all wild animals, was unaccustomed to look up at the sky.
▪ Human Resource departments are also unaccustomed to classifying employees according to these informal roles that are so vital to innovation.
▪ Many had, during marriage, distinct conjugal roles and were therefore quite unaccustomed to undertaking partners' household tasks.
▪ Some of these visitors will be unaccustomed to country roads and to the hazards of walking along a road with no footpath.
▪ They had grown unaccustomed to using their power of collective action.
▪ They were people who were unaccustomed to silence, who were comforted by the racket of their own voices.
▪ Unemployed or still at school, often unaccustomed to budget discipline, young people now have unprecedented opportunities to outspend their means.
▪ We became unaccustomed to silence, which was a signal for alarm.
unprepared to do sth
▪ The ferry was unprepared to handle a disaster.
▪ And exposed unprepared to view a patient whose appearance caused me to warn a hardened policeman!
▪ It is unprepared to offer them the skilled attention that they need.
▪ Many grandparents are financially unprepared to care for their grandchildren.
▪ They were thus unprepared to deal with social and cultural problems of Tanganyikan hospitals in other than a technical fashion.
▪ This also left certain Negro Volunteers unprepared to make the necessary adjustment, and led to the same kind of painful surprise.
▪ When the four women finally did enroll last September, school officials were unwilling or unprepared to meet the challenge.
unused to (doing) sth
▪ He was a man who was unused to sitting still.
▪ I was unused to the heavy city traffic.
▪ He walked a little uncertainly, unused to the solid earth under his feet.
▪ If you are unused to exercise, it hurts.
▪ Jonathon's eyes, unprotected, blinked on and off, unused to open air.
▪ Negotiations are sometimes difficult, especially when styles vary and both sides are unused to such interactions.
▪ Of course it was faintly possible that masons unused to waterproofing could nevertheless carry out the architects' detailed instructions effectively.
▪ She was unused to booze, the bloody Marys; still a little woozy.
▪ The men, however, for the most part, were unused to marching.
▪ The tendency for anyone unused to such enormous forces is literally to be thrown over the handlebars.
was/were to do sth
well done!/well played!
what else can sb do/say?
▪ I told her it looked good. What else could I say?
▪ I do about three hundred sit-ups a day and it still refuses to firm up, but what else can I do?
▪ P.S. Awful - but what else can one do?
▪ So what else can Florida do?
▪ What else can a sinner say?
▪ What else can he realistically do?
▪ What else can I do for you Jim?
▪ What else can I do to improve things?
whatever you do
▪ Whatever you do, don't tell Judy that I spent so much money.
▪ But Tess, in answer to your question, whatever you do, don't tell your future husband anything about your past experience.
▪ But, whatever they do, says Quinn, they do not determine strategies.
▪ Gallagher understood that, whatever he did, he would violate his principles.
▪ I just go to a movie and come home, so whatever they do, they should stick to it.
▪ I tried, also, to accompany and chronicle whatever we did together with talk.
▪ Lawyers must be prepared to undergo scrutiny and be held accountable for whatever they do.
▪ The twenty fifth anniversary may be special but for some fans whatever they do the band just can't go wrong.
▪ This is the result of my experience and your money and a touch of genius that follows me whatever I do.
when all's said and done
who is sb to do sth?
▪ Who are you to tell me what to do?
▪ But who is qualified to lead us on this Crusade?
▪ Dean Cook, who is leaving to go back to university.
▪ Discussion about how each subject is to be covered will identify who is needed to do the teaching.
▪ First job is to check that Tony, a boy who is brought to school by mini-cab is in.
▪ It is not always the missionary who is reluctant to change outward forms.
▪ Rhodes is an outstanding defensive player who is expected to flourish as a small forward or shooting guard.
▪ This is a boon for anyone who is hypersensitive to the latter solvents.
▪ Thus Austen represents in her a portrait of one who is a stranger to love but wedded to reason.
why doesn't sb do sth?
▪ Why don't you give me your number, and I'll call you.
▪ Why not have the picnic in Glendale?
with a view to (doing) sth
▪ They've torn down the old buildings with a view to renovating the whole neighborhood.
▪ Loyalists are rumoured to be arming themselves, with a view to throwing the federal government out of the kingdom.
▪ Once a year, take a look at how your investments have performed, with a view to dumping the persistent laggards.
▪ The Commerce Clause was not drawn with a view to having the validity of state laws turn on such pointless distinctions.
▪ The public policy of the United States is shaped with a view to the benefit of the nation as a whole.
with an eye to (doing) sth
▪ Departments with an eye to the ratings tend to appoint established researchers with proven records, rather than younger, unpublished candidates.
▪ Each side was building its forces with an eye to gaining military supremacy.
▪ He had the personality for it, strong, aggressive and with an eye to a bargain.
▪ He recently shed a number of pounds, which even some friends say he lost with an eye to a national race.
▪ Lord Taylor's main point is to suggest that judges should pass sentence with an eye to the public's expectations.
▪ So she works with an eye to adjusting the Outside world too.
▪ These are also designed with an eye to reassuring those who did well out of the switch from rates to poll tax.
within an ace of (doing) sth
▪ I came within an ace of slapping her around.
without wanting/wishing to do sth
▪ Without wanting to, Rose was drawn to watch.
▪ Without wishing to be demeaning, computer literacy and competence is not particularly high on the list of archival training.
▪ Without wishing to scare you unduly, you should be aware that sharks do lurk out there.
▪ Without wishing to tempt providence in any way, we appear to have got away lighting in so far as Winter is concerned.
▪ He had had enough experience of strangers probing his own hurts without wanting to pry into those of others.
▪ Lying in bed, she thought of him without wanting to hurt him at all.
▪ She sank deep down again, unable to stay alert, and saw without wanting to a giant Catherine-wheel in the sky.
▪ The expectation from government industrial ReD is one of reducing dependency on imports without wanting to achieve self-sufficiency.
work/effort etc involved in doing sth
▪ A further disadvantage is the work involved in returning the manure to the field.
▪ It is also often used to pay for the preliminary work involved in making applications for civil and criminal legal aid.
▪ She would like to know their reaction to the work involved in taking the course. 14.
▪ The chief drawback to small-scale silage-making is the extra physical work involved in handling the green crop with its high water content.
▪ The effort involved in constructing such circles was enormous.
▪ The work involved in writing this summation must have been back-breaking, and certainly took years of research.
▪ We have to do the more general piece of work involved in clearing one more bias from our morality.
would it be possible (for sb) to do sth?
▪ Would it be possible to get together at 6:30 instead of 5?
would you be good enough to do sth?
▪ Would you be good enough to get my glasses for me?
▪ Would you be good enough to re-advise me of your full address so that I can send the documents to you?
would you be good/kind enough to do sth?
would you be kind enough to do sth/be so kind as to do sth
you would be well-advised to do sth
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "What are you doing?" "Making cookies."
▪ Did you do computing at school?
▪ Do as I say, not as I do.
▪ Do your homework before you watch TV.
▪ As a young teacher she did two years in one of the city's toughest schools.
▪ Can you do the twist?
▪ He's doing an art course at Wrexham College.
▪ He did two years at the University of Tennessee after he left here.
▪ He does Clinton very well.
▪ He used to do karate when he was in college.
▪ Hey, the washing-up's been done. That must have been Cynthia.
▪ How are you doing? Are you nearly finished?
▪ Howard did some rapid calculations on the back of an envelope.
▪ I'd better go home -- I've got to do an exam in the morning.
▪ I'm always the one who does the cooking and cleaning and stuff around here.
▪ I've done dozens of shows in the north of England, and the audiences were great!
▪ I did my time in the army like everyone else.
▪ I bought the car for £3500, and it's only done 30,000 miles!
▪ I can't decide whether to do German or Spanish next year.
▪ I could do you an omelette.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Again, a problem having little to do with the need for truthfulness.
▪ Aged 70, he does what he can to represent those inside.
▪ Anyone who thinks about the speedup of change must sense that it has a lot to do with modern technology.
▪ Carrey wants to expand beyond funny faces, the way Steve Martin and Robin Williams did.
▪ I set my alarm for four in the morning to give myself enough time to do homework before the paper route.
▪ I suppose I knew, in my heart, that it had something to do with Amin.
▪ So now Clinton does Ike one better: He has created a seven-member commission to study racial issues.
III.nounPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(I) don't mind if I do
▪ "Would you like another piece of cake?" "Thanks - don't mind if I do."
(do you) want to bet?/wanna bet?
(do) you hear?
(do/try) the ... thing
▪ Rick's doing the starving artist thing right now.
(well,) what do you know?
Do you have a problem with that?
▪ "You're going to wear that dress?" "Do you have a problem with that?"
England expects that every man will do his duty
I defy sb to do sth
▪ Derbyshire folk may query the authenticity of this but I defy them not to enjoy the results.
▪ Willing my heart to beat normally, I defy the urge to turn back or freeze or cry out.
I do so/it is so etc
I wish (that) sb would do sth
▪ I wish he would go away.
▪ I wish he would stop this.
▪ I wish Masklin would come back.
▪ I wish my friends would take that to heart.
▪ I wish they would continue to play at the Forum.
▪ I wished the Admiral would switch on the lights.
▪ I thought I was gon na die and-I hate to admit it-sometimes I wished I would.
▪ They are different from the views that he is saying are ours, and I wish that he would retract that.
I wouldn't mind (doing) sth
I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth)
▪ I wouldn't put it past Colin to lie to his wife.
I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth)
I'd hate (for) sb/sth to do sth
▪ I'd hate all that food to spoil.
▪ I'd hate for my child to grow up in such a violent city.
▪ I'd hate anyone to think that I did well out of dealing with the problem page.
▪ I'd hate some one to come along and see me.
I'd like to see you/him do sth
▪ But I 'd like to see you again, when we can make time.
▪ I 'd like to see him again.
▪ I 'd like to see you give our boys a run for their money.
I'll see what I can do
▪ "I really need it by tomorrow." "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."
I'll thank you to do sth
▪ I'll thank you to mind your own business.
I'm not in the habit of doing sth
▪ I'm not in the habit of lying to my friends.
I'm not prepared to do sth
▪ I'm not prepared to let them take my business without a fight.
I've known sb/sth to do sth
When in Rome (, do as the Romans do)
a done deal
▪ Not a done deal Despite the agreement, the preservation of the Headwaters Grove still is not a done deal.
▪ Still, there are many who say prions are not a done deal.
a lot/something/not much etc to be said for (doing) sth
all the more reason why/to do sth
▪ But that's all the more reason why we should go off this time with a car well filled, eh?
▪ If some material is lost already, that is all the more reason to stop a lapse becoming a loophole.
▪ That means there is all the more reason to oppose the willed destruction of old things.
▪ That possibility is all the more reason to end the conflict soon.
▪ This is all the more reason to find a more democratic way of deciding the state for the first primary.
any fool can do sth
▪ Any fool can make a baby, but it takes a real man to raise his children.
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ Conversely, any fool can sit down at a slot machine.
▪ Of course any fool can write down 1,2,3,4 and even 5,6,7,8 opposite the names of candidates on a ballot paper.
argue sb into/out of doing sth
as is/was/does etc
▪ And as is the way of things in nature, given sufficient heat and hammering, the result is forged steel.
▪ For his contemporaries, Gloucester clearly filled a double role, as is illustrated by his dealings with the city of York.
▪ In fact, as is clearly illustrated by this data, inequalities are relatively consistent throughout childhood.
▪ It is as unique in its way as was the original White Paper.
▪ It was a small, intimate gathering that was assembled, as was the custom among nice Atchison families.
▪ Now he desires, as is but right, that my dowry should be returned with me.
▪ The classic Sinatra phrasing remains intact, as does that easy-breeze delivery.
▪ The human was now seen as a biomechanical machine, as was the entire universe.
as you do
at the risk of doing sth
▪ A school has to be able to make rules about students' dress, even at the risk of upsetting parents.
▪ At the risk of being boring, I have to say again how much I enjoyed myself.
▪ At the risk of sounding like your mother, you'd better dress up warm.
▪ This is a point which -- at the risk of being boring -- I must emphasize once again.
▪ Cantor figured he could afford caution, even at the risk of insulting the caller.
▪ How I loved being normal, even at the risk of becoming a Red Cross water-safety statistic.
▪ However, at the risk of underestimating such differences, certain current issues can be picked out.
▪ However, there is no point investing for the long term at the risk of being caned in the short term.
▪ Proceed with caution and, at the risk of sounding like a tabloid astrologer, look before you leap.
▪ There were even imitation sheepskins, but worn at the risk of being considered a total nebbish.
▪ Which, at the risk of uttering sacrilege, may not be such a bad thing.
be (hard) pushed to do sth
be a matter of doing sth
▪ Below that level it is a matter of getting bogged down.
▪ How much money Simpson has is a matter of intense speculation and debate.
▪ It is a matter of perception.
▪ Nearly all his problems are a matter of remembering things.
▪ This seems to be a matter of level of attention.
▪ This was a matter of both intellectual curiosity and national security.
▪ This was a matter of extreme concern - with its many implications, for both jurisdictions of Church and State.
be able to do sth
▪ After the accident it was a long time before she was able to walk again.
▪ Ammiano still isn't able to make a living from acting.
▪ Because of the drop in stock prices, investors were able to find some bargains this week.
▪ Consumers are now able to buy the drug without a prescription.
▪ In 1944, we were able to return to Hawaii.
▪ My grandpa's getting old now and he can't do all the things he used to be able to.
▪ She was able to get her watch repaired the same day.
▪ Thomas is expected to be able to play again next weekend.
▪ Those bags look really heavy - are you sure you'll be able to carry them on your own?
▪ To take the class, you have to be able to use a computer.
▪ You might be able to get a temporary passport.
▪ Do you really think the uneducated people they leave behind will be able to keep the artificial environments stable?
▪ For example, ants are able to memorize the path through a maze and are capable of applying this learning to other mazes.
▪ However, further studies are required to be able to reach significant conclusions on the economics of such an attempt.
▪ Once he was able to communicate his feelings, he and his wife were able to resolve the situation.
▪ Table 16-2 shows that the first Thatcher government was able to reduce marginal tax rates substantially, especially for the very rich.
▪ The men most likely to be able to give the news, she said, were Nestor and Menelaus.
▪ The taxi driver was a friend of ours so we were able to relax driving to the Airport.
▪ Working without advisers and with a poor slate of generals, Lincoln was able to reunite the country and end slavery.
be about to do sth
▪ Oh, I was just about to leave you a message.
▪ Bridges go two ways, though, and what is about to arrive going the other way is a stultifying 600-year empire.
▪ Gav's under pressure from his missus to be home earlier while Paul's wife is about to walk out.
▪ I had seen Bella, when she was about to fry meat, cutting it with a scissors instead of a knife.
▪ So it looks as though this dish is about to get the smile wiped off its face.
▪ The gridlock that characterized the Lamm years was about to end.
▪ They may have started, or are about to start a family.
▪ Well, the two days of hiking were about to begin.
▪ You are about to assume a place of responsibility which requires giving yourself up for your wife as per Ephesians 5:25-33.
be accustomed to (doing) sth
▪ I'm not accustomed to getting up so early.
▪ Steph was accustomed to a regular paycheck.
▪ A judge, however, perhaps more than any other person, is accustomed to making and announcing his decisions in public.
▪ Allen Iverson had been spectacular, but he is accustomed to that.
▪ I am accustomed to a political argument that cuts to the core.
▪ Pagans were accustomed to using temples as safe-deposits for their treasures.
▪ She was accustomed to hanging up her own coat.
▪ The two girls were accustomed to not talking at meals.
▪ Watson, I am accustomed to being baffled by complexity.
▪ We are accustomed to the infinite length of the horizon all about us.
be apt to do sth
▪ He was apt to get very upset when things went wrong.
▪ Some of the employees are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
▪ The pond was apt to dry up during summer.
▪ Clients are apt to minimise numbers of assignments, whilst headhunters maximise them, and neither are willing to divulge exact figures.
▪ Farm workers are apt to complain that they now feel like strangers in their own village.
▪ In the evenings, when I am apt to recede to a withdrawn vacancy, she will come to stroke my hand.
▪ Mr Spock's ears are distractingly perky and he is apt to panic or, worse, to smile.
▪ One of these was apt to be Catholic Social Services.
▪ Our more skeptical age is apt to greet a performance like this with a smirk, as just more fussy Victorian moralism.
▪ Somehow, without guidance and peer influence, cricketers are apt to bite the hand that feeds them.
▪ When a moving object catches their attention, babies are apt to focus on it.
be at liberty to do sth
▪ The secretary of state told reporters, "I am not at liberty to get into the details" of the proposal.
▪ We are not at liberty to discuss our hiring practices.
▪ You are quite at liberty to make an official complaint if you wish.
▪ Also, of course, a trust is at liberty to raise new capital by an issue of additional ordinary or debenture shares.
▪ And the world will say: now she is at liberty to pursue her inclination, the parson is the man.
▪ But we are at liberty to form our own judgement of the person doing so.
▪ Elsewhere anyone was at liberty to hang up a shingle and go into practice as a physician.
▪ Freed from the trappings of conventional morality, Van Ness is at liberty to invent his own.
▪ Staff in these Departments considering additional computers are at liberty to submit suggestions through line management in the usual way. 3.
▪ Time when he was at liberty to go fishing or take a drive along the coast.
▪ While I am still free, I am at liberty to take my pleasure when I choose.
be at pains to do sth
▪ Mrs Henessy was at pains to say that she was fighting for a principle, not just for financial compensation.
▪ The U.S. military has been at pains not to offend its Muslim host.
▪ A year on they acknowledge the problems, but are at pains to defend the good name of their community.
▪ I was at pains to show how and why.
▪ Officials were at pains to point out that it was focused on resolving border disputes and promoting trade.
▪ She taught in a racially mixed school and was at pains to correct simple stereotypes and unthinking prejudices.
▪ She was at pains to tell me - several times - that her male friends were divided into two groups.
▪ These he is at pains to hide in order to promote the fiction of his rise from rags to riches.
▪ They are at pains to insist that they are not called to be a denomination.
▪ Writers in the early art and photographic journals were at pains to define its precise meaning.
be beyond sb's power (to do sth)
▪ I am afraid that is beyond my powers.
▪ So he adopted the simple expedient of not opening it until it was beyond his power to act on it.
▪ The taxpayer, it said, had not established that it was beyond his powers to obtain the information.
▪ Then they discovered that this was beyond their power.
▪ Unfortunately, I think it may be beyond my powers as a programmer to set up such a counterfeit world.
be billed to do sth
▪ On 20 April 1871 he was billed to speak in Whitehaven, on the Cumberland coast.
▪ Ulster Unionist leader Jim Molyneaux is billed to speak at two conference fringe meetings.
be born to do/be sth
▪ Jim was born to be a politician.
▪ Dorena Knepper was born to be organized.
▪ He was born to be King and was looking for a princess.
▪ He was born to do stills work; he always wanted to freeze the moment.
▪ I think I was born to do that kind of thing, it's terrible.
▪ I was born to be a soldier of the soil...
▪ I was born to do this.
▪ It's what I was born to be.
be burning to do sth
▪ Hannah's burning to tell you her news.
be bursting to do sth
▪ She was bursting to relieve herself, but even though that was what was wanted of her, she couldn't.
▪ The vast reservoir of information he had acquired was bursting to be expressed.
▪ They were bursting to tell her things she would never know.
be calculated to do sth
▪ The commercials are calculated to attract young single consumers.
▪ By the end of 1988 the lifetime output was calculated to be less than 22 percent of its original design capacity.
▪ Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost or valuation of tangible assets other than freehold land over their estimated useful lives.
▪ On the contrary, much of it - the taxation proposals in particular - is calculated to sacrifice our competitive edge.
▪ Pearsons correlation coefficient was calculated to measure the association between continuous variables.
▪ Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient was calculated to determine the correlation between relative frequency and coverage.
▪ The maximum concentration of free fatty acid in the incubation mixture was calculated to be 50 µM.
▪ The S phase duration was calculated to be 10 hours.
▪ The way the Sibyl thought it necessary to start was calculated to frighten any but the boldest.
be doing nicely
▪ Hockey is doing nicely by itself without FoxTrax.
▪ The government says farmers are doing nicely, thank you, and that savings in agricultural cooperatives are rising.
▪ Your boyfriend said to say he was sorry he had missed you, and he'd be writing and was doing nicely.
be done
▪ Mom won't let me watch television till all my homework's done.
▪ Showing affection in public just isn't done in Japan.
▪ We'll send you a bill when the repairs are done.
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done
▪ All is done in not much over an hour; and yet there is no sense of haste or excessive compression.
▪ Everything could be done by a nod and a wink.
▪ His career was exceptional, but it shows what could be done.
▪ How else can I manage the hundred and one things that need to be done each day, and write, too?
▪ The birds are done when their juices run pink.
▪ There was no cleaning or tidying to be done.
▪ This was done from the year of diagnosis until 1 January 1990 or until death.
be done for
▪ If we get caught we're done for.
▪ All his surviving work was done for religious houses in the south-west.
▪ Also in the intertidal zones, animals find that much of their work is done for them.
▪ Anything that is done for shock value has no future because it's done for the moment.
▪ If this is done for all five possibilities, the result is a series of points as shown in Figure 4-I.
▪ It seemed to her that if she thought about pulling out even for a minute, she would be done for.
▪ Sometimes this means taking a very definite stand on certain issues, but it has to be done for both your sakes.
▪ What can be done for it?
be done with it
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ He might as well capsize the dinghy and be done with it.
▪ If you're running Windows, update your system to the latest version of Internet Explorer and be done with it.
▪ In fact, the mayor could submit a written report to the Board of Supervisors and be done with it.
▪ Nigel Lawson showed what could be done with it.
▪ Once a cancer is detected there is no consensus as to what should be done with it.
▪ The goal of reading is to be done with it, to be able to close the book and play.
▪ There was so much anger in her she could not see what might be done with it.
be dying for sth/to do sth
▪ He was dying for a cigarette.
▪ He was dying for a long time, then there was a year of mourning, now we have a new emperor.
▪ My experience in workshops is that people are dying for more honest forms of communication.
▪ She was dying for him to leave so she could get on with business.
▪ The ill are dying for want of medicines.
▪ To know what they might be dying for.
be favoured to do sth
be fixing to do sth
▪ I'm fixing to go to the store. Do you need anything?
▪ He was fixing to get rid of the first one in the divorce courts.
be fond of (doing) sth
▪ All this results in a rare phenomenon: Marks and Spencer is a company people are fond of.
▪ Commentators are fond of discovering and praising a guidebook clarity in the novel.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ I am fond of him, he has been unfailingly kind to me.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ Like Dad, he was fond of whisky.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
▪ There was a desk I was fond of, it's true.
be fond of doing sth
▪ "The only reason I make money is so I can give it away," Quigley is fond of saying.
▪ Sue's very fond of hiking and backpacking.
▪ Dad was fond of whisky, but normally only drank on an evening when work was done.
▪ First, he knew Lewie was fond of him, and Lewie was the boss.
▪ He is fond of Machiavelli the rake, the prankster and the scoundrel.
▪ He travelled extensively, was fond of music, and was a competent pianist.
▪ Just why this is called a boil-off and just why auditors are fond of the term is obscure.
▪ Kromko noted lawyers and their ilk are fond of worthless boiler-plate.
▪ She was fond of, she liked, probably she loved, Wharton Horricker.
be forever doing sth
▪ He never does his homework on time and is forever getting into trouble at school.
▪ Science is forever trying to pinpoint the truth.
▪ We bought a new washing machine. The old one was forever breaking down.
be gagging to do sth/be gagging for sth
be given to (doing) sth
▪ Some adults are still given to temper tantrums.
▪ But when that remedy was given to a sick person exhibiting those same symptoms, it helped cure the person.
▪ Consideration should be given to arranging for a banker's guarantee in the firm's favour.
▪ Examination also needs to be given to the type of religious environment which permits the abuse of women to occur without reparations.
▪ Extra funds were given to agricultural production, food subsidies, and housing for armed forces personnel.
▪ For example, careful attention is given to communication in writing.
▪ I would like my poem to be given to such a man by the Police.
▪ Some thought has to be given to what is possible and it may be that time out can not be used.
▪ We were young and our waking hours were given to games.
be glad to (do sth)
▪ Agitated by these disclosures, Esther is glad to walk out along the river with Felix Holt.
▪ But he was glad to have them because they too seemed to offer some assurance that Amy would stay.
▪ For a dwindling congregation to be glad to become part of an implanted group in their own building is even rarer.
▪ Hon. Members will be glad to hear him speak again.
▪ I was glad to throw mine away.
▪ My contract runs for a year, and I shall be glad to get away.
▪ She was glad to be free of her past, and like it or not, Miguel was part of that.
▪ Still, most of us were glad to be relieved of responsibility for our failing learners for a few months.
be going to do sth
▪ I'm going to go to the hospital tomorrow.
▪ It looks like it's going to rain.
▪ Nancy's going to meet us at the airport.
▪ Ruth and Al are going to move to Seattle.
▪ The committee is going to have several meetings to get student input.
▪ Furthermore, if the views are going to last, they will probably end up in a White Paper.
▪ I was going to sit with a big book of wallpaper in my lap while she and Adler looked over my shoulder.
▪ If the bad news is all that you can see, then change is going to be your enemy.
▪ Once you have decided where the mounting pillars are going to be inserted you are nearly done.
▪ There were clear expectations that he was going to step in.
▪ We are going to analyse responses to people and ideas.
▪ We were going to visit my aunt and uncle who have lived there for the past five years.
▪ You know Ringwald is going to be trouble for McGaw from the moment they meet at a party.
be happy to do sth
▪ I'd be happy to cook if you want me to.
▪ I am happy to say that the change brought immediate results.
▪ International Chapters offers flexible accommodation arrangements and will be happy to advise on alternative travel plans.
▪ Management was happy to get a proven sniper on the left side, something the club had lacked for eons.
▪ Mr. Forsyth I should be happy to look into that correspondence and to consider the hon. Gentleman's point.
▪ She was a bad dancer and he would be happy to improve this lack and ignorance.
▪ The employer may be happy to find another applicant who wants the other half.
▪ They are happy to do so because the rent is fair.
be hard put/pressed/pushed to do sth
▪ Aunt Edie was in such a rage about it that she was hard put to contain herself.
▪ Governments will then be hard put to get it on to their national statute books by mid-1993.
▪ I can assure you that any busybody would be hard put to it to prove maltreatment!
▪ Leinster will be hard pushed to keep the score within the respectable margins of defeat set by their predecessors.
▪ Once an apology is given, the defendant will be hard put to contest liability later.
▪ The slave's side ... and even Miss Phoebe would be hard put to understand.
▪ With his height and features, he was hard put to pass as a native.
▪ You will be hard pressed to choose a single main course because so many are mouth-watering.
be in a position to do sth
▪ Maybe next year we'll be in a better position to buy a house.
▪ Once the loan is paid off, Jones will be in a position to run the casino himself.
▪ Only the governor is now in a position to stop the execution.
▪ We will have to run more tests before we are in a position to say whether the document is authentic or not.
▪ Well, given her appalling record, she's not in any position to criticize my work.
▪ When I've read the whole report I'll be in a better position to comment.
▪ In the case of the parents, they are unlikely to be in a position to make a rational judgement.
▪ More than a generation has passed since the child of a sitting president was in a position to apply to college.
▪ So few will ever be in a position to appreciate the magnitude of what has been lost.
▪ The proxy must be in a position to filter dangerous URLs and malformed commands.
▪ The strange metallic noises continued at intervals, whenever he was in a position to hear them.
▪ Then they'd be in a position to tell their parents what had happened.
▪ This is quite unreasonable as the pilot should always be in a position to recover and make a normal landing.
▪ We just happen to be in a position to do something about it.
be in line for sth/be in line to do sth
be in no hurry/not be in any hurry (to do sth)
be in no mood for sth/to do sth
▪ But Branson was in no mood for reconciliation.
▪ But he talks as if he knows perfectly well that the country is in no mood for his reprise of Reaganism.
▪ Frye was in no mood for Socratic dialogue, and he irritably resumed his oration.
▪ However, Mr Yeltsin, rejuvenated by victory, is in no mood for compromise.
▪ I am looking thoughtful, but she is in no mood for meaningful gazes across the room.
▪ She was in no mood for visitors.
▪ The nation at large, however, was in no mood for any such thing.
be in no position to do sth
▪ Besides, they are in no position to squander a little favorable scheduling.
▪ Despite the scale of the sector's misjudgments, the City is in no position to criticise.
▪ Divided élite leading the assault upon itself may be in no position to withstand the pressures of a restless population.
▪ I had relatives who took me in, but they were in no position to support me through school.
▪ Ian was in no position to disagree with her.
▪ Petitioner does not purport to have made, and is in no position to make, such findings.
▪ Ralph, though, was in no position to be picky.
be in the middle of (doing) sth
▪ He's in the middle of a meeting.
▪ I'm in the middle of fixing dinner -- can I call you back?
▪ I listened to others' crises but didn't want to accept that I was in the middle of my own.
▪ It was in the middle of the miners' strike, and feelings were running high.
▪ Mr Malik was in the middle of a group crowded round Mafouz.
▪ The grunts were in the middle of a fire mission.
▪ The kid who still enrolled at the school where he was in the middle of all that trouble.
▪ The Z42 is in the middle of the field on print speed.
▪ Todd Dexter was in the middle of the Tet Offensive near Saigon and had little time to appreciate his surroundings.
▪ We were in the middle of that when he was called inside to do his homework and I was sent home.
be in the process of (doing) sth
▪ He is in the process of changing his swing and said his old method had started to show up a little too much.
▪ Many who are in the process of acquiring these technical skills may wish to try their hand at grantsmanship.
▪ Sadly, Attia Hosain died while this book was in the process of being put together.
▪ Some 300 native applications are said to be in the process of moving to Solaris x86.
▪ Thames Water Authority are in the process of carrying out a general refurbishment programme at the plant.
▪ The chain was in the process of curling round as if to join and form a circle.
▪ The Committee is in the process of finalizing its first draft.
▪ The gluten is in the process of setting and the crust is deceptively crisp, hiding the immature bread within.
be in/within sb's power (to do sth)
▪ Data from the 1990 census indicate exactly how crucial higher education is in determining earning power.
▪ I most heartily wish it may be in my power to serve and save so much innocence, beauty and merit.
▪ I shall be in his power.
▪ It is within your power to concentrate on selected aspects of your work environment and ignore others.
▪ It was in their power to make and break military reputations; men gave of their best in front of them.
▪ They were in the power of these dragons.
▪ We must do whatever is in our power to convince them not to marry until they are old enough to know themselves.
be inclined to do sth/inclined to sth
be instrumental in (doing) sth
▪ Siegel was instrumental in creating the Las Vegas as it is today.
▪ By virtue of their ubiquity, popular prints were instrumental in helping to shape the perceptions of the vast majority.
▪ In objectification, the artefact appears to be instrumental in linking these major processes of abstraction and specificity.
▪ Last December they were instrumental in getting rid of Mr Gaidar and replacing him with one of those industrialists.
▪ Page was instrumental in the creation of the new Mainan ambitious public works project funded through a public-private partnership.
▪ The symbolism of the room was instrumental in setting the tone.
▪ These developments are instrumental in the increased regulation and stability of affective thought.
▪ Yaki, who was instrumental in negotiating the leases as an aide to Rep.
▪ You will also be instrumental in preparing reports on the effects of immediate and short term changes in electricity supply and demand.
be intent on/upon (doing) sth
▪ Abortion foes are intent on changing the laws allowing abortion.
▪ And as they were intent on their work, Bill was getting hysterical, calling his agent.
▪ Even then, too, Alvin was intent on displaying the male dancer in all his vitality.
▪ His best work is done far in advance, and he is intent on broadening his base.
▪ If his opponents were intent on overplaying their hand, it could only improve his position with the cardinal.
▪ Mr Mieno is still talking and acting tough because he is intent on bursting the speculative bubbles in shares and property.
▪ No-one spoke, everyone was intent on listening.
▪ The company is intent upon shielding them from the prying eyes of reporters.
▪ The staff at Howard were intent on giving their students the best they could offer.
be itching to do sth/be itching for sth
▪ Chris is itching to get back to work.
▪ Despite her success, however, it just wasn't much fun anymore. Liz was itching to try something different.
▪ She's just itching to tell you about her new boyfriend.
▪ Clearly the President's enemies are itching to believe unsubstantiated stories that could hurt him.
▪ I was itching to get on to San Francisco.
▪ If they already have some practical knowledge they will be itching to get on to the floor!
▪ Liz was itching to try something different.
▪ Shildon said he would probably change his mind in a day or two and be itching to talk.
▪ Some people were having holiday romances: they radiated an air of barefaced sin and were itching to talk about it.
▪ Some system developers and their software programmers assume that consumers are itching to be converted from passive to interactive television watchers.
▪ They were itching to shoot somebody.
be like to do sth
▪ But already she knew what it was like to be going home.
▪ Had we forgotten what it was like to be young?
▪ He'd enjoyed that, letting the good alderman know what it was like to be awoken just before dawn.
▪ I could even imagine what it must be like to have a baby.
▪ Leonie knew what it was like to have to give up your baby, never to see your child grow up.
▪ People in Britain tend to have strong feelings about what it is like to live in rural or urban areas.
▪ We were learning what it was like to be legionnaires.
be loath to do sth
▪ Congressmen are loath to limit the amount of time they can be in office.
▪ He seemed loath to raise the subject.
▪ His mother was still asleep and he was loath to wake her.
▪ By the time Frodo reaches Mount Doom he is loath to get rid of the Ring.
▪ None the less, doctors were loath to reveal their predictions to patients, unless, of course, complete recovery was expected.
▪ On the other hand, if I were just too fascinating the gallant gentlemen might be loath to drown me.
▪ People at that time were loath to take any action.
▪ She is loath to encourage folks to sit tight.
▪ White House officials said that President Bush was loath to impose burdens on industry as the country began to emerge from recession.
▪ Yet he is loath to part with skilled people who could prove difficult to replace come the upturn.
be looking to do sth
▪ The company is looking to increase its sales in Europe during the next two years.
▪ The Redskins will be looking to repeat their Super Bowl victory next season.
▪ We're not just looking to make money.
▪ Canoeists should be looking to their own backyard to promote an anti racist approach within the sport.
▪ Last year it took 32 % of the mobile phone market and is looking to buck the worldwide trend.
▪ Now the Labour Party is looking to its future.
▪ The company is looking to hire between 20-30 to work on Airbus wing production.
▪ To others it will be a rural environment which they are looking to protect.
▪ We are looking to the city of Grand Forks to assist us in funding our transportation program.
be meant to do sth
▪ Christmas time is meant to bring people together.
▪ Jenny is convinced she was meant to stay with Zev.
▪ By the time it was finished, the workings had gone lower than the levels it was meant to drain.
▪ Designed by Robert Von Hagge, it was meant to be hard.
▪ Like it was meant to look an accident.
▪ The new program is meant to put young people in the retail and hospitality industries on a fast-track to management careers.
▪ The party was meant to have been a thank-you to the casino staff from the management.
▪ The suit is meant to head off a legal attack against it by Apple which Quorum believes is in the works.
▪ They are gifts fit for a king, and so they are meant to be.
▪ This is the way movie comedies were meant to be: one laugh rolling in just as the last one rolls out.
be minded to do sth
▪ At about this time the plaintiff became suspicious that the appellants were minded to sell the property at Westbourne Grove.
be on the point of (doing) sth
▪ And I was on the point of telling you about Gwendoline.
▪ For a second she was on the point of executing Ace for insubordination.
▪ He thought she might be on the point of offering him a nip of whisky but she did not go that far.
▪ He was on the point of saying so when he despaired.
▪ Now Propane is on the point of pulling out because of insufficient interest.
▪ She was on the point of saying something but changed her mind.
▪ This was important, for Bonar Law's health was on the point of finally breaking up.
be only too glad/pleased to do sth
▪ Cliff is only too pleased to prepare a celebratory meal for any special occasion.
▪ I was only too glad to help.
▪ If none is required, they will be only too pleased to tell you.
▪ She was only too glad to have even this talk bouncing against walls that had become a tomb.
▪ The governments were only too pleased to oblige.
▪ The Library would be only too pleased to explore further suggestions along similar lines. 13.4.
▪ They know the way that the wind is blowing, and would be only too pleased to be redeployed into another trade.
▪ We would be only too pleased to provide information on the Association.
be out for sth/be out to do sth
be prepared to do sth
▪ Griffiths was prepared to spend up to $500,000 to renovate the old theater.
▪ He was prepared to use force if necessary.
▪ The Pentagon is prepared to build an emergency camp for refugees.
▪ You'll never learn to speak another language unless you're prepared to make an effort.
▪ But, as a scientist, she was and is prepared to tolerate this drive while it lasts without satisfying it.
▪ He was prepared to talk with complete honesty about it.
▪ He was very busy but he was prepared to see me because Lynda had recommended me.
▪ It is very thorough but requires the user to be prepared to look in depth at each technical area of painting.
▪ My sister can never understand what I am prepared to do for her, for our welfare.
▪ Now sadder but wiser, we are prepared to admit that the implementation of curriculum change is a complicated business.
▪ Now, because she needed something from him, she was prepared to give in.
▪ Or be prepared to go home without it.
be quick to do sth
▪ Coach Killick was quick to point out that the team is playing very well.
▪ I don't think he'll be so quick to forgive you.
▪ By contrast, Mrs Thatcher leads from the front, has views on most issues, and is quick to voice them.
▪ Company leaders were quick to discern this.
▪ However, Lang is quick to add that non-alcoholic beverages will also be served.
▪ It was quicker to go and ask there.
▪ Joey was quick to see his cousin, but slow to react.
▪ Kids talk candidly and loudly about their Santa experience, and are quick to point out body odor and bad breath.
▪ Movie writers and directors are quick to acknowledge differences between the genres.
▪ Yet his spokesperson was quick to explain that this was coincidence, not a coded reference to the coalition bargaining in Vienna.
be ready to do sth
▪ I'm always ready to help if you need me.
▪ If you really want to sell, price your house sensibly and be ready to make a deal.
▪ We are ready to consider any serious proposals.
▪ An individual's sexuality is their own affair and they will come to terms with it when they are ready to.
▪ By early evening, he is ready to start work.
▪ By the end of the year, it is ready to insert its new priorities into the biennial budget.
▪ Leave in the marinade until you are ready to cook.
▪ Look out for the envelope that will bring your invitation, and be ready to tell us your preference as soon as it arrives.
▪ My body ached, I was ready to drop, I wanted to cry.
▪ The city authorities were ready to remove 10, 000 people from their homes and offices.
▪ The first of these devices will be ready to fly in about 18 months, the companies said.
be reported to be/do sth
▪ Almost 60 percent of those displaced were reported to be under the age of eighteen.
▪ But in 1691 the boy was reported to have fallen accidentally from a second-story window and perished.
▪ But windows were reported to have been blown out in homes more than 1,000 yards away.
▪ He is reported to have upbraided his commanders for including political content in briefings.
▪ He was reported to be still there.
▪ It will aim to reduce duplication of services and its findings will be reported to ministers by the end of May.
▪ Milosevic himself was reported to have chaired a key meeting Sunday overriding infuriated hard-liners angered by the moderates' desire to compromise.
▪ The Jaguar is reported to have crashed in a distant country, mad as hell.
be resigned to (doing) sth
▪ BAshley, cynical beyond her 10 years, is resigned to more disappointment.
▪ Even the players are resigned to the prospect of starting their Premier League campaign without him.
▪ He is resigned to public indifference to the benefits of efficiency, as well as to the effects of greenhouse gases.
▪ He was resigned to his own fate.
▪ Most women are resigned to this and some use their martyrdom to manipulate their men.
▪ Opponents of the bill said they are resigned to its passage in the House.
▪ She had been thinking about it all night and was resigned to it.
▪ They are resigned to this battle.
be sick (and tired) of (doing) sth
▪ Gad, I was sick and tired of life.
▪ I think the archivist who helped me is sick of the sight of me by now.
▪ I was sick of concealments - those retentions of his.
▪ I was sick of following baseball through the abbreviated box scores of the international Herald Tribune.
▪ No one, knowing the Patriarch, could doubt that, after a day of his voice, Zacco was sick of him.
▪ People were sick of the war.
▪ We are sick and tired of the proliferation of guns.
▪ When we first started we were sick of the way many groups would adopt a cool persona for interviews.
be slated to do sth/be slated for sth
be supposed to do/be sth
▪ "Ultra Velvet" is supposed to perform at the club on Friday.
▪ I didn't really like the book, but the movie is supposed to be very funny.
▪ Mrs. Carver is supposed to have a lot of money.
▪ No one was supposed to know about it.
▪ This is supposed to be the best Chinese restaurant in town.
▪ Was that supposed to be a joke?
▪ We're supposed to check out of the hotel by 11:00.
▪ What time are you supposed to be there?
▪ You're not supposed to smoke in the building.
▪ And he was supposed to be a friend.
▪ By law, the costs of holding a fund-raising event are supposed to be reported as a noncash campaign contribution.
▪ He was supposed to be getting that for the gerbil babies, but his hopes were fading.
▪ I was supposed to be at work in my bookshop in Petersfield, Hampshire.
▪ She wouldn't understand that it was supposed to be a protest.
▪ This was supposed to be her final victory over him, supposed to establish her rule once and for all.
▪ Truthfully, the weather in South Florida is supposed to be balmy.
▪ You were supposed to be Gibson in the role-playing.
be sure of (doing) sth
▪ After all, he was sure of 100 percent of the vote from the north.
▪ And I was sure of it!
▪ But nobody is sure of the white extremists' power.
▪ Females evolved the ability to be charmed to be sure of picking the best males.
▪ Mummy was worried because she didn't know when daddy was coming home - Anna was sure of that now.
▪ The prisoners can each be sure of benefiting if they have a previously agreed pact never to confess, whatever the circumstances.
▪ The reporters were sure of their facts, he told Moore.
▪ The sea was such a mess that it took him a few moments to be sure of the reef.
be sure to do sth
▪ Be sure to read all the directions carefully.
▪ Minnie would be sure to notice - interested as she was in every tiny thing Polly did or said.
▪ New paradigms are sure to emerge.
▪ Partners should watch each other and be sure to agree on the moves.
▪ Payton is sure to be compensated come July 1, when he becomes a free agent.
▪ Third, as you are doing your taxes, be sure to check the box requesting your contributions to federal campaign funds.
▪ To punch a ticket is to play a game you are sure to win.
▪ Tuesday, she made news that was sure to get around, even to out-of-the-way McClain.
▪ Unemployment is sure to play its part.
be to do sth
be welcome to do sth
▪ You're welcome to borrow my bike.
▪ Any neighbor was welcome to drop in for tea.
▪ Any reader wanting the right detector to suit his pocket and plenty of sound advice is welcome to give me a ring.
▪ But he'd be welcome to come.
▪ That will be matched from here and others are welcome to join in.
▪ The public -- from upstarts to old pros -- is welcome to join this latest Friends social event.
▪ We must somehow transcend this and create an atmosphere at our meetings which is welcoming to people from all types of background.
▪ You'd be welcome to stay as long as you wanted.
be wont to do sth
▪ Be still, my beating heart, as T. Wogan was wont to say.
▪ Hapsburg officers, especially hussars, were wont to please themselves what they wore.
▪ Ickes is wont to yawn in mid-conversation.
▪ Indeed Bourdieu is wont to speak of functions or their functional equivalent.
▪ It transpired that there was a secluded roof on her house where she was wont to sunbathe totally naked.
▪ It was not often that the High King searched me for truth as he was wont to search lesser men.
be worth (doing) sth
▪ But for the converted it was worth the wait.
▪ He hoped some day some one would play it - if it was worth playing.
▪ It must demonstrate to consumers that a Pro Logic receiver is worth $ 859.
▪ Obviously it is worth keeping watch over the pond during these times to ensure that the fish do not become stuck.
▪ Symington has maintained that the funds had locked themselves into making the loans regardless of what he said his holdings were worth.
▪ The gazettes are worth an army of 300,000 men to Napoleon.
▪ To him an evening with one woman is worth an evening with ten of us.
▪ When the railroads provided a market for beef, suddenly the six million longhorns running loose in Texas were worth something.
be worth sb's while (to do/doing sth)
▪ And finally the Soft Sell - it will always be worth your while to invest in a stout umbrella!
▪ Controversy really begins when there are varying views as to whether a house is worth saving.
▪ Dardis assured Bernstein that it would be worth his while to fly down to Miami again.
▪ However, rather than getting upset about this it spurs her on to try harder to show that they are worth watching.
▪ I had to make her see that the exercise was worth her while.
▪ If he! ital! is! off! going to fight, he wants it to be worth his while.
▪ It could be worth your while.
▪ The try is to be worth five points while the drop goal will count for two points.
be/become habituated to (doing) sth
▪ Some patients with severe headache problems become habituated to ergotamines and other non-narcotic drugs.
▪ Un-learning is more difficult than learning - because we become habituated to thinking or feeling in certain ways over time.
be/come/go halfway to doing sth
be/feel bound to do sth
▪ Even as she felt bound to her family, she felt a childish need to rebel.
▪ If you were married to me I wouldn't expect you to be bound to the house all day, every day.
▪ It had been a solemn and impressive ceremony and, whatever my uncertainties, I felt bound to respond.
▪ Just as, in writing, I think little men should be bound to mere journeyman work...
▪ She seemed unwilling to acknowledge that this might not be wise and would be bound to cause her parents concern.
▪ Some human would be bound to see you.
▪ They would be bound to see such a use as virtual expropriation, without compensation.
be/feel called to do sth
▪ Back then, people believed they were called to the ministry.
▪ Father really felt he was called to preach by God.
▪ Paul and his helpers were called to be missionaries for Jesus Christ.
▪ Sandy felt called to do missionary work.
▪ But the most controversial is expected to be called to the witness stand.
▪ He said that the police would be called to investigate Dempsey and he would be out of a job.
▪ How many more outrageous examples of excess in political fund raising and spending do they need to be called to action?
▪ Managers who live in the hotel usually have regular work schedules, but they may be called to work at any time.
▪ Responsibility refers to the liability of a person to be called to account for his/her actions and results.
▪ The general meeting of the shareholders of the target company may be called to decide upon defence measures.
▪ We are praying that very ordinary people will be called to a very special task.
▪ Why, then, should lawyers be called to task for protecting the rights of the accused under the Constitution?
be/feel constrained to do sth
▪ I feel constrained to tell the truth.
▪ Alternatively, the collective good is seen as paramount, and individual freedom must be constrained to achieve that collective good.
▪ Because they are unsure of their male identities, they feel constrained to prove them continually.
▪ Mr. Davis felt constrained to accept that such a case might be within the purview of the legislation.
▪ Republicans who used to back it because the president liked it will no longer feel constrained to do so.
▪ You could take Richard anywhere too but you would feel constrained to keep explaining he was a genius.
be/feel disinclined to do sth
▪ The President said that he was disinclined to send in American troops.
▪ He felt disinclined to argue while the calendar was there to remind him that he was down to his last twenty-five days.
be/feel hard done by
▪ Having played in the previous winning Eisenhower Trophy team with distinction I think he can feel hard done by.
▪ The idea of a passenger going without pudding and then leaving the aircraft feeling hard done by troubles them.
▪ Thomas felt hard done by, contested the will and lost.
▪ To any readers who feel hard done by or annoyed please accept my sincere apologies.
▪ You've every right to feel hard done by, so don't start thinking that you're being selfish.
be/feel honour bound to do sth
▪ Don't you tell him either, because he'd feel honour bound to do something about it.
be/feel honoured (to do sth)
▪ But, of course, writing something into a constitution does not necessarily mean that it will be honoured in practice.
▪ Existing hardware support and service agreements will be honoured, it says.
▪ Going down now to a place where his certainties would finally be honoured.
▪ He doubted if his hatred of Dysart could even be honoured with the description of revenge.
▪ He, too. is convinced that a contract signed has to be honoured.
▪ In such cases the courts have said that the promise must be honoured.
▪ Individual boatmen should also be honoured through clubs nominating skippers for their ability to find fish and their helpfulness towards anglers.
▪ It should be remembered, and she should be honoured for it.
be/feel inclined (to do sth)
▪ After reading this book, you might be inclined to think so.
▪ I would be inclined to add an external canister filter to your set-up, such as an Eheim 2215.
▪ I would be inclined to remove the odd fish, though.
▪ Still, when he makes a statement such as you refer to, I would be inclined to believe him.
▪ The faster the heart beats the more rapidly we may be inclined to breathe and the more oxygen we take in.
▪ The Fed chief implied the central bank might be inclined to wait until its March 20 meeting before taking such a step.
▪ We might be inclined to reject the arrangement because it seems unattractive and not what we want.
▪ We naturally feel inclined to reject these theories for that reason.
be/feel/seem etc disposed to do sth
▪ Congress has had a torrent of learned advice on this amendment, none of which it seems disposed to listen to.
▪ Ernest Conway had never felt disposed to adopt a conventional, benign, grandfatherly role.
▪ Gradually the talkative groups settled into a contented silence, but no one seemed disposed to go to sleep.
▪ Headteachers say governors come to school on special occasions but don't seem disposed to become involved more routinely in school affairs.
▪ James didn't seem disposed to take the hint.
▪ Seb's father was a large, comfortable-looking man who did not seem disposed to make a fuss.
▪ The brothers exchanged glances, neither saying a word, though they seemed disposed to.
▪ The very houses seemed disposed to pack up and take trips.
be/get done
▪ A lot of hard work needs to be done.
▪ Call it a freak accident and, hopefully, be done with it and race on.
▪ Casting off may be daunting, but it has to be done.
▪ If there is any uncertainty about that, a pelvic exam or sonogram may be done.
▪ Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
▪ To her, some things obviously had to be done, and that was that.
▪ Unless this could be done, he asserted, its occupation would be pointless.
▪ Where work will be done should not be an assumption; it is a question that must be asked.
be/get used to (doing) sth
▪ Zach's not used to such spicy food.
▪ Could it be used to predict the mating system of species that had not been studied?
▪ He walked like an old man trying to get used to new glasses.
▪ In housing, the market can not be used to move to the market.
▪ Left: Scenes shot on telephoto appear to have compressed perspectives which can be used to good effect.
▪ The bulldozer would be used to load them.
▪ The password which will be used to limit access to the packages created.
▪ The threat of this ex ante can then be used to ensure adherence to the agreement.
▪ This money would be used to provide education, job-training assistance, childcare and program administration beginning later this year.
been there, seen that, done that
bend over backwards (to do sth)
▪ Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
▪ The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
▪ The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
▪ They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
▪ You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
bend/lean over backwards (to do sth)
▪ Outside the trees are bending over backwards to please the wind: the shining sword grass flattens on its belly.
▪ Stuart was leaning over backwards to see Oliver's point of view.
▪ The authors, however, bend over backwards to avoid consideration of that particular class scenario.
▪ The Gallery is also bending over backwards to boost attendance, and in doing so is rather alarmingly bowing to populist pressures.
▪ They also needed to stop rationalizing the problem to themselves and bending over backwards to be fair.
▪ You should bend over backwards to avoid bitter personal rows and the holding of grudges.
bulldoze sb into (doing) sth
by dint of (doing) sth
▪ A peculiar light seemed shed over everything, by dint of it being that house and no other!
▪ And though his grades each week never varied much from 9 and 10, it was only by dint of hard work.
can do sth blindfold
can do sth with one hand (tied) behind your back
can do sth with your eyes shut/closed
can't do sth for toffee
can't very well (do sth)
can't/couldn't be arsed (to do sth)
can't/couldn't seem to do sth
▪ I just can't seem to come up with lyrics for this song.
can/could always do sth
cannot/could not bring yourself to do sth
▪ But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
▪ He had died somewhere on the way to his next case, and Quinn could not bring himself to feel sorry.
▪ I debated with myself but in the end, I could not bring myself to pack up and leave.
▪ Rain could not bring herself to put this to the test.
▪ She could not bring herself to fall down the house stairs.
▪ The New-York Historical Society couldn't bring itself to do that.
▪ The teakettle made a brisk whistling sound, but John Wade could not bring himself to move.
▪ This little subterfuge the guard put into motion somehow he could not bring himself to do it.
capable of (doing) sth
▪ He was capable of sudden aggressiveness, such as over Matkovsky's telephone account.
▪ Instead, he had proved himself to be capable of great human emotion.
▪ Now she could relax, she thought, if she was still capable of thinking.
▪ Redundant systems won't provide such clear-cut results because all of the modules are capable of doing the same job.
▪ Roman had said half an hour and he was quite capable of walking in on her if she was late.
▪ The system must be capable of identifying any new entries or sense sections which have been incorporated into the dictionary text.
▪ We are all fully capable of managing that responsibility.
catch yourself doing sth
▪ I caught myself watching everybody else instead of paying attention to the lecture.
come close (to doing sth)
▪ A loose end, Kirov reminded himself as he came close to the man.
▪ A visit to the ancient ruins, especially on a quiet weekday, comes close to a religious experience.
▪ And this night, he comes close to getting seriously injured.
▪ Even La Scala, where an opening-night stall seat goes for £500, rarely comes close to breaking even.
▪ He can come close, perhaps, but the closer he comes, the greater the risk of slippage.
▪ Her horse came close and watched her.
▪ Later Mr O'Malley came close to confirming that his party would quit the coalition later this week.
▪ Miguel wanted to trust Firebug; he came close to letting everything spill out.
come to do sth
▪ But human ingenuity and intelligence, plus what may amount to an instinct for symbolism, comes to the rescue.
▪ Gladys Brown and her husband came to number ten quite a few years after we moved in.
▪ He and John, the Red Comyn, had come to blows before.
▪ If this was the end then she needed time to come to terms with it by herself.
▪ In the morning they travelled on until they came to a thick wood.
▪ She'd come to investigate the past, and discovered her own future instead.
▪ The way it came to me was just the way you wish everything comes to you.
come within a whisker of (doing) sth
compelling need/desire/urge (to do sth)
▪ And it was from these experiments that Work place 2000 emerged as the response to a compelling need for change.
▪ Most women with bulimia, particularly those with a history of anorexia, have a compelling desire to be thinner.
▪ Such freedoms can be abridged only if the state shows it has a compelling need to do so.
▪ Suddenly I had a compelling urge to look at Wilkerson.
connive (with sb) to do sth
consider it done
content (for sb) to do sth
▪ By and large, the academic community seems content simply to accommodate to the instrumental needs of post-industrial society.
▪ Eighteen months previously I would have been content merely to be alive.
▪ He must therefore demonstrate this rational content without appealing to church doctrine.
▪ I was so content as to be completely unprepared for the obvious eventuality of his return.
▪ Learn the Net is continually updated and tastefully devoid of commercial content.
▪ The city has been content historically to stand on its natural attractions to draw business.
▪ The Kingdom gives content and purpose to the act of commitment.
▪ They also offer parents the best controls over the content available to young children.
content yourself with (doing) sth
▪ But Borssele has not simply contented herself with the odd leak.
▪ He said not a word to her, but contented himself with sending a stern reprimand to Aeolus.
▪ If Sister doesn't get a move on, they could always content themselves with the shortest children's story ever told.
▪ Ishmael is the only Person aboard the Pequod who never contents himself with seeing only one meaning for anything.
▪ Jones, shoulders hunched against the numbing cold, contented himself with a quiet display.
▪ The intrepid manager had to content himself with numbering his reserve teams.
▪ When the Suns came to watch in Game 1, he contented himself with 28 points and six rebounds.
▪ You must content yourself with maintaining your present level and role in the organization for the duration or leave!
could do with sth
▪ And Katherine could do with all the comfort she could get for the illness was slowly and inexorably taking its toll.
▪ But the Olympic gold medal was so far away from what I thought I could do with my life.
▪ He could do with a warm bed.
▪ I could do with a change of scenery.
▪ Just imagine what we could do with this idea.
▪ That was nice, she could do with settling.
▪ The governor said he could do with something to eat.
▪ We could do with another girl in the chorus.
could/may/might yet do sth
credit sb with (doing) sth
▪ But borrowers may be more attracted to egg's offer of free credit.
▪ I just received my new in-store credit card with a charge of $ 24 for fraud insurance on the card.
▪ Inherent musical sense Several recent studies have credited infants with an inherent musical sense, without measuring related brain development.
▪ Leiser credits Franz Liszt with bringing him to San Diego.
▪ Revolving Credit: a credit facility with a pre-determined limit.
▪ She credited Mosby with spearheading the suit by convincing the other women to join.
▪ Such corporations also tend to maintain credit lines with their banks sufficient to repay all their outstanding commercial paper.
▪ The ultimate in objectivity is credit scoring.
damned if you do, damned if you don't
deign to do sth
▪ Shelly finally deigned to join us for lunch.
▪ Caligula was degenerate but, by all accounts, did not deign to hide the fact.
▪ He would often be dressed in just a loose-fitting pair of shorts, but sometimes deigned to wear a vest as well.
▪ His voice, when finally he deigned to open his mouth, was smooth.
▪ It deigns to pay 0.5 per cent on deposits of less than £500 in its Liquid Gold account.
▪ It had taken this long for her to deign to notice me.
▪ Paige didn't deign to answer.
▪ The detective was constantly surprised at the men that some women deigned to have relationships with.
▪ The mistress of Socrates deigned to Cast her smile on this unknown poet.
depute sb to do sth
detail sb to (do) sth
▪ Vance, you're detailed to the night watch.
▪ And once selected, what point of view and details are to be included?
▪ Emotional difficulties aside, a lot of big practical details needed to be attended to all at once.
▪ Its surface is carved in some detail and lettered to show the continents and oceans.
▪ On some issues he gave details of steps to settle the debate.
▪ Please refer to the individual hotel descriptions for full details.
▪ The details add much to his family portrait.
▪ You also have to put enough detail in to make the people real, but don't dally with subsidiary characters.
▪ You see everybody casts their tuppence worth into the pool but nobody details the route to a better future.
determine to do sth
▪ Turner makes no excuses, just determines to work harder.
▪ Angelina was determined to bring Sir Thomas to book as soon as she could.
▪ C., seems determined to keep it from going to a floor vote.
▪ Hamilton Fish, determined to marry her, wrote daily letters: meet me on that corner, at that restaurant.
▪ He is determined to live amongst his people, to travel with them.
▪ I was determined to be as good.
▪ Odysseus was determined to drive the suitors away by force, but how could two men take on a whole company?
▪ The lads beaten in Edinburgh were determined to regain their pride.
▪ The Society has always doubted whether family cases are capable of the standardisation the government is determined to promote.
did he heck/will it heck etc
discipline yourself (to do sth)
▪ Are we prepared to discipline ourselves to restrictions and regulations that we feel we ought to impose for our own good?
▪ Can we discipline ourselves more in meetings?
▪ Every month discipline yourself to go through the file and identify at least ten external contacts to phone.
▪ Furthermore, it had no effective way to discipline itself on expenditures.
▪ He must discipline himself to rigorously avoid any form of activity, be this mental or physical.
▪ It shows why philosophy may penetrate so many disciplines and yet remain a distinct discipline itself.
▪ Most of us were brought up to accept discipline, and to discipline ourselves.
▪ The combined discipline itself becomes a new container.
disdain to do sth
▪ Tom Butler disdained to reply to such a trivial question.
▪ Bach himself did not disdain to transcribe Vivaldi concertos for organ or harpsichord and to borrow fugue-subjects from Legrenzi and Corelli.
▪ Even the casual Aranyos did not disdain to make the sign.
▪ Even the trendiest of today's celebrity chefs does not disdain to slosh it around.
▪ I disdained to consult a medical dictionary, however.
do a Lord Lucan
do a Reggie Perrin
do a roaring trade (in sth)
do a slow burn
▪ Coach Bowen stood on the sidelines, doing a slow burn.
do all right (for yourself/herself etc)
▪ Anyway, I did all right.
▪ He did all right in that Navy movie, whatever it was.
▪ Wow, so you guys must do all right then, him?
do battle (with sb)
▪ The citizens group said they are prepared to do battle with City Hall over the passage of the bill.
▪ A chapter from Harrogate came down to do battle in Bedale.
▪ And under the plate, among the spinning wheels, diamonds and rubies do battle against friction.
▪ I wanted them to get up on their hind legs and do battle.
▪ On certain nights all the ghosts do battle and the distant echoes of their screams and war-cries are born on the wind.
▪ Such doubts energized the smaller community of demographic revisionists, who emerged to do battle with their Malthusian brethren.
▪ The 49ers at this time of the year reload and get ready to do battle.
▪ The hero, a knight named Peter Loschy, went to do battle with the dragon.
▪ The Sandinistas were forced into a temporary retreat but returned later with reinforcements to do battle in the streets.
do better
▪ Harris argued that the economy is doing better than it was five years ago.
▪ I was convinced that many of the students could have done better if they'd tried.
▪ If you are saving 5 percent of your income each year, you're doing better than most people.
▪ Mark ran the distance in 30 minutes in the fall, but we're hoping he'll do better this season.
▪ Some roses do better in different types of soil.
▪ The British champion has completed the course in three minutes -- let's see if his Canadian rival can do better.
▪ We did better than we expected.
▪ Alamaro and Patrick think they can do better.
▪ Incumbents who vote against new regulations, paperwork and taxes -- usually conservatives -- do better on the scorecard.
▪ It leads to a lethargy I think we do better without.
▪ Some may do better than our scenario represents.
▪ Surely we can do better for people with mental problems and their families?
▪ The index did better than the broader market.
▪ We can do better than that now.
▪ We need to do better than that, and we can.
do bird
▪ How do birds and fishes carry out their far-flung migrations, unless led by deities in their own image?
▪ So how do birds find their way?
▪ So, why do birds sing?
do circuits
do double duty
▪ Choose a sofa that will do double duty as a guest bed.
do duty as sth
do fine
▪ Once Hutton relaxes, he should do fine in the role.
▪ Standard hooks and nails should do just fine for hanging the painting.
▪ And if the place is allowed to manage itself, it will do fine.
▪ As will be seen, their picks did fine.
▪ I have done a bit myself, but possess neither the ability nor the patience to do fine work.
▪ Savoys do fine in hot weather if given some shade.
do justice to sb/sth
▪ TV doesn't do the excitement of the game justice.
▪ A reading that cancels out the contradictory and equally valid meanings the text yields does not do justice to its complexity.
▪ At times only swear words can truly do justice to an emotion.
▪ How ethical theory might do justice to both these points remains to be seen. 9.
▪ It is virtually impossible to do justice to a book of this size in such a short review.
▪ Many are drunks-but that term does not do justice to the devastation they embody.
▪ No way at all that a few hundred words are going to do justice to this deeply affecting novel.
▪ This brief note can not do justice to all the facts and arguments involved.
▪ To do otherwise, I would require to write in volume in order to do justice to them.
do me/us a favour!
do sb a power of good
▪ It can also be funny and it can do you a power of good.
▪ Yeltsin could do his country a power of good by directing public attention to these issues.
do sb a world of good
▪ A week by the ocean will do you a world of good.
▪ A good run in pastures new would do you a world of good.
▪ All of them stressed that a holiday would do Valerie the world of good.
▪ All the family can enjoy eating the low-fat way and it will do everyone a world of good.
▪ But physically - this type of exercise will do you the world of good.
▪ Come on a Club 18-30 holiday and there's every chance it will do you the world of good.
▪ He could become so unaccountably miserable that a small amount of collusion some-times did him a world of good.
▪ Not only do they do you a world of good if you drink them but they also have cosmetic uses.
do sb proud
▪ The soldiers have done their country proud.
do sb the courtesy of doing sth
▪ He always did us the courtesy of a reply, mind.
do sb's bidding
do sb's dirty work
▪ Tell Fran I'm not going to do her dirty work for her.
▪ Her unnecessary decision to do the dirtiest work in the place struck them as alarming.
do sb/sth a disservice
▪ The fans' rude behavior has done the game a great disservice.
▪ Such uninformed views do the industry a disservice.
▪ The remedial programs we knew about did a disservice to their students by thinking of them as remedial.
▪ When Mr Non-Productive Employee gets a raise, it does a disservice to the productive employee.
do sb/sth no favours,
do something
▪ Quick, do something - there's water all over the kitchen floor.
▪ Teenagers were dropping out of school in huge numbers, until a group of parents and teachers decided to do something about it.
▪ We need to do something before everyone gets fed up and quits.
▪ When are you going to do something about this broken window?
▪ At this stage, the urge to do something was unfocused, but it was extraordinary how people threw themselves into it.
▪ But the ballot stuffing was so blatant that even the Labor Department was roused to do something.
▪ I always feel I have to do something new.
▪ I mean, who'd do something like this, eh?
▪ I was vaguely aware that junior was trying to persuade the others to do something.
▪ If it doesn't want to do something it will refuse to, probably by dropping stitches or jamming the carriage.
▪ One can always try to do something for individuals.
do something about sth
▪ And the second view shows a marked advantage when we begin to do something about behavior.
▪ For those who are reluctant, understand why and do something about it.
▪ I'd better do something about improving it.
▪ I keep thinking I should do something about this place but there's never any time.
▪ If the result is none too pleasant, it's time to do something about it.
▪ We've got to do something about the bomb before we start.
▪ We better do something about this deficiency right now.
▪ Whenever Gandhi felt distressed or disturbed he wanted to do something about it.
do sth at your peril
▪ These are grave environmental warnings, which we ignore at our peril.
▪ He spoke with the sort of quietly threatening tone that you ignored at your peril.
▪ Into this potent politicization of what remained, at heart, a medical mystery, scientists ventured at their peril.
▪ Kings neglected the sea at their peril.
▪ Mess with us at your peril.
▪ More than a million fled abroad, often at their peril.
▪ Some people say that lurking in its depths is a fish so dangerous that oarsmen venture out at their peril.
▪ Those who cross him do so at their peril.
▪ Yet it is also one of the most popular programs, and politicians have made changes to it at their peril.
do sth by the seat of your pants
do sth for a bet
▪ It was this book that Rincewind had once opened for a bet.
do sth for luck
▪ John always carried a rabbit's foot for luck.
▪ An extra teaspoonful for luck could well be disaster.
▪ By now the only part of Mr. Rainsford's brewery left standing was the taproom kept for luck like an old horseshoe.
▪ Certainly there may be the odd chart or graph thrown in for luck but the basic requirement is for high quality text.
▪ I gave him one for luck on the back of his neck.
▪ Is he the kind of man to lend you the rings for luck for a short time?
▪ Now he gave it one last violent shake for luck.
▪ One for luck, and farewell.
do sth in anticipation of sth
▪ Excitement rose in them, hardening muscles and quivering their sleek flanks in anticipation of the hunt.
▪ For weeks, Schwarzenegger has been meeting with other agencies, including William Morris, in anticipation of changing representation.
▪ Nothing looked familiar, and yet he'd gone around the block again and again in anticipation of something like this.
▪ Prime Minister Alberto Pandolfi said that police were securing the area in anticipation of eventual talks between the government and the rebels.
▪ She waited outside in the street, shaking in anticipation of the telephone call.
▪ The Chalice Quilt was made by slaves on a Texas plantation in 1860 in anticipation of a visit from an itinerant bishop.
▪ The house gives the impression of having been abandoned suddenly, in anticipation of some great disaster.
▪ The management at South Forks raised the rent in anticipation of downtown businesses relocating.
do sth in error
▪ It was discovered that the funds had been withdrawn in error.
do sth in favour of sth
▪ Books were published in reply and arguments advanced in favour of young women.
▪ He wasn't in favour of command-and-control solutions.
▪ On the economic front Taubira-Delannon was in favour of restricting the areas where gold-washing is authorised.
▪ That probably explains why public opinion is broadly in favour of euthanasia, or at least certain forms of it.
▪ The courts decided in favour of the men.
▪ The finance minister, Hans Eichel, then came out in favour of the euro's potential for appreciation.
▪ The following Sunday I took my husband into hospital to be relieved of a bony hip in favour of a titanium one.
▪ Whilst I am still in favour of a mutual fund, I think the current risk banding is rubbish.
do sth in sb's stead
▪ Garcia is unable to attend, but will send the foreign minister in his stead.
do sth like the devil
▪ They rang the doorbell and ran like the devil.
▪ He holds me like the devil himself.
▪ Hencke heard one canister bounce off the outer hull with a dull echo like the Devil knocking at the door.
▪ It glared and it floated and it flew like the Devil.
▪ Not screaming, although some of them must have fought like the devil not to.
▪ The hitchhiker keeps showing up, like a bad dream, like the devil himself.
▪ They scampered off, barking like the devil.
▪ Very good, Thérèse conceded afterwards: just like the Devil would do.
do sth like there's no tomorrow
▪ Ben drives like there's no tomorrow.
▪ I eat and drink like there's no tomorrow.
do sth of your own free will
▪ Bronson gave us his confession of his own free will.
▪ For all men serve him of their own free will.
▪ Her mouth opened of its own free will to his playfully probing tongue, welcoming the invader.
▪ I came back of my own free will on Friday, and went to the game yesterday.
▪ I say this of my own free will.
▪ She was placed in a safe house but later returned to the coven of her own free will.
▪ To some extent, adults can choose of their own free will whether to deal with their grief or not.
▪ Without any reason he left the Firm of his own free will and went to live in Brighton.
do sth off your own bat
▪ He had made the most ancient blunder in the business quite off his own bat.
▪ Instead, off her own bat, the girl went to see a solicitor in Newton Abbott, Devon.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ I overslept and had to go to class on an empty stomach.
▪ You shouldn't take the pills on an empty stomach.
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on an empty stomach
▪ Alendronate must be taken only with a full glass of plain water, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
▪ I mean, neither of us had eaten since the early hours, and drinking on an empty stomach is dodgy.
▪ I tend to be very short-tempered on an empty stomach.
▪ No use mourning on an empty stomach.
▪ The next two got off more lightly: two spoonfuls of vinegar three times a day, also on an empty stomach.
▪ The sensation of nausea on an empty stomach was peculiarly unpleasant.
▪ There was little point, Manville decided, on a man eating on an empty stomach.
▪ They report to work at 8.30am on an empty stomach.
do sth on the run
▪ I always seem to eat on the run these days.
▪ He threw on some clothes; now he was on the run.
▪ I'd like to hear why you're on the run.
▪ If you want innovation, try more of that, and less of halfbacks and wide receivers throwing deep on the run.
▪ John Butcher says at this moment a man on bail for rape is on the run ine the Midlands.
▪ Meanwhile Mrs thomas's other grandson James Bellamy is now on the run after escaping from police custody.
▪ Mostly, he was a man on the run, sacked six times and scrambling countless others.
▪ They were on the run, and in haste, or we should all be dead men.
▪ Two escapees, on the run, with nothing to lose.
do sth on your own responsibility
▪ I discussed the matter with John Montgomerie and on my own responsibility decided to telephone Harold Wilson to seek his advice.
do sth once too often
▪ The kids rang Brant's doorbell once too often, and he reported them to the police.
▪ But not Luke Denner - he's humiliated me once too often!
▪ He'd said it once too often, and this time she'd taken him at his word.
▪ He got into trouble once too often and wound up in continuation school.
▪ I can only assume she tried once too often to enter the nest, as the female died during the night.
▪ It had failed him in a crisis and that was once too often.
▪ Maybe she just turned him down once too often.
▪ One of these people had looked in my direction once too often, passed by once again just a little too slowly.
▪ Until, that is, it lived up to its original name once too often!
do sth out of the goodness of your heart
▪ Surely even an idiot must realise that they wouldn't donate this huge amount out of the goodness of their hearts.
do sth right off the bat
▪ I asked him to help, and he said yes right off the bat.
▪ At least not right off the bat.
do sth the hard way
▪ Despite problems at camp, the field army had learned a great deal by then, much of it the hard way.
▪ I have done it the hard way.
▪ I learned that the hard way, by losing a couple of first drafts of articles I was writing.
▪ I was brought up the hard way.
▪ Let them learn the lessons of capitalism the hard way.
▪ Los Angeles City Hall found that out the hard way last March.
▪ Needless to say, I learned about getting things done, the hard way.
do sth to death
▪ That joke has been done to death.
▪ Death sentences Three members of the illegal Hezbollah organization were condemned to death on March 1 by a criminal court in Tlemcen.
▪ And no, the baby never froze to death.
▪ Exclaiming that he was already a priest, Quirnus insisted that the magistrate put him to death.
▪ This approach to death was appealing.
▪ This is grief and hatred and people hacked to death.
▪ Two of the blacks arrested were reportedly machine-gunned to death by state troopers at the jail.
▪ We will be slowly strangled to death.
▪ Will he be caught at last, and put to death?
do sth to excess
▪ Irwin admitted he often used alcohol and drugs to excess.
do sth to size
do sth to the exclusion of sth
▪ The countries agreed to trade as much as possible among themselves, to the exclusion of outsiders.
▪ Completely and exclusively passionate to the exclusion of all else, even conversation.
▪ I thought about the sound of contact, to the exclusion of everything else.
▪ It would be a mistake to point to any single explanation to the exclusion of the others.
▪ Should you use one to the exclusion of the others?
▪ The focus of this book is upon the social element, but not to the exclusion of the physical parameters.
▪ The great need, in his view, is to cultivate selfless or detached action to the exclusion of egocentric activity.
▪ They will concentrate on reaching the eighteen-to-forty-nine-year-old population group, to the exclusion of all others.
▪ Two other Republican senators also objected to the exclusion of minor provisions in Colorado and Virginia.
do sth to your heart's content
▪ I was able to browse through the bookstore to my heart's content.
▪ And I can go fishing to my heart's content.
▪ He could come and argue to his heart's content.
▪ Instead she took refuge in the library where she could read and research to her heart's content.
▪ Once you've stuck your shapes and text on the page you can rotate and repeat they to your heart's content.
▪ She had lazed around the pool to her heart's content - and she had played tennis with Carlos three times.
▪ Throw it around to your heart's content.
do sth to your heart's content
do sth under protest
▪ They finally paid the full bill under protest.
do sth with impunity
do sth without a murmur
▪ And although we might challenge their right to run our lives we often let them run our language without a murmur.
▪ Of the Tuscan towns, Amelia and Otricoli were the only ones to accept papal domination without a murmur.
▪ One slip, and it would sweep you away without a murmur or a cry.
▪ She left without a murmur although she had only a year and a half to go to complete her secondary education.
▪ She took the punishments meted out to her without a murmur.
▪ The door was ajar and opened without a murmur.
do the rounds of sth
▪ Without references, letters may do the rounds of various desks before the correct destination is found.
do things to sb
▪ All women do things to themselves like that here; cut their wrists, scratch their faces.
▪ Suppose there were people here who did things to you?
▪ They didn't even know I could sing, but they said they could do things to my voice.
do time
▪ None of us knew that Greg had done time for stealing cars.
▪ Sid's wife ran off with another man while he was doing time.
▪ In short, he can do time for just about anything the cops care to charge him with.
do violence to sth
▪ Excluding one-third of the population does violence to the principles of democracy.
▪ Exclusion of one third of the electorate does violence to all that we pretend by our adherence to democracy.
do well
▪ Gail seemed so anxious to do well, and she worked really hard.
▪ If the firm does well, your shares will be worth far more than you paid for them.
▪ Most of his tutors expected him to do well at Harvard.
▪ My friend left college and went into law, and he's doing very well for himself.
▪ Neither of the kids was doing well in school.
▪ The operation was successful and the patient is doing well.
▪ The producer would only say that sales of the video were 'doing very well indeed.'
▪ When the players do well, I praise them -- but there are no rewards for coming second.
▪ Blues singers do well in Ireland, as Celts have a feeling for Negro music.
▪ He represented the ability to do well in the world.
▪ I remember her 4-H teacher told me Molly inspired others in her class to do well because of her determination.
▪ Parents are likely to want children to do well in life.
▪ The players we have are good enough to do well without people like him.
▪ The presence of a star, Glenn Robinson, may be the reason it did well that year.
▪ Wall Street is not concerned about whether old people do well in retirement.
▪ You must do well at this, that, or the other.
do well by sb
▪ Economic constraints or limitations can be overcome given a sufficiently high motivation to do well by the individual entrepreneur.
do you have to do sth?
▪ How much do I have to tell you?
▪ No longer do we have to choose between the living or the mechanical because that distinction is no longer meaningful.
▪ The first is: do we have to change the law?
▪ What do they have to sell?
▪ What do you have to pay for a pair of men's shoes, for example?
▪ What, do you have to socialize the director to though.
▪ Why do they have to have arms?
do you mind!
▪ Do you mind! I just washed that floor!
do you read me?
▪ I do not want this to happen again! Do you read me?
do you suppose (that) ... ?
do you take sugar/milk?
do you think (that) ...?
do you understand?
▪ I am very pushed for money, Alice - do you understand that?
▪ I loved him, do you understand?
▪ I owe nothing to anybody, not gratitude or anything else, do you understand me?
▪ Oliver I have to be near her, do you understand?
▪ Question, do you understand what it means to terminate the employment at will?
▪ What do they understand of the temples themselves rising nearby?
▪ What do you understand of my situation or my mind?
▪ You are mine, do you understand? mine.
do your best
▪ But I did my best to feed them both.
▪ He wanted to do his best the first time he performed, and knew he was not in peak condition.
▪ Like Truman two decades earlier, Humphrey did his best to overcome the severe handicap of a badly split party.
▪ Once there, Drachenfels will do his best to isolate the crystal-wielding characters and rob them of their treasures.
▪ Remember, always do your best, don't let them hook you, however tempting the bait.
▪ We can only do our best.
▪ What I learned from them specifically of the techniques of teaching I have had to do my best to unlearn since.
do your bit
▪ I've done my bit - now it's up to you.
▪ We wanted to do our bit for the boys fighting in the war.
▪ Don't you want to do your bit towards stamping it out?
▪ Eva and several of the cadets from overseas were put in the West End brigade to do their bit.
▪ Help is desperately needed - and rugby friends can do their bit.
▪ I hope that you can all do your bit.
▪ Let Africanized bees do their bit to breed better beekeepers in this country, in other words.
▪ Nature did its bit as well.
▪ Now I am not unpatriotic, and I want to do my bit in this great movement.
▪ Stonehenge has gone, so I reckon I can do me bit of growing up at Skipton Hall.
do your head in
▪ He's so fussy about how he wants things done, it really does my head in.
▪ I've got to do an essay on Kant and it's doing my head in.
do your level best (to do sth)
▪ Even so he did his level best with the new ball.
▪ We did our level best to look fascinated.
do your nut
do your own thing
▪ As a kid, I wanted to do my own thing, but when I got older I realized I wanted to continue the family business.
▪ He's given up his job and is living in northern California, just doing his own thing.
▪ He has a couple of roommates but they kind of all do their own thing.
▪ The three women worked together on a stage play, and then each went off to do her own thing.
▪ We don't talk much anymore - we're both too busy doing our own thing.
▪ But I do know the difficulty the Major has in getting away to do his own things.
▪ Do you prefer structure in your exercise or to do your own thing? 9.
▪ I just want to live my own life, go my own way, do my own thing with whom I choose.
▪ I mean like royalty do, pretend to be married but do their own thing on the quiet.
▪ Keyboard, mouse and joystick are supported, but every now and then the planes seem to do their own thing!
▪ Lawrence was of the latter kind: very bright; very competent, and wanted to do his own thing.
▪ She wanted to be free to do her own thing - be independent - get a job, perhaps.
▪ You get on and do your own thing, and respect others who do the same.
do your sums
▪ I did my sums and I knew I could pay him.
▪ We can accumulate the figures and we can all do our sums.
▪ You will have to do your sums.
do your whack (of sth)
do your/his/her/their worst
▪ Let her do her worst to reach him.
▪ Sometimes they successfully slowed or blocked the path of the conquistadores when these exploiters were out to do their worst.
do yourself a mischief
▪ My objection to his high heels was that he would do himself a mischief if he had to bale out!
do yourself justice
▪ I am sure he will do himself justice.
▪ If Rebecca is to do herself justice, she needs to define her terms.
do/show your stuff
▪ It's amazing to watch him do his stuff on the basketball court.
▪ Afterwards, I stood up to do my stuff.
▪ At times, it seems that Benson is unable to simply roll the camera and let them do their stuff.
▪ Derek Jefferson had abandoned his executive suit for a caddie's bib and was ready to do his stuff again.
▪ Having the appetite to get out there and do your stuff is the key factor for an international player.
▪ I should go and do my stuff.
do/try your damnedest
▪ We both tried our damnedest but it didn't work.
▪ All right, tell the girls, do your damnedest.
▪ But both the Trust and those of us lucky enough to live there will do our damnedest to prevent it.
▪ He had tried to make it work, tried his damnedest, but she had absolutely no sense of taste or refinement.
▪ If I do as you suggest and tell Billy about us, he will do his damnedest to destroy me in revenge.
do/use sth in anger
▪ You'd really need to re-fret this guitar before you used it in anger.
do/work wonders
▪ A long weekend away from work will do wonders for your peace of mind.
▪ A very little bit of sugar works wonders for dishes that are based on sour tastes.
▪ And the visit of a white lady from afar will do wonders for his reputation!
▪ Failing that, lectures don't seem to work but subtle, unspoken signs can work wonders.
▪ It does wonders for the individual, and it brings families together.
▪ Special teaching and therapy, plenty of encouragement and stimulation can work wonders.
▪ This will work wonders in terms of future sales.
▪ Time also has worked wonders, pruning many of the bad investigative reporters and retaining many of the good ones.
don't go doing sth
▪ It's a secret, so don't go telling everyone.
don't hesitate to do sth
▪ Don't hesitate to call me if you need any help.
done and dusted
done in
done to a turn
▪ Then the interviewer asked what needed to be done to turn things around.
easier said than done
easy does it
elect to do sth
▪ The committee elected not to fire Johnson.
▪ But both say the loan was paid off by December 1993, almost a year before Gentry was elected to the council.
▪ He then elects to take his new pet to California, but he only has five days to unload his pachyderm.
▪ In 1972, at the age of 23, he was elected to parliament.
▪ In a magnanimous fit of estate planning, Cook elects to divide the farm between his three daughters.
▪ More blacks have been elected to the state legislature, and a black also heads the Dade county commission.
▪ No new members were elected to the party central committee.
▪ No permission is required to photograph the monoline, unless you elect to do this inside a station.
▪ Out of which I was elected to help him rise.
failure to do sth
▪ Diagnostic difficulties in those cases were related to confusing radiological and endoscopic appearances or failure to obtain histological confirmation of lymphoma.
▪ Ewing lamented his failure to learn Gaelic, and he never managed to train enough priests who did.
▪ In that situation failure to accumulate in the face of rapidly rising real wage costs spells disaster.
▪ It helps to explain the conservatism of our class struggle, and its failure to mature into socialist struggle.
▪ Mind you, failure to display a phone number doesn't make them instantly dodgy.
▪ Outdated computer systems and the failure to help judges to implement the reforms were adding to the chaos.
▪ Sources of errors in searching mainly involve failure to find related papers due to inconsistencies in the use of personal names.
▪ The failure to find a referent results in a numerical penalty being awarded to the reading for which it occurs.
fall into/avoid the trap of doing sth
▪ But do not fall into the trap of doing something I saw recently.
▪ Don't fall into the trap of comparing your wages and conditions with other volunteers and development workers.
▪ Duffy refuses to fall into the trap of spoon-feeding the material to passive students, which only increases their passivity.
▪ During the 90s Washington fell into the trap of allowing events to dictate the relationship, with increasingly destabilising results.
▪ Journalists can fall into the trap of being hypercritical.
▪ She was not going to fall into the trap of thinking she wanted Vitor as Vitor.
▪ So answer this question truthfully, lest your smart organization fall into the trap of continuing to outsmart itself.
▪ When we tie it to jobs, or to survival needs, we fall into the trap of mechanistic literacy.
fall over yourself to do sth
▪ Freshers' fair is the traditional showground where societies fall over themselves to attract some of the 5000 new students.
▪ He was good box office and managements fell over themselves to get his name on their marquees.
▪ Suddenly, the Kremlin is falling over itself to get close to Uncle Sam.
▪ The owners are constantly carping about runaway salaries, then fall over themselves to jump the gun and up the ante.
▪ The receptionist had obviously recognised him too, had practically fallen over herself to bat her long dark eyelashes at him.
▪ The sight of so many senior politicians falling over themselves to kiss his hand was reminiscent of Tammany Hall at its worst.
▪ Those first days of their honeymoon in New York, the music publishers had fallen over themselves to entertain the couple.
▪ We almost fell over ourselves to oblige.
far be it from me to do sth
▪ Far be it from me to tell you what to wear.
feel like (doing) sth
▪ I just don't feel like doing anything tonight.
▪ Joe says he feels like Mexican food.
▪ But the whole thing feels like a retread.&.
▪ He feels like the captain of a sleeping ship, alone at the helm, steering his oblivious crew through dangerous seas.
▪ I hang up, feeling like a wind-up toy.
▪ She felt like screaming at him, but she was determined not to lose her self-control.
▪ The careful procession into the Hall had felt like a kind of funeral.
▪ They stepped forward, and his muscles stiffened until they felt like bone.
▪ You made me feel like I was your family, a part of you.
feel the need to do sth
▪ Some magazines feel the need to be controversial.
▪ Adult players, by contrast, feel the need to equip themselves with the best.
▪ Don't you feel the need to pray?
▪ Nevertheless, I feel the need to unburden myself in print.
▪ She considered tracking them, but didn't feel the need to make any particular point of it.
▪ She had hoped that after so long here nomole would ever feel the need to ask her.
▪ They feel the need to inject young and hungry talent into the bank's deliberations at the highest level.
▪ Why he felt the need to record these deaths he could not explain.
fight shy of (doing) sth
▪ After fighting shy of the idea, Mr Mandela, 82, agreed to it during a visit to London last year.
▪ In considering the right to live issue, there is a tendency to fight shy of the emotive word of murder.
▪ Over the years, courts and tribunals have fought shy of laying down detailed procedural guidance.
▪ This, he says, accounts for developers fighting shy of putting money into the city.
▪ Yet the 18 counties fight shy of the risk, but what are they frightened of?
find it in your heart/yourself to do sth
▪ For this alone, I may find it in my heart to forgive her.
▪ He hoped the moon could find it in its heart to overlook his sins as it climbed the heavens.
▪ To his grief, Donny's widow would not find it in her heart to speak to him again.
for want of anything better (to do)
gently/gently does it!
get doing sth
get into the way of doing sth
▪ The women had got into the way of going up on the deck every evening.
get to do sth
▪ Do I get to stay up late when Dad comes home from his business trip?
▪ I didn't get to sit down all day.
▪ Tom gets to go to Disneyland this summer.
▪ We actually got to meet the president when he was here last week.
▪ A message I've got to work out.
▪ But if the case gets to the Law Lords, how could they conclude other than in Mr Straw's favour?
▪ I've got to go on studying.
▪ I got to the chemist five minutes before closing time and the place was jam-packed with the elderly and respectable.
▪ The movie gets to its mysterious combat island with a cool buildup and a sense of wonder.
▪ Unfortunately, getting to it remains unclear.
▪ When I got to my room, I opened the door and stood there with my eyes closed.
▪ You should have seen me-not too pleasant, but the pressure got to me.
go and do sth
▪ I'll go and get the car for you.
go out of your way to do sth
▪ Jennifer knew what a difficult time I was having, and went out of her way to be friendly.
▪ They went out of their way to make me feel welcome.
▪ When Annie arrived, Harriman went out of his way to make life pleasant for her.
▪ And the recording industry is going out of its way to help.
▪ How to be compassionate to their pain and go out of their way to help them?
▪ Neither do they go out of their way to look for targets, human or otherwise.
▪ So empty, in fact, that the United States seemed to go out of its way to insult Ismail.
▪ This is the second time to-night she has gone out of her way to be sensitive to Oregon.
▪ To register his annoyance, he seemed to go out of his way to ignore us.
▪ We are going out of our way to help him with it.
go so far/as far as to do sth
go to some/great/any lengths (to do sth)
▪ Both want to steal the show and they are going to great lengths to do it.
▪ Dealers, sometimes surreptitiously encouraged by their firms, would go to great lengths to extract information from employees of rival firms.
▪ Furthermore, bats go to great lengths to avoid confrontations with people.
▪ George Bush went to great lengths to keep out of his way on the campaign trail.
▪ The Medieval church went to some lengths to specify the roles of particular stones in religious imagery.
▪ When uninterrupted by unforeseen or unrecognized obstacles, parents will go to great lengths to provide these advantages for their children.
▪ Who knows whether Oppenheimer went to any lengths to find anyone who had anything good to say about Stewart.
▪ Yet Phillips climbed the wall anyway, went to great lengths to hurt his ex-girlfriend.
had sb done sth
▪ Had we known they were going to build a road right there, we would never have bought the house.
happen to do sth
▪ I'm sorry I didn't phone first -- I just happened to be passing and thought I'd drop in.
▪ I happened to see Hannah at the store today.
▪ Justin forgot the map but I happened to have another one in the glove compartment.
▪ We're not related -- we just happen to have the same name.
▪ I'd be arrested, Volkov wouldn't know what had happened to me.
▪ It happens to all of us.
▪ She kneels down and gathers me to her, sobbing and shaking in her terror at what might have happened to me.
▪ Tell me first, what happened to the world when I was in prison.
▪ These bands just happened to be black and popular.
▪ They don't learn by experience, don't really care what happens to them.
▪ What happens to the structure of a potato when it is cooked? 2.
▪ What will happen to her during the war?
have a habit of doing sth
▪ Be careful not to annoy the boss. He has a habit of losing his temper.
▪ My teenage daughter has a habit of leaving home without her house key.
▪ We shouldn't rule out a Democrat victory yet. These things have a habit of changing just when you least expect it.
▪ Arizonans have a habit of embracing wealthy businessmen with virtually no elective experience.
▪ Here, the guards have a habit of touching the women.
▪ I have a habit of filling small sketchbooks with hour or day-long sequences of watercolours.
▪ I have a habit of turning it off as soon as I hear the first commercial.
▪ Low-confidence people have a habit of trying to accomplish the impossible.-Praise yourself when you do something well.
▪ Myths have a habit of ignoring the truth.
▪ Things have a habit of disappearing there.
▪ Things he predicts have a habit of coming true.
have a knack of doing sth
▪ Children have a knack of choosing the most inconvenient or embarrassing times for their Socratic dialogues.
▪ I have spent years using buses, and seem to have a knack of sitting next to some very odd people.
have a perfect right to do sth
▪ You have a perfect right to say "no" if you don't want to do it.
▪ They have a perfect right to object to it.
have a trick of doing sth
▪ But the agents have tricks of their own.
have a way of doing sth
▪ Don't worry too much. These problems usually have a way of working out.
▪ And we have ways of making sure that the escapade of that silly young man at Southend gets widely reported.
▪ But the Washington Wizards have a way of bringing out the best in their opponents.
▪ Evenings like this have a way of going on!
▪ If history has taught us anything about imaginary customers, it is that they have a way of doing unexpected things.
▪ So do Humpbacks have ways of expressing the same request for the repetition of a pleasurable sonic experience?
▪ The powerful have a way of establishing contracts that suit them.
▪ Things like this have a way of surprising you.
▪ Yet things have a way of evening ut, and I paid a heavy price for my hypocrisy.
have done with sth
▪ I wonder what Grandmother would have done with such a husband?
▪ If they had, what would they have done with the bird's skull?
▪ She felt for Karen, but she had no idea what she would have done with her on the roster next year.
▪ This was something they could not have done with any other embassy.
▪ What Leapor would have done with the money can be surmised.
▪ What would they have done with all the money we drop every night at Convito Italiano?
▪ Why don't we just call it New Mancunian Express and have done with it?
▪ Why don't we just give Napoleon the keys to Berlin and have done with it?
have gone and done sth
▪ Kay's gone and lost the car keys!
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to just go home.
▪ I have half a mind to tell her what I really think of her.
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have half a mind to do sth
▪ I have half a mind to make you take this right back.
have no ambition to do sth
have no right to do sth
▪ You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!
▪ But we have no right to force collection of child support for the kids.
▪ But you have no right to come in here meddling with my things.
▪ Finally, the relatives of patients have no right to make decisions on the patient's behalf.
▪ I have no right to be saying anything that goes against Church teaching.
▪ I have no right to intrude on their lives.
▪ The states have no rights to any money.
▪ You have no right to be here.
have no wish to do sth
▪ I have no wish to offend anybody.
▪ And believe me, I have no wish to keep score.
▪ I emphasize that I have no wish to come across here as the skunk at the process improvement garden party.
▪ I have no wish to attribute motives, but clearly finance intervenes.
▪ I have no wish to caddie for Brian Harley.
▪ I have no wish to change my nature over this matter and become a crusading journalist.
▪ I have no wish to create a posing pilots' paradise.
▪ I have no wish to get angry with my own invention, the so-named Miller.
▪ Mrs Hardman has grown used to her independence, and I have no wish to curtail her freedom.
have sb to thank for (doing) sth
▪ Do we have Lady Thatcher to thank for the improved state of the nation's teeth?
▪ I have Phil to thank for my first break on the Cutters.
▪ I have you to thank for that.
▪ In fact, I always have remembered - and I have Monty Lee to thank for that.
▪ Perhaps we have Pat Buchanan to thank for at least some of this raising of consciousness.
▪ We have Alan Austin to thank for this character-building little outing - an experience you won't forget in a hurry!
▪ We have Sigmund Freud to thank for a rather curious state of affairs.
have sth ready/done/finished etc
have the gall to do sth
▪ Congress actually had the gall to vote for a pay raise for themselves.
▪ I can't believe he had the gall to ask you for money.
▪ Ruth was always on the phone and yet she had the gall to tell me off for making one call.
have the goodness to do sth
▪ But I hope to learn these soon if anybody will have the goodness to bear with me.
have the wit to do sth
▪ Thankfully, Reid had the wit to see what was wrong with the plan.
have/be nothing to do with sb/sth
▪ But that smell might very well have nothing to do with it.
▪ Finally, he was publicly warned and barred from communion, and the people advised to have nothing to do with him.
▪ General Smuts will have nothing to do with you.
▪ He was nothing to do with her and Alan.
▪ I have nothing to do with the motel.
▪ These are things to be proud of, but they have nothing to do with rank or class.
▪ We have nothing to do with each other.
here he/she etc is (doing sth)
▪ And here she is, all freshly powdered.
▪ And now here she is, staying at my house.
▪ Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you.
▪ But here he is, in full measured flood.
▪ Her own said that she should never teach, and here she is doing it.
▪ I mean, here he is, installed at the Priory.
▪ Sam Sheppard knew Richard Eberling and here he is fighting with this intruder through the house and he never recognized him.
▪ Yet here he is, pleading for the life of the stubborn nation that caused him nothing but trouble!
how about that!/how do you like that!
how can/could sb do sth?
how do you do?
▪ But how do you do that?
▪ But assuming for the moment that we can do better than fight over the trough, how do we do it?
▪ It sounds pretty powerful stuff, but how do you do it?
▪ So how do they do it?
▪ What do trees do, and how do they do it?
▪ What I want to know is how do they do it?
how do you mean?
▪ Straight? How do you mean, straight?
▪ And now, how do you mean translated?
how do/can you expect ...?
how does sth grab you?
▪ How does going to Hawaii for Christmas grab you?
how should I know?/how am I to know?/how do I know?
how was I to know?/how did I know?
if you must (do sth)
▪ "Who was that girl?" "Well, if you must know, her name is Mabel."
▪ If you must travel at night in dangerous areas, turn on the interior light in your car.
▪ But I was extremely jealous of him, if you must know.
▪ But if you must know, Mrs. Jewkes was present.
▪ But if you must...
▪ It's better not to use a flannel, but if you must, keep a separate one. 6.
▪ Look, if you must know!
▪ These people here have so little conception of our world that sometimes I feel myself as if I must have dreamed it.
▪ Very well, she'd tell them, leave if you must, but I want no abuse, is that clear?
▪ What good was freedom if he must give up his home to win it?
in a fit state (to do sth)
▪ An innkeeper can refuse service to any person who is not in a fit state to be received at the inn.
▪ He ordered those of his crew still in a fit state to swim to take to the sea.
▪ If Cullam had been in a fit state to observe behaviour he might have thought the chief inspector bored or preoccupied.
▪ If she'd stayed in a fit state then she wouldn't have found herself in this situation now.
▪ She wasn't in a fit state to be on her own.
▪ The big thing about reading and all that is - you have to be in a fit state for it.
▪ When I was in a fit state she asked if I would like to talk to her.
▪ With so many major projects in hand she wanted to make sure that everything was in a fit state.
in good time (for sth/to do sth)
in no shape to do sth
▪ But it is for you already, any fool can see you're in no shape to continue.
▪ His hand stung and his head hurt and he felt in no shape to begin the delicate task of restarting their relationship.
in order to do sth
▪ In order not to offend anyone, I did not tell them the real reason for my visit.
▪ In order to be a doctor, you have to study for six years.
▪ In order to speed things up, we agreed to have another meeting tomorrow.
▪ Many drug users get involved in crime simply in order to pay for their supplies of cocaine and heroin.
▪ They need to raise $5 million in order to pay for the repairs.
▪ And more men are turning down promotion or relocation in order to give more time to their families.
▪ He has decided not to play football in order to focus on schoolwork and lacrosse.
▪ He needs a certain measure of vanity in order to create the right kind of public impression.
▪ Jimmy was referred for a psychological evaluation in order to assess his cognitive and emotional functioning.
▪ She discusses the structure of the advertisement in order to understand why we don't question the contradictions of the image.
▪ Such pets will be fully animated robots, in constant communication with the outside world in order to serve you.
▪ The exploratory design is used to accumulate data in order to formulate more precise hypotheses and research questions.
▪ We attack anti-gay stigma in order to encourage homosexuality to flourish.
in your hurry to do sth
▪ But in my hurry to get away from whatever it was in the bed I missed my footing and fell.
▪ But in their hurry to get off the mountain, exhausted climbers have discarded tons of rubbish.
indisposed to do sth
insist on doing sth
▪ Finally, he insisted on carrying it.
▪ For example, insisting on conditions that would in theory make the employment of women more likely often has the opposite effect.
▪ I declined, but she insisted on following me for several hundred yards.
▪ In fact, the only thing likely to take any time is deciding which to have. Insist on the best.
▪ She insisted on cleaning my flat very thoroughly every Tuesday and Thursday, and often left me a casserole in the oven.
▪ Surely Harrison would have insisted on having it pose with him.
▪ Tanya insists on moving in many circles and, above all, on thinking for herself.
▪ Together the two books test what can be gained and lost by insisting on either innocence or experience.
it behoves sb to do sth
▪ Filling stations are rarities: it behoves car owners to keep a watch on their reserves of petrol.
▪ Of course, it behoves the legislator to distinguish the categories logically and justly.
▪ So it behoves you to be wary when planting.
▪ Some of them will be described soon; but first, as always, it behoves us to study their data.
▪ That is their secret, and will remain so; it behoves us not to pry, only to speculate in passing.
it does your heart good to see/hear sth
it doesn't take a rocket scientist (to do sth)
▪ It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to realize that the chain of events was no coincidence.
it is (not) for sb to do sth
▪ All the work in this approach must go into a persuasive account of what it is for reasons to be conclusive.
▪ How important it is for them to build theories out of what they see and think.
▪ I can tell him how important it is for us to have a home of our own.
▪ If one can notice the absence of something one must already know what it is for things to be absent.
▪ Look how difficult it is for women to get on in the medical or legal profession!
it is big of sb to do sth
▪ A whole dollar! Gee, that was very big of her!
▪ I think it was really big of Larry to admit that he made the wrong choice.
it is high time sb did sth
▪ It's high time we pulled together and got the job done right.
it is idle to do sth
it is incumbent upon/on sb to do sth
it is kind/stupid/careless etc of sb (to do sth)
▪ But, it, it is kind of funny.
▪ So it is kind of coming home and a change of focus.
▪ The idea of it is kind of cute: This little Frank guy is trying to find candy.
it is not sb's place (to do sth)
▪ But it is not my place and, frankly, I am not in the mood for a party.
it pains sb to do sth
▪ It pained her to see how much older Bill was looking.
▪ As much as it pains us to write this, now is time for Dan to step down.
▪ Most burglars, it pains me to say, are just looking for the easy dollar.
it was all I could do to do sth
▪ I followed one up the motorway just yesterday and it was all I could do to not retch.
▪ When pro golfer Tiger Woods won the Masters two weeks ago, it was all I could do to suppress a yawn.
it was as much as sb could do to do sth
it won't/wouldn't kill sb (to do something)
▪ It wouldn't kill you to do the dishes.
it's (a little/bit) late in the day (to do sth)
it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it
it's just/only/simply a question of doing sth
▪ Sometimes, it's simply a question of somewhere safe to go after school while parents are working.
it's the least I can do
job done
just have to do sth
▪ I just have to get somewhere soon to sleep.
▪ My uncle said that now we ha-ha just have to do this.
▪ She would just have to get out and walk.
▪ Sometimes you just have to tell people what s best for them.
▪ That's the trouble with doing all these films and tellies - you just have to remember a little bit for a short take.
▪ We just have to do some more throat swabs.
▪ You can have it right back if you want it, you just have to ask.
▪ You don't just have to listen to stories.
justice has been done/served
▪ He can continue to appeal, or go to some other level, until he feels justice has been done.
▪ He has successfully persuaded the crowd that justice has been done.
▪ Mr Townsend says he feels justice has been done.
▪ Mrs Alliss' solicitor says justice has been done.
lay claim to (doing) sth
▪ Dole himself did not expect to lay claim to the title of presumptive nominee until after the March 26 primary in California.
▪ I'd guess it also can lay claim to the oldest leader of a still-functioning organisation today.
▪ Initially these had been one hundred and seventy-five men and twenty-five horses laying claim to an empire of fourteen million.
▪ They seem to lay claim to being purely of the mind's eye, a manifestation of pure objectivity.
▪ This latter idea could lay claim to a basis in ideas of collegiality - but only of a limited nature.
▪ With his victory in Florida officially certified, Bush announced new moves to lay claim to the White House.
leave it to sb (to do sth)
▪ And I will leave it to you, dear reader, to make a choice.
▪ At Thayer the clear intention is that if something is central to our mission, we will not leave it to chance.
▪ But I don't want to leave it to the last game of the season.
▪ He'd not leave it to some one who would turn it over.
▪ I leave it to your discretion whether you should tell the Professors that they are 114 both wrong, or both right.
▪ I find it difficult to put my thoughts and feelings about this into words, so I will leave it to others.
▪ They ought to leave it to the markets.
▪ Yeah, well, leave it to Esther.
liable to do sth
▪ Accountants will be held liable to third parties with whom they have no contractual or fiduciary relationship.
▪ Act 1974 is liable to unlimited fines and/or up to two years imprisonment after conviction by a Crown Court.
▪ But the hatred they aroused meant that they were liable to be brutally slaughtered if captured afterwards.
▪ Clerical Medical is liable to United Kingdom tax on the income and certain gains arising from the assets backing this policy.
▪ Participants who break any conditions are liable to arrest, conviction or a, 400 fine.
▪ Schools will therefore be liable to lose pupils and funds if they fail to satisfy parents.
▪ The Blackshirts deliberately concentrated on those areas where there were liable to be violent counter-demonstrations.
▪ This shows all those who are liable to pay community charge and specifies the particular type the individual will pay.
little did sb know/realize/think etc
▪ But little did he know at the time, how soon he'd need it.
look what you're doing/look where you're going etc
look what you've done!
▪ Now look what you've done! You'll have to clean it up.
lucky/unfortunate etc enough to be/do sth
▪ Alan was lucky enough to discover a scorpion in the fruit bowl.
▪ And handsome David Wood, who now runs his own hairdressing salon in Melbourne, was lucky enough to date her.
▪ And I was lucky enough to sit in the catbird seat and watch and learn and be changed myself.
▪ And when I was lucky enough to enjoy some rare hot weather my feet stayed as cool as I could have expected.
▪ I thought I had been lucky enough to pick up a shore current that was helping me along toward the rip.
▪ If you are lucky enough to see one, observe it from a distance.
▪ Regardless of their preferences, not every couple is lucky enough to find two equal jobs in the same community.
▪ Some authors are lucky enough to think naturally in terms of story.
make a (mental) note to do sth
▪ He made a mental note to call her and arrange a time to meet, away from her parents.
▪ He makes a mental note to call Keith a second time at 7:15.
▪ I made a note to myself to check for the box.
▪ I made a note to myself to come back in early spring to get scions for grafting.
▪ I made a mental note to ask about that.
▪ Mentally, I make a note to have the boy checked by our pediatrician.
▪ Thinking of that, he made a mental note to burn it in the morning.
▪ Vickie makes a note to raise the issue when she attends the management meeting.
make a mess of (doing) sth
▪ An explosion would have made a mess of them, and matchsticks of that tub.
▪ Convinced of his own plainness, Graham is here engaged in taking Jenny out and making a mess of kissing her.
▪ Hands were wrung in every quarter at the prospect of homosexuals making a mess of this fine, strong outfit.
▪ He made a mess of things in the park, but it's the first time he's got it wrong.
▪ If I make a mess of it that woman is going to be so glad.
▪ Most people make a mess of handling money.
▪ She made a mess of her life.
▪ The shell hit the roof of the building and made a mess of the inside of the building.
make a point of doing sth
▪ Bridget made a point of thanking each of us for the gift.
▪ He makes a point of letting his congregation know he takes care of his children.
▪ He seemed to make a point of taking two steps backward for every one step forward.
▪ Hitachi is expected to make a point of integration, management and directory synchronisation.
▪ It's a spectacular scene and I make a point of leaving my dictation and watching through the curtains each evening.
▪ Kramer braced and made a point of looking tough and bored.
▪ They'd made a point of it.
▪ They made a point of recruiting fledgling Latino engineers into the organization.
make as if to do sth
▪ Hardin made as if to rise from his seat.
▪ Then he made as if to resume their embrace, but Polly raised a hand to stop him.
make do
▪ As with eating, Quinn felt that he could make do with less than he was accustomed to.
▪ Have to make do with quick dip and lazy lie under the fronds.
▪ He is requested to make do with a sum of money.
▪ In Darcy's Utopia we will make do with listening to the radio.
▪ Others will have to make do with deliveries in the tens or hundreds depending on who they are.
▪ People have kept their fingers crossed and made do.
▪ There is little here about improvising or making do.
make it a rule (to do sth)
▪ I make it a rule not to take friends on as clients.
▪ I make it a rule to go at least three times.
▪ In fact, he made it a rule never to make any friend who could not be useful to him.
▪ Since I have made it a rule not to lie to a client, I assume reciprocal honesty from him.
▪ They made it a rule that she was never to be alone.
make it your business to do sth
▪ Ruth made it her business to get to know the customers.
▪ But before you leave I suggest that you make it your business to find out.
▪ I made it my business to be there at dinner the following day.
▪ I make it my business to acquaint myself with where objects properly belong in a house.
▪ Increasingly, companies are making it their business to develop programs for serving both the worker and the bottom line.
▪ Quinn knew this because he had made it his business to know such things.
▪ She made it her business to find out.
▪ These villagers - of course they would make it their business to know anyone who was rich and whose father lived so near!
▪ They made it their business to worm a curl of something out of you.
make no attempt to do sth
▪ We want to set up an attempt on the life of the President.
make short work of (doing) sth
▪ Carmen would have made short work of Michael too.
▪ Fourth placed Guisborough made short work of the opposition at Saltburn.
▪ Guernsey made short work of the opposition when they won the event on home soil in 1990.
▪ He made short work of the remainder of his lunch, pushed his chair from the table, and stood up.
▪ It is fair to warn anglers that thousands of crabs soon make short work of rag and lugworm.
▪ It made short work of our Windows performance tests, WinTach, clocking up an impressive index of over 9.3.
▪ The second game we pull away early and make short work of it.
▪ These cannibalistic tadpoles make short work of one of their siblings.
make/be so bold (as to do sth)
may sb/sth do sth
▪ Activities, such as walking, standing, sitting or bending, may have to be learned anew.
▪ But I got lost in the doing of it, as navigators may, and we went beyond ourselves.
▪ If you forget to move your turkey from freezer to refrigerator in time, you may thaw the turkey in cold water.
▪ It may pay to be early at Catford where Dromina Duke looks the part in the second race.
▪ It will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and may have a knock-on effect.
▪ They also monitor the production run to make sure that it stays on schedule and correct any problems that may arise.
▪ To deny this power is dangerous, for, suppressed, it will find another outlet and may erupt uncontrollably.
▪ Worse yet, it may resort to additional expedient action to disguise or defuse the consequences of previous counterproductive actions.
mind you do sth
▪ A simple majority, mind you!
▪ In his mind he ran over his plan.
▪ In its mind it was convinced that the vet had returned to hurt it again.
▪ In my mind I heard the phone ringing.
▪ In our minds we may recreate a vanished dignity and grace.
▪ Never mind it was a wonderful evening.
▪ Not when you have them in your home, mind you.
▪ The ducks don't seem to mind it, cos there's quite a few swimming about now.
need to do sth
▪ But if repeated calls fail to produce an answer the officer may subsequently need to account for himself.
▪ Dolphins need to eat considerable quantities of food.
▪ He reminded himself that he needed to have a key made for the desk drawer where he kept her letters.
▪ Management needs to ensure that the expensive and long-term project has a good strategic pay-off.
▪ They may need to pause for a minute after each picture, since after-images tend to persist.
▪ We need to demonstrate how wrong they are.
▪ We need to let kids be responsible, make some choices, let them feel powerful.
neglect to do sth
▪ Marie decided not to move after all, but she neglected to inform the rental agency.
▪ Planners apparently neglected to consider future water and electricity requirements.
▪ The public are demanding to know why the government neglected to warn them of the oil shortages.
▪ Go to Lutece in in expert drag; neglect to shave.
▪ He neglects to notify you of a change of address.
▪ I frequently find out from some one else that my husband has lied or has neglected to tell me about something.
▪ Or Krauss's man neglected to follow one.
▪ Several of them, including Jeffries, often neglected to hand in grades at the end of the term.
▪ Still, our most severe misjudgments were not steps we had taken but steps we had neglected to take.
▪ Under the terms of the code, lenders refuse to deal with brokers who have neglected to sign up.
▪ Your adviser neglected to check you were happy with the risks of stock market investment.
nerve yourself to do sth/for sth
▪ Finally she nerved herself to go and have a drink.
▪ Ruth clenched her hands inside her cloak, nerving herself to follow him; but it was Fand who didn't move.
never fail to do sth
▪ But he would never fail to have a meal.
▪ He has never failed to acquit a client charged with murder.
▪ I can not bear this obscene, grubbing curiosity about the affairs of others, it has never failed to repel me.
▪ I have often worked black smokers in Alvin and I never fail to be awed by them.
▪ My genius never fails to amaze.
▪ They never failed to show up with the black jackets and the sneakers and the Pimp Roll.
▪ This mime of his never failed to invoke my deep defensiveness with regard to all things Kip.
never let a day/week/year etc go by without doing sth
never tire of doing sth
▪ He never tires of talking about the good old days.
▪ And it was true, as Christians never tired of pointing out, that a painful spiritual confusion reigned.
▪ And when speech gave way to the rhythmic breathing and small cries or even angry groans that I never tired of overhearing?
▪ As Otis never tired of saying, this was the promised land.
▪ I look at both my sewing and knitting as wonderful gifts that I will never tire of.
▪ I never tire of watching this strange beast that lurches like a turkey and sways its neck like a swan.
▪ She felt she would never tire of the way Ludo demonstrated each change in his mood.
▪ Still, never tired of handing them out.
▪ Yet certain films he would watch over and over again and never tire of them.
no amount of sth can/will etc do sth
▪ But no amount of bashful cuteness can disguise its humourless narcissism.
▪ But no amount of money can buy what Nakamatsu really wants -- lasting fame.
▪ It is due to the inefficiency of the Government which no amount of Budget bribery can possibly erase.
▪ So implausible, so achingly out of touch are they, no amount of Toytown trickery can disguise their ancient irrelevance.
▪ The key is in the cooking; no amount of marinating will tenderize a tough cut of meat.
▪ Therefore, no amount of personality can compensate for mediocre chili. o Judging chili is very personal and subjective.
▪ Translation here must be indeterminate because no amount of evidence will guarantee that the translation we offer will be uniquely correct.
▪ Voice over April's pursuing compensation though no amount of mony can make up for what she's lost.
no can do
no more does/has/will etc sb
▪ In practice, this situation will arise only very rarely if a regime of symptom control and no more has been adopted.
▪ Men appear to be no more willing to support women in their traditional roles than women are to assume them.
no sooner had/did ... than
no sooner said than done
not be about to do sth
▪ I wasn't about to let him pay for it.
not be above (doing) sth
not be alone in (doing) sth
▪ But this market has not yet developed, and when it does Pippin will not be alone in it.
not be in the business of doing sth
▪ Labour may not be in the business of re-connecting with the past, but its attachment to the future is still confused.
not believe/think/do sth for a/one moment
▪ His hand had not wavered for a moment.
▪ His leader did not believe for one moment the protestations of innocence.
▪ I do not concede for a moment that this is a devolution measure.
▪ I would not suggest for one moment that they existed here.
▪ Neither team will half-step, not even for a moment.
not care to do sth
▪ It's not something I care to discuss.
▪ Wyatt's old friends didn't care to visit, with a baby in the house.
▪ At least, not precisely in the act of anything Mrs Dallam would not care to know about.
▪ But I have to make one comment you might not care to hear: A woman does have a choice.
▪ De Gaulle apparently did not care to give ministers an opportunity to make important decisions without his supervision.
▪ He did not care to know how many female holly trees a single male could bring to berry.
▪ He suspected Hubert had erred in some way, but did not care to ask.
▪ I would not care to live in the vicinity of such a device.
▪ The poets did not care to linger in that gloom-hidden abode.
▪ Unfortunately, Roth did not care to focus on broader and more important issues about the fate of the seized-assets program itself.
not do sth by halves
▪ I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
▪ He comes from a family that does not do things by halves.
not flinch from (doing) sth
not for want of (doing) sth
▪ I never read any of them although it was not for want of trying.
▪ It is not for want of encouragement.
▪ This is not for want of official concern by education commissions, curriculum projects and national ministries.
▪ This is not for want of talent or know-how.
not have the heart to do something
▪ I didn't have the heart to tell my daughter we couldn't keep the puppy.
not lift a finger (to do sth)
▪ King Charles did not lift a finger to save her.
▪ The Government are not lifting a finger to help the economy of Renfrewshire.
not make a habit of (doing) sth
▪ The nutritive arguments still stand and I would not make a habit of eating lots of white bread.
not mind doing sth
▪ I don't mind driving if you're tired.
▪ If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, we can check our records for you.
▪ San Diego's nice, I wouldn't mind living there.
▪ He did not mind being flippant about New York, but disliked to hear any one else take the same tone.
▪ He might not mind being placeless, but I mind.
▪ It had been worse than she had expected, but she had not minded it.
▪ It was remarkable the way people sought her out, often not minding that their conversation was public.
▪ Just as long, that is, as the masses do not mind interminable delays.
▪ The girls were late at breakfast, but Mrs Roberts did not mind.
▪ The world was giving to him, he did not mind giving back.
not scruple to do sth
▪ They did not scruple to bomb innocent civilians.
▪ Dumont does not scruple to show the naked corpse, left on the edge of a ploughed field.
not think to do sth
▪ I didn't even think to ask about him about how Christal's doing.
▪ Air pollution was not thought to be responsible.
▪ But U.S. officials said the signs of a possible attack were not thought to be related to the Khobar indictment.
▪ Most of the damage to trees was not thought to be permanent.
▪ Police said cause had not been established but there were not thought to have been suspicious circumstances.
▪ Police said that although the explosion was not thought to have been an accident no one was being sought.
▪ These are productive thoughts, but we do not want to lead Della Guardia to evidence he has not thought to obtain.
▪ They naturally did not think to apply it to their own empires.
▪ We were told that we could not buy the camels because we had not thought to bring the right piece of paper.
not trouble to do sth
▪ Do not trouble to don your hat and gloves, Holmes.
▪ I did not trouble to raise the matter with Keeble.
▪ Paul need not trouble to come down, everything had been arranged.
▪ She had not troubled to dress, despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that she had male visitors.
▪ The Attorney-General I have not troubled to inquire whether any firm has contributed to the Conservative party.
not/never be (a great) one for (doing) sth
not/never be one to do sth
▪ Tom is not one to show his emotions.
▪ I never was one to collect a bunch of guitars like some people do.
nothing doing
▪ Lend you $500? Nothing doing!
▪ Clinton did some frantic shuttle diplomacy, but there was nothing doing.
▪ I wanted to get to know him all right, but nothing doing.
now's the time (for sb) to do sth
omit to do sth
▪ Mrs Hobbs told me about the meeting but she omitted to tell me where it was.
▪ Starr's account omits to mention that it was his own actions that caused the fire.
▪ Whittier omitted to mention exactly where he had gotten the money.
▪ He'd agreed to ring her and had omitted to leave a phone number.
▪ It omitted to mention how much of its ever-increasing charges it contributed to WaterAid.
▪ My diary records the incident in a tone of self-righteousness, omitting to mention my feeling of incompetence.
▪ There's one of those towns marked with an asterisk that you omitted to mention.
▪ To refuse or to omit to leave is as much a trespass as to originally enter without any right.
▪ Understandably, some less important Western figures will be omitted to make room for those from other cultures.
▪ What your informers may have omitted to tell you was that he indeed came to our opening.
▪ While receiving money due to the court, Beaumont omitted to enter the receipts in his books and pocketed the proceeds.
only succeed in doing sth
▪ However, the utterance only succeeds in having this function if certain external conditions are fulfilled.
▪ It's always been a Dark Force, and you've only succeeded in harnessing a minuscule aspect of it.
▪ Laws against abortion only succeed in making it painful and dangerous.
▪ Revolutions only succeed in Britain if they pretend to be fondly restoring the past, not accelerating change.
▪ She tried to get out of it, but only succeeded in making herself the last to sing.
▪ Triumphant Rome tried to exterminate the Church of Mary, but only succeeded in driving it underground.
▪ We shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international cooperative effort.
owe it to sb to do sth
▪ We owe it to our children to clean up the environment.
▪ For health insurance reasons you owe it to yourself to take care of your one and only body - your working machine.
▪ He owed it to Sue to avenge Arabella.
▪ I owe it to Victoria to lend some retrospective weight to our parting.
▪ It was a lame excuse, and I bluntly told him that he owed it to posterity to relate his story.
▪ We owe it to clarity to disentangle the varieties of suffering possible in a given situation.
▪ We owe it to gastronomy to keep them alive.
▪ We owe it to ourselves to consider alternative futures, based on what we know and what we can project from that.
▪ You owe it to yourself to extract yourself from your present situation and reassess your life.
owe it to yourself to do sth
▪ Do I owe it to myself to finish?
▪ For health insurance reasons you owe it to yourself to take care of your one and only body - your working machine.
▪ We owe it to ourselves to consider alternative futures, based on what we know and what we can project from that.
▪ You owe it to yourself to extract yourself from your present situation and reassess your life.
pluck up (the) courage (to do sth)
▪ After a while, too, some of the more literary residents of Princeton plucked up the courage to speak to him.
▪ But eventually, he plucked up courage to see a solicitor.
▪ But why not pluck up the courage to do what you've always wanted?
▪ Eventually I plucked up courage and booked a ticket to Amsterdam with the sole purpose of getting laid.
▪ I think you should pluck up the courage to invite him out.
▪ Kent suspected that if the fellow ever did pluck up courage to call he would be disappointed.
▪ Nelly begged me not to leave her, and plucking up courage I stayed.
▪ On three occasions he had plucked up the courage to call her, but had never had a reply.
press-gang sb into doing sth
pride yourself on (doing) sth
▪ As a nation we pride ourselves on our strong sense of sportsmanship and fair play.
▪ At Midland, we pride ourselves on establishing long term relationships with our customers.
▪ But then at Boots we pride ourselves on our usefulness to mums.
▪ Likud prides itself on being the party of the outsiders, and they are now a majority.
▪ The accommodation is cool and spotless and staff pride themselves on offering a warm welcome.
▪ The school prides itself on its ethnic diversity, Schaeffer said.
▪ We pride ourselves on the front seven and tackling people.
proceed to do sth
▪ After listening carefully to my advice, she proceeded to do the exact opposite!
▪ Martin marched into the shop and proceeded to hurl abuse at the girl behind the counter,
▪ Royston then proceeded to deny all the accusations.
▪ Encouraged by this success, the rebels proceeded to organise a defensive network throughout the Holy Land.
▪ He had bought a number of blocks on the south side of Broadway and proceeded to develop them beginning in 1910.
▪ He then proceeded to stomp on it, in the presence of the emperor.
▪ Magilla was given a large sheet of plain white paper and a felt-tip pen and proceeded to write down all our thoughts.
▪ Then she proceeded to insult all the people on earth before she described the happenings in room 212.
▪ These begin with the girly accessories of dollies and dollies' accessories and proceed to clothes and fashion.
▪ We proceeded to state our respective positions, which took about fifteen minutes.
▪ Whipping out a bank roll, he proceeded to count it out on the table.
raring to do sth
rate sb's chances (of doing sth)
▪ But few analysts rate the chances of Washington's prefered successors very highly.
▪ But officials will not rate the survival chances above 50 percent until a month after birth.
▪ How high do you rate my chances?
▪ I didn't really rate his chances of living that long.
▪ The doctors rated his chances as virtually nil.
reduce sb to doing sth
▪ They were reduced to begging on the streets.
reserve the right to do sth
▪ The management reserves the right to refuse admission.
▪ Gazette reserves the right to publish at our discretion a photograph of the prize winner. 6.
▪ Human beings reserve the right to alter and change views.
▪ The editor reserves the right to select and edit questions.
▪ The Regional Council reserves the right to augment these observations in reply to the grounds of appeal.
▪ These charges and interest rates are variable and the Bank reserves the right to amend them from time to time.
▪ This must be returned within five days, otherwise we reserve the right to cancel the contract.
▪ We reserve the right to edit letters.
resign yourself to (doing) sth
▪ He seems to have resigned himself to living without her.
▪ Adair, who loves Virgilia, resigns himself to be her confidant and Fergus' mentor.
▪ Finally I resign myself to the truth: Anne Frank is dead, she will never write anything else.
▪ He had resigned himself to it.
▪ I resign myself to being among them soon enough.
▪ I resigned myself to merciless stick over the coming week.
▪ I never particularly relished torture, but I resigned myself to it when I arrived in Algiers...
▪ Lucille had seen the Prince's arrival and hasty departure, and had resigned herself to Sharpe's absence.
▪ Lydia was resigning herself to a long stretch of celibacy.
restrict yourself/sb to (doing) sth
▪ But some states have restricted access to medications.
▪ Even if you have restricted access to kids-only Internet sites and chat rooms, kids can still do it.
▪ Note, we do not restrict player A to use a linear strategy.
▪ Scarlet was enormously prestigious: the thirteenth-century sumptuary laws of the kingdom of Castile and Leon restricted its use to the king.
▪ She spent time with her friends and restricted herself to ten minutes on the perfection of Lucy.
▪ The funds do not, in practice, restrict themselves to big companies.
▪ We ow restrict our attention to simple pencils, where symmetric or not.
rush to do sth
▪ Investors rushed to buy the newly issued stocks.
▪ Everyone within 100 yards dropped their cell phones and rushed to the scrum.
▪ First-aid workers rushed to her and after about 10 minutes carried her out on a stretcher.
▪ These little fishes become quite tame and will respond at feeding time by rushing to their food like a litter of puppies.
▪ Thus the wise medical investigator assesses an apparent difference for biological implications before rushing to statistics.
▪ We rushed to join in, to help Dad.
▪ We have to rush to join the others in our foursome.
▪ When it stops, everyone rushes to stand on the newspapers.
▪ You rush to the gym, and... oh no!
sb can do sth in their sleep
sb can do sth standing on their head
sb can ill afford (to do) sth
▪ The senator can ill afford another scandal.
▪ If land is not suitable for efficient farming, we can ill afford it being used for inefficient agriculture.
▪ It does not make sense to squander important resources that the nation can ill afford to lose.
▪ Many of them are in fact very poor and can ill afford their habit.
▪ Often it is something they can ill afford.
▪ Sotheby's can ill afford to have its auction prices called into question.
▪ Surely it would be a drain on Party resources that it can ill afford.
▪ There may be no alternative to leave of absence, even though the nurse can ill afford the loss of income.
▪ Yet it is an area which practitioners can ill afford to ignore.
sb can't do sth to save his/her life
sb can't help (doing) sth
▪ I can't help it. I hear that song and I have to dance.
▪ I can't help wondering what happened to that little girl.
▪ Ron can't help the way he feels about her.
▪ You talk to the guy for five minutes, and you can't help but like him.
sb can't/couldn't be bothered (to do sth)
sb can/could do sth for England
sb cannot but do sth
sb could do worse than do sth
▪ A woman could do worse than be a nurse.
▪ He could do worse than spend his evening keeping an eye on her.
▪ In groping for useful precedents, one could do worse than heed the tale of a man named Sherwood Rowland.
▪ The West could do worse than to base its policy towards the Middle East on that aspiration.
▪ You could do worse than take a leaf out of the health economists' book.
sb had better/best do sth
sb is not shy about (doing) sth
sb may be pardoned for doing sth
sb won't thank you (for doing sth)
sb would give the world to do sth
sb would give their right arm to do sth
▪ These parents would give their right arms to get their kids into a prestigious school.
sb would sooner do sth (than)
sb/sth has yet to do sth
▪ Deion has yet to figure out how to throw to himself.
▪ Harland & Wolff has yet to show a profit, but the future looks good.
▪ His work retained a pronounced individuality and originality that has yet to be properly acknowledged.
▪ However, he said he has yet to consider his circumstances.
▪ However, the site this year has yet to be determined.
▪ If there is a success formula in that it has yet to be demonstrated.
▪ The savagery of our retaliation against the virus has yet to be played out.
▪ Whether it allows the exercise of force to be more controlled and effective has yet to be seen.
sb/sth is here to do sth
▪ We're here to serve you.
▪ Goebbels is here to show the pretty Magda the sights of Paris.
▪ Greg Lloyd is here to talk about defense, and the role of barely controlled violence in defense.
▪ In other words, the swimsuit issue is here to stay.
▪ Managed care is here to stay, experts at the conference agreed Wednesday.
▪ Miss Quinn is here to look after him.
▪ The Classics is here to stay.
▪ Those are the people, says Roth, he is here to serve.
▪ What Personal Computer is here to help you.
screw up the/enough courage to do sth
▪ But Janice's fear was so great she struggled through two more migraines before screwing up enough courage to try the injection.
▪ I eventually screwed up the courage to write to Richardson, pretending to be a drama student wanting advice.
see what sb/sth can do
▪ But I don't see what you can do about it.
▪ I hardly see what I can do that the consul can't.
▪ I will go into the streets and see what I can do.
▪ Perdita saw what they can do.
▪ The depth on this team -- you saw what Ship can do.
▪ Why not see what you can do?
▪ Will he see what he can do to persuade the public sector to follow the private sector's practice in this case?
see your way (clear) to doing sth
▪ Finally he could see his way clear to his goal.
▪ Small builders can not see their way to take on many trainees.
▪ There was just enough light for her to see her way to the bathroom.
see your way clear (to doing sth)
▪ If you can see your way clear, call this number to volunteer.
▪ Finally he could see his way clear to his goal.
see/think fit (to do sth)
▪ The government has seen fit to start testing more nuclear weapons.
▪ Add details as you see fit.
▪ For example, the firm can implement its own quality and inspection policies and amend these as they see fit.
▪ He was their final court of appeal and punished them as he saw fit.
▪ If particular LEAs see fit to alter their priorities and redeploy funds from one area to another, that is their decision.
▪ Meg had - this gift; the Lord saw fit - no qualms, she stole the jacket.
▪ Once the states knew the message of the day, they could reinforce it as they saw fit.
▪ The public can use, abuse or change the software in any way they see fit.
▪ There were some girls that I thought fit Selena more physically.
set on/upon/against (doing) sth
▪ A pail of cold water for washing was set on the floor so that performers had to bend over to use it.
▪ Lance Rees was set on as he passed the sorting office in Withernsea, Humberside, on his way to school.
▪ Manuel Perez's brother left after his house was set on fire.
▪ Margarett set upon the package, tearing at its wrappings, only to find beneath it another carton, then still another.
▪ Once again I detect a false opposition: an idealised reality set against the alien forces of darkness.
▪ They were hacked to death and their bodies set on fire.
▪ Time limits may be set on how long employees can leave their goods in storage and receive reimbursement from their employers.
▪ Were the limits set on their radiation exposure acceptable?
set to do sth
set your heart/mind/sights on (doing) sth
▪ But where there are sellers there are buyers, and it was this latter rare species we had set our sights on.
▪ Gazing intently into her computer screen, Christine Montgomery has set her sights on the next generation of electronic language translators.
▪ He knew he was bound to pull any girl he set his mind on - he always had.
▪ Heath had set her sights on the U. S. Senate seat from Colorado.
▪ Her youth and beauty elicited a predictable reaction from my father, who set his sights on her at once.
▪ Sofa Head's greatest asset is the realisation that you don't have to set your sights on one target.
▪ Wagner set his sights on a degree in electrical engineering, and he followed his star with a fervid intensity.
▪ Yes, she thought, if Tamar had set her mind on something she would never rest until it was accomplished.
set yourself against (doing) sth
▪ But pop sets itself against nature and abandons wisdom for folly, moments of dissipation.
▪ She leaned into him, set herself against him.
▪ The three Established Church representatives set themselves against; the other four who were Free Churchmen were for it.
▪ Why has the Supreme Court set itself against the will of the majority on such an unprecedented scale?
shame sb into doing sth
▪ His wife shamed him into handing the money back.
short of (doing) sth
▪ Short of selling the house, I don't know how we're going to get that amount of money.
▪ A pair to fit wellies which reach right up to the knee cost a penny short of a fiver.
▪ Apart from Ferkhan, everybody was short of food.
▪ Even in the best of years, Journal news coverage inevitably falls short of perfection.
▪ San Francisco may be running short of characters, but new communities pop up every day.
▪ That is nothing short of stupidity.
▪ The company said its earnings would fall short of previous expectations mainly because of lower earnings from its Gulf Printing unit.
▪ The House vote fell well short of the 291 required to override a veto.
sit down and do sth
▪ First we should sit down and work out the financing.
▪ But I found I could just sit down and play by ear.
▪ He sat down and pushed at the lid with one filthy paw.
▪ Something that makes you want to sit down and take notice.
▪ The harvesters stopped work, sat down and started to eat and drink.
▪ The Springboks sat down and waited.
▪ Then she sat down and started to eat.
▪ Then the Kuchas sat down and ate the fish in his honor.
▪ We can all sit down and analyze.
so as to do sth
▪ The little boy ran off so as not to be caught.
▪ Now it has just been seen that the laws of physics are efficiently ordered so as to produce highly desirable states.
▪ The regional economy has been reorganized so as to distribute tasks and responsibilities equitably.
▪ The spouts are placed so as to ensure no seed drops down the deep furrows immediately behind the subsoiler legs.
▪ Their identities are not revealed so as to prevent reprisals against their families.
▪ They immediately crossed the river and fired several houses in the village of DeSoto, so as to illuminate the river.
▪ Winsocks should be written so as to be accessible from either 32-bit or 16-bit workspace.
something to eat/drink/read/do etc
▪ But he was walking to a truck stop across the street, probably getting something to eat during his break.
▪ It had something to do with being a man.
▪ It had something to do with skills, and something to do with expectation and hope.
▪ Most calendar programs remind you gently when you have something to do.
▪ No, you can't dash out for something to eat.
▪ Of course, the beer might have had something to do with this.
▪ Then I rolled up my things in a blanket and went out and had something to eat.
▪ You've done it a thousand times already, but you do it again, just for something to do.
spare sb the trouble/difficulty/pain etc (of doing sth)
sporting chance (of doing sth)
▪ After all, you are meant to give the quarry a sporting chance.
stand a chance/hope (of doing sth)
▪ You'll stand a better chance of getting a job with a degree.
▪ C., woman fumed outside the museum where a crowd stood hoping to get a ticket to hear Wiesel.
▪ Dougal didn't struggle: even if he could have got out of the duvet, he wouldn't have stood a chance.
▪ In the face of Queeensrÿche they didn't stand a chance.
▪ No Labour rethink that ignores this will stand a chance of success in the future.
▪ Schools from across the country craved his talents, but only two stood a chance.
▪ The rest must keep pace if they are to stand a chance-advertising works.
▪ The women stand a chance in the foil competition with Charlene DiMiceli.
▪ This was the crunch match they really had to win to stand a chance of staying up.
stand to do sth
▪ He stands to make a good deal of money.
▪ The Senate stood to welcome the new President.
▪ Would you all please stand to sing hymn 106?
▪ A gene in a splurge-weed cell stands to gain by promoting the reproduction of its cell.
▪ Concierges also stand to make money out of sports tickets.
▪ Doug Jones stands to inherit the Myers' closer role.
▪ For a while we stand to one side, then sit down in the second row of benches.
▪ Kitty probably stands to gain a couple mill.
▪ One report suggested off-course bookmakers stood to lose as much as £100,000.
▪ The guide should have made us all stand to attention and salute.
▪ There are now nine partners who stand to profit from the sale.
stop short of (doing) sth
▪ Shepherd stopped short of calling him a liar.
▪ Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
▪ Eric Gray charged back up the court before stopping short of the center line.
▪ Even if it stops short of this extreme, retroactive cost justification is largely ineffective.
▪ He stopped short of making recommendations about weapons programs in his 90-minute meeting at the White House.
▪ I know people who would maim and yet stop short of murder.
▪ In fact, no general pattern is discernible, except that almost all stop short of full accountability to Parliament.
▪ Yet the argument against Ashdown's triumphalism has to stop short of encouraging the same fatal hubris among Labour politicians.
stop short of doing sth
▪ Paula stopped just short of calling me a thief.
▪ But they have stopped short of rejecting the idea altogether.
▪ Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
▪ Even then I stopped short of making a complaint.
▪ He believed in a kind of progressive development of forms, but like Forbes stopped short of an actual evolutionary theory.
▪ His passion has only just stopped short of writing a structural critique of the civil engineering faults at Valhalla.
▪ Wisely, perhaps, Marochnik stops short of drawing any dramatic conclusions, but two things are clear.
▪ Yet we stop short of analysing what it is.
take a bit of doing/explaining etc
▪ It took a bit of doing - for instance, the disposal site had to check out 100 percent.
▪ It took a bit of explaining.
▪ That's going to take a bit of explaining.
take advantage of sth (to do sth)
▪ Accordingly he took advantage of a new pope to address the curia for favourable letters.
▪ Meanwhile, authorities can take advantage of experience with the existing system in both rural and urban areas.
▪ Skaven erupt to take advantage of the disaster.
▪ The commission estimates that at least seven companies took advantage of the program.
▪ The Franks took advantage of this by seizing some islands which the Saxons had held.
▪ The Project also took advantage of the vast numbers of our supporters eager to stand up to the bullies at the clinics.
▪ We just hope tens of thousands of other Star subscribers can take advantage of this major price cut, too.
▪ While S-HTTP will be able to take advantage of ubiquitous certification infrastructures, its deployment does not require it.
take it upon/on yourself to do sth
▪ He didn't dare take it upon himself to enlighten her further.
▪ He might be unwelcome, but he had taken it upon himself to come on over the first moment he heard.
▪ If we want our children to know certain information, perhaps we should take it upon ourselves to teach them.
▪ It is a dangerous path, however, when the executive takes it upon itself to qualify Parliament's decisions.
▪ Many problems can be prevented if you take it upon yourself to keep the lines of communication clear.
▪ Pius took it upon himself to proclaim the Dogma of the Assumption.
▪ Sir Herbert Morgan took it upon himself to act as chairman of an unofficial committee to help realise the three-year project.
▪ So I took it upon myself to tell her, old nosey-parker that I am.
take time out (to do sth)
▪ A: I am going to take time out and go to college.
▪ Actress Beverley D'Angelo is taking time out from her screen career to perform a risqué country set across the Bible belt.
▪ At the product's launch, the company took time out to damn 3Com's boundary routing scheme with faint praise.
▪ Despite his increasingly hectic schedule, Haden graciously took time out to be interviewed about the Quartet and the Jazzfest tour.
▪ I shall take time out to call at Aurae Phiala.
▪ If you actually worked for Jobs, he took time out from preaching the Mac gospel to meddle in your life.
▪ Nurses in Training Questions: Do nurse teachers take time out to discuss their teaching methods with their peers?
▪ The 73-year-old Republican standard-bearer took time out of his busy campaign schedule last week to search for those roots.
take/go to (great) pains to do sth
▪ However, composers often go to great pains to keep to true intervals.
▪ Mr Lendrem has gone to great pains to establish one thing: that all of his preconceptions concerning bird behaviour are true.
tend to do sth
▪ Bill tends to talk too much when he's nervous.
▪ Dave tends to arrive late, so don't worry yet.
▪ It tends to rain a lot during the winter.
▪ My father tends to interfere too much in other people's business.
▪ Recent studies show that girls tend to be better at languages than boys.
▪ The problem with this model of car is that the gearbox tends to seize up.
▪ Elizabeth Dole, on the other hand, tends to keep her own moderate views bottled up inside.
▪ He died while tending to plague victims.
▪ Hodgskin expounded a minimalist conception of the state, insisting that government tended to shackle the energies and liberties of individuals.
▪ However; the defiant child also tends to have a little better postural control than the overly sensitive child.
▪ Just beyond the crest they will tend to accumulate, for the effect of the wind is felt less here.
▪ Modern planting tends to be done in large blocks, not for shelter, but as a crop in its own right.
▪ Since costs tend to rise inexorably, attempts to stabilize public spending have essentially meant cuts in actual services.
▪ The long-wave school tends to see historical phases more cyclically, and to encounter repetitions and similarities between cycles.
that will do nicely
that would/will never do
▪ Bless my best boots, that would never do at all.
▪ Oh, no, that would never do, would it?
that'll teach you (to do sth)
the damage is done
▪ Ed apologized a week later, but the damage was already done.
▪ Crew scurries to cover the lanes and approaches, but the damage is done.
▪ For the most part, the damage is done by soluble aluminium released from soil by acid water.
▪ It is when guilt lingers into adulthood that the damage is done.
▪ The concert is still reverberating in our ears and the damage is done.
▪ The symptoms are often obvious, identifiable, and even treatable before the damage is done.
▪ Well, the damage is done now.
the done thing
▪ For the great majority, the industrial co-operative is just not the done thing.
▪ I suppose it was not the done thing for a book of Rambles.
▪ It being, of course, not the done thing to drop your trousers in public.
the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing sth)
▪ I therefore inherited the dubious honour of making it available on loan to youth workers.
▪ Mr Edmond has the dubious honour of being tried by the District of Columbia's first anonymous jury.
▪ Sarah, left alone, had the dubious distinction of being the last of all the Titfords in Frome.
the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing
the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing
the mechanics of (doing) sth
▪ He may not understand the mechanics of cooking, but he certainly enjoys fine food.
▪ A lack of knowledge of the mechanics of the council may prejudice the success of a good proposal.
▪ Council members actively began to seek information about the mechanics of housing rehabilitation programs in other cities.
▪ Exhibit 4. 6 illustrates the mechanics of this process.
▪ For more on the mechanics of doing this see Behaviour modification on page 16.
▪ He scooped up the heavy wet snow, digging hard, his mind ticking through the mechanics of a last nifty illusion.
▪ The passages that follow illustrate the mechanics of this type of metaphor.
▪ We then use the diagram to go over the mechanics of monetary and fiscal policy.
▪ Yes, your garden-master was only a puppet, and yes, the mechanics of it were built by others in Spiderglass.
the minute (that) sb does sth
▪ The minute I say something is cute, she'll hate it.
the moment (that) sb does sth
▪ Been getting hold of a bit of meth, but it's fairly hard to come by at the moment.
▪ Does it enable them to make the right choice in the heat of the moment?
▪ In the heat of the moment it does not usually look as if there is anything to be done about the heat.
the obvious thing (to do)
▪ But they haven't done the obvious thing and abandoned ship.
▪ I had always loved walking so it seemed the obvious thing to do.
▪ It would be the obvious thing to do under the circumstances.
▪ Looking at it from a businessman's point of view, it's the obvious thing to do.
▪ To drop it as soon as it was ready seemed natural, the obvious thing to do.
the wherewithal to do sth
▪ His family didn't have the wherewithal to send him to college.
▪ A force of thirty-six tourists but he doubted they had the wherewithal to hold up a gas stat1on.
▪ And we were filling the orders at full retail price, which small businesses were suddenly finding the wherewithal to pay.
▪ Back then, I looked like some one with the wherewithal to buy things.
▪ But because they have the wherewithal to be heard.
▪ By the end of the emancipation process, the authorities lacked the wherewithal to pay for the transference of land.
▪ None of them have the wherewithal to conceive of a Reconciliation.
▪ Whereas conventional criminals lack the wherewithal to pay for being placed on probation, no such inability is true for corporations.
▪ Without images, he said, there would not even be the wherewithal to talk about the death of images.
there is no question of sth happening/sb doing sth
▪ Each has much to offer to the other and there is no question of one tradition being right and the other wrong.
▪ Even if the practice overspends its funds, there is no question of patients not getting the treatment they need.
▪ Since there is no means of changing the weather, there is no question of protest.
▪ This again suggests that the boys may have been in the wrong, which there is no question of in Ballantyne.
▪ This particularly applies where there is no question of a divorced previous spouse.
▪ This phenomenon is distinct from onomatopoeia - it is sometimes called sound symbolism: there is no question of auditory resemblance.
▪ Yet there is no question of one's hair rising.
there's no doing sth
▪ And there's no mystery to bands any more.
▪ But police experts say there's no evidence to support that.
▪ But there's no way to get money for real investment.
▪ He says that the budget is a disaster, there's no way that the county can now avoid charge capping.
▪ I - I've decided that since you've got everything under control there's no point in my staying here any longer.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Make sure there's no plan to change the exam format this year.
▪ With amateurs there's no point in paying, they're likely to kill the victim off anyway, out of fear.
there's no need (for sb) to do sth
▪ There's no need to shout - I'm not deaf!
▪ There was no need for me to stay there.
▪ And there's no need for us to move to the city.
▪ But there's no need to join to get out on the water.
▪ I usually read to them a bit, but there's no need for you to.
▪ Police say there's no need for genuine fans to be any more worried now that Swindon's in the big league.
▪ Whatever the cause, there's no need for you to worry.
there's nothing for it but to do sth
think nothing of doing sth
▪ He'd think nothing of checking up on a fellow's credentials.
▪ He thought nothing of playing in ten or eleven consecutive events.
▪ He would think nothing of walking up and hugging you.
▪ I thought nothing of it, just that whoever closed the house up had overlooked it.
▪ She just found it hard to be owned by customers; men especially thought nothing of appraising her through her clothes.
▪ The Human Piranha, a Harvard graduate, thought nothing of it.
▪ They have been in the middle of war and think nothing of hearing shooting all round them.
▪ When she was young enough to travel alone and think nothing of it.
think of/about doing sth
▪ I've often thought about starting my own business.
think to do sth
▪ Conflicts long thought to be unsolvable are moving toward resolution.
▪ He needn't have feared, she thought to herself sadly.
▪ It's thought to be that of a man last seen in May after a fight in a pub.
▪ It was a good job I was a groom and didn't need to think to muck-out.
▪ Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has declared its intention of buying up to 15 percent and is thought to be quietly picking up stock.
▪ Not surprisingly, some of these patients are thought to have food intolerance.
▪ Sam Fong experienced an odd sensation on seeing some one he had always thought to be his enemy.
▪ They are thought to introduce too many complications.
tired of (doing) sth
▪ But by then, the hedgehog was tired of waiting and was walking away across the croquet-ground.
▪ His sister, Marie, his children-they had all grown tired of him.
▪ I am old, and tired of life.
▪ It was April, his children were tired of riding, and his wife, Clara, was pregnant.
▪ It was possible, of course, but not likely that Zacco had grown tired of his Christmas truce.
▪ She is tired of being asked.
▪ This line has won him widespread backing among middle class voters tired of 17 uninterrupted years of Tory rule.
▪ We are getting tired of people behaving like prima donnas.
trust you/him/them etc (to do sth)!
turn around and say/do etc sth
▪ After a couple of months, the Sioux turned around and came back west without permission.
▪ Each was turned around and the wrists cuffed behind their backs.
▪ He turned around and saw the first Stillman shuffling off in the other direction.
▪ He turned around and slowed down, seeing no sign of the monsters.
▪ Lepine turns around and starts spraying the students in the front rows with gunfire.
▪ She turned around and went back to sit in the road.
▪ There was no way to maneuver, even to turn around and get out if we had to.
▪ Why turn around and do the same to one of our own?
unaccustomed to (doing) sth
▪ Hazel, like nearly all wild animals, was unaccustomed to look up at the sky.
▪ Human Resource departments are also unaccustomed to classifying employees according to these informal roles that are so vital to innovation.
▪ Many had, during marriage, distinct conjugal roles and were therefore quite unaccustomed to undertaking partners' household tasks.
▪ Some of these visitors will be unaccustomed to country roads and to the hazards of walking along a road with no footpath.
▪ They had grown unaccustomed to using their power of collective action.
▪ They were people who were unaccustomed to silence, who were comforted by the racket of their own voices.
▪ Unemployed or still at school, often unaccustomed to budget discipline, young people now have unprecedented opportunities to outspend their means.
▪ We became unaccustomed to silence, which was a signal for alarm.
undertake to do sth
▪ Each country undertakes to negotiate in good faith.
▪ ACE/AGIT recommend that one of the governors undertakes to look after the interests of the children with special educational needs.
▪ At the beginning of his reign, Herod undertook to establish currency and legitimacy for himself.
▪ But Claire Fraser was out there and he had undertaken to find her and persuade her to come home.
▪ In addition, extensive research is being undertaken to improve existing lines and develop new products.
▪ Labour must also undertake to curb spiralling local government spending.
▪ The artist must undertake to act reasonably at all times if offered fair advice by his or her manager.
▪ The government in turn undertook to keep price increases to a minimum.
▪ They agreed to return to their barracks after the government undertook to pay them their January and February salaries.
unprepared to do sth
▪ The ferry was unprepared to handle a disaster.
▪ And exposed unprepared to view a patient whose appearance caused me to warn a hardened policeman!
▪ It is unprepared to offer them the skilled attention that they need.
▪ Many grandparents are financially unprepared to care for their grandchildren.
▪ They were thus unprepared to deal with social and cultural problems of Tanganyikan hospitals in other than a technical fashion.
▪ This also left certain Negro Volunteers unprepared to make the necessary adjustment, and led to the same kind of painful surprise.
▪ When the four women finally did enroll last September, school officials were unwilling or unprepared to meet the challenge.
unused to (doing) sth
▪ He was a man who was unused to sitting still.
▪ I was unused to the heavy city traffic.
▪ He walked a little uncertainly, unused to the solid earth under his feet.
▪ If you are unused to exercise, it hurts.
▪ Jonathon's eyes, unprotected, blinked on and off, unused to open air.
▪ Negotiations are sometimes difficult, especially when styles vary and both sides are unused to such interactions.
▪ Of course it was faintly possible that masons unused to waterproofing could nevertheless carry out the architects' detailed instructions effectively.
▪ She was unused to booze, the bloody Marys; still a little woozy.
▪ The men, however, for the most part, were unused to marching.
▪ The tendency for anyone unused to such enormous forces is literally to be thrown over the handlebars.
up and do sth
warn sb off (doing) sth
was/were to do sth
waste no time (in) doing sth
▪ Peter wasted no time finding himself another girlfriend.
▪ Additionally, less electricity is used and the chef wastes no time waiting for the correct temperature to be reached.
▪ Emil, the crew and I wasted no time watching.
▪ If it demurred, the Corps might waste no time in trying to build it instead.
▪ Lee wasted no time entering Maryland, the men being in high spirits as the bold move was made.
▪ Ringwald wastes no time wedging herself between McGaw and his coed girlfriend, Sarah Lassez.
▪ Shouting to Wemyss to cope with this situation, Douglas wasted no time.
▪ The man's wife had wasted no time going through his closets picking up worn and odd pairs.
▪ The Right was wasting no time, meanwhile.
well done!/well played!
what can/do you expect?
▪ Nothing spectacular but what do you expect from beginners?!!!
▪ Sad about the Derwent but what can we expect?
▪ Sure, what do you expect for that kind of money?
▪ What can we expect in the future?
▪ What can you expect from those young people in the small towns.
▪ What do you expect from an also-ran business publication like Fortune?
what do you mean ...?
what do you say?
▪ How about going to Europe this summer? What do you say?
▪ And what do we say of the present day psychiatrist how mad, how mad?.
▪ Come on, what do ya say?
▪ I am like well what did she say?
▪ Now what do you say to a goofy question like that?
▪ Question, what did he say to your statements?
▪ Well, brother, what do you say to a girl not seen or heard from for five years.
▪ Well, hey; what do you say to us taking the card game someplace else?
what do you want?
▪ What do you want now? I'm busy.
▪ By the way, what do you want for your birthday?
▪ I can't pretend to be, and you know it, so what do you want?
▪ I was like, okay, what do you want to bet?
▪ Now what do you want me to do?
▪ So we have to ask ourselves, what do these machines really want to do, what do they want to wear?
what does it matter?
▪ We'll do it tomorrow or the next day. What does it matter?
▪ Hill people, valley people, what does it matter if gullibility remains unaffected by our environments?
▪ The same as what does it matter whether or not I was a virgin when I met Gillian?
▪ Well, what does it matter?
what does sb care?
▪ He tells the chauffeur to go gas up the limo, and what does he care?
what does sb know?
▪ I'm not going to listen to Martha. What does she know?
▪ My chaplain snorts in derision but what does he know?
what else can sb do/say?
▪ I told her it looked good. What else could I say?
▪ I do about three hundred sit-ups a day and it still refuses to firm up, but what else can I do?
▪ P.S. Awful - but what else can one do?
▪ So what else can Florida do?
▪ What else can a sinner say?
▪ What else can he realistically do?
▪ What else can I do for you Jim?
▪ What else can I do to improve things?
what possessed sb (to do sth)?
▪ I don't know what possessed me to buy such an ugly dress.
whatever you do
▪ Whatever you do, don't tell Judy that I spent so much money.
▪ But Tess, in answer to your question, whatever you do, don't tell your future husband anything about your past experience.
▪ But, whatever they do, says Quinn, they do not determine strategies.
▪ Gallagher understood that, whatever he did, he would violate his principles.
▪ I just go to a movie and come home, so whatever they do, they should stick to it.
▪ I tried, also, to accompany and chronicle whatever we did together with talk.
▪ Lawyers must be prepared to undergo scrutiny and be held accountable for whatever they do.
▪ The twenty fifth anniversary may be special but for some fans whatever they do the band just can't go wrong.
▪ This is the result of my experience and your money and a touch of genius that follows me whatever I do.
when all's said and done
where do you draw the line?
▪ Once you open the door to things that are not related to the Holocaust, where do you draw the line?
▪ That obviously does not extend to the levels of awareness which human consciousness exhibits, but where do you draw the line?
▪ Where do you draw the line?
where does sb/sth go from here?
▪ He has just turned 25 years old and the question is: Where does he go from here?
▪ So where does Dirk go from here?
▪ The question now is, where does UMass go from here?
who is sb to do sth?
▪ Who are you to tell me what to do?
▪ But who is qualified to lead us on this Crusade?
▪ Dean Cook, who is leaving to go back to university.
▪ Discussion about how each subject is to be covered will identify who is needed to do the teaching.
▪ First job is to check that Tony, a boy who is brought to school by mini-cab is in.
▪ It is not always the missionary who is reluctant to change outward forms.
▪ Rhodes is an outstanding defensive player who is expected to flourish as a small forward or shooting guard.
▪ This is a boon for anyone who is hypersensitive to the latter solvents.
▪ Thus Austen represents in her a portrait of one who is a stranger to love but wedded to reason.
who/what etc do you think?
▪ But what do you think my parents would think if I were to become involved with you?
▪ Cleaving to the bosom of my grieving family? What do you think they're doing?
▪ If I have a son, I think I shall send him. What do you think?
▪ Lady: What do you think is the most important aspect of herself a woman should preserve as she grows older?
▪ Let's see how you rate in that area. What do you think we go in for, here in Perugia?
▪ Q: Speaking of which, what do you think of Frank Gifford?
▪ What do you think of your manager? What do you think of our personnel policies and how they're working?
why doesn't sb do sth?
▪ Why don't you give me your number, and I'll call you.
▪ Why not have the picnic in Glendale?
will/would stop at nothing (to do sth)
▪ Clearly, Franco would stop at nothing to retain his hegemonic position.
▪ Detectives are hunting three masked raiders who they believe will stop at nothing.
▪ Luke Calder was a coolly calculating, ruthless man who would stop at nothing to get where or what he wanted.
▪ Robert Sheldrake is an unscrupulous man who will stop at nothing to get this practice.
within an ace of (doing) sth
▪ I came within an ace of slapping her around.
without wanting/wishing to do sth
▪ Without wanting to, Rose was drawn to watch.
▪ Without wishing to be demeaning, computer literacy and competence is not particularly high on the list of archival training.
▪ Without wishing to scare you unduly, you should be aware that sharks do lurk out there.
▪ Without wishing to tempt providence in any way, we appear to have got away lighting in so far as Winter is concerned.
▪ He had had enough experience of strangers probing his own hurts without wanting to pry into those of others.
▪ Lying in bed, she thought of him without wanting to hurt him at all.
▪ She sank deep down again, unable to stay alert, and saw without wanting to a giant Catherine-wheel in the sky.
▪ The expectation from government industrial ReD is one of reducing dependency on imports without wanting to achieve self-sufficiency.
work/effort etc involved in doing sth
▪ A further disadvantage is the work involved in returning the manure to the field.
▪ It is also often used to pay for the preliminary work involved in making applications for civil and criminal legal aid.
▪ She would like to know their reaction to the work involved in taking the course. 14.
▪ The chief drawback to small-scale silage-making is the extra physical work involved in handling the green crop with its high water content.
▪ The effort involved in constructing such circles was enormous.
▪ The work involved in writing this summation must have been back-breaking, and certainly took years of research.
▪ We have to do the more general piece of work involved in clearing one more bias from our morality.
worm your way out of (doing) sth
▪ Somehow Ben wormed his way out of mowing the lawn.
would it be possible (for sb) to do sth?
▪ Would it be possible to get together at 6:30 instead of 5?
would you be good enough to do sth?
▪ Would you be good enough to get my glasses for me?
▪ Would you be good enough to re-advise me of your full address so that I can send the documents to you?
would you be good/kind enough to do sth?
would you be kind enough to do sth/be so kind as to do sth
would you care to do sth?
▪ Would you care to comment on that, Senator?
would/do you mind ...?
wouldn't dream of (doing) sth
you know/do you know
you need only do sth/all you need do is ...
you won't catch me doing sth
▪ You won't catch me ironing his shirts!
you would be well-advised to do sth
you would be well/ill advised to do sth
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a family do
▪ A friend of mine's having a bit of a do in town tomorrow night.
▪ Are you going to Darren's leaving do?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
do
do \do.\, n. An abbreviation of Ditto.
do
do \do\ (d[=oo]), v. t. or auxiliary. [imp. did (d[i^]d); p. p. done (d[u^]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Doing (d[=oo]"[i^]ng). This verb, when transitive, is formed in the indicative, present tense, thus: I do, thou doest (d[=oo]"[e^]st) or dost (d[u^]st), he does (d[u^]z), doeth (d[=oo]"[e^]th), or doth (d[u^]th); when auxiliary, the second person is, thou dost. As an independent verb, dost is obsolete or rare, except in poetry. ``What dost thou in this world?'' --Milton. The form doeth is a verb unlimited, doth, formerly so used, now being the auxiliary form. The second pers, sing., imperfect tense, is didst (d[i^]dst), formerly didest (d[i^]d"[e^]st).] [AS. d[=o]n; akin to D. doen, OS. duan, OHG. tuon, G. thun, Lith. deti, OSlav. d[=e]ti, OIr. d['e]nim I do, Gr. tiqe`nai to put, Skr. dh[=a], and to E. suffix -dom, and prob. to L. facere to do, E. fact, and perh. to L. -dere in some compounds, as addere to add, credere to trust. [root]65. Cf. Deed, Deem, Doom, Fact, Creed, Theme.]
To place; to put. [Obs.]
--Tale of a Usurer (about 1330).-
To cause; to make; -- with an infinitive. [Obs.]
My lord Abbot of Westminster did do shewe to me late certain evidences.
--W. Caxton.I shall . . . your cloister do make.
--Piers Plowman.A fatal plague which many did to die.
--Spenser.We do you to wit [i. e., We make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
--2 Cor. viii. 1.Note: We have lost the idiom shown by the citations (do used like the French faire or laisser), in which the verb in the infinitive apparently, but not really, has a passive signification, i. e., cause . . . to be made.
-
To bring about; to produce, as an effect or result; to effect; to achieve.
The neglecting it may do much danger.
--Shak.He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good not harm.
--Shak. -
To perform, as an action; to execute; to transact to carry out in action; as, to do a good or a bad act; do our duty; to do what I can.
Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.
--Ex. xx. 9.We did not do these things.
--Ld. Lytton.You can not do wrong without suffering wrong.
--Emerson. Hence: To do homage, honor, favor, justice, etc., to render homage, honor, etc. To bring to an end by action; to perform completely; to finish; to accomplish; -- a sense conveyed by the construction, which is that of the past participle done. ``Ere summer half be done.'' ``I have done weeping.''
--Shak.To make ready for an object, purpose, or use, as food by cooking; to cook completely or sufficiently; as, the meat is done on one side only.
-
To put or bring into a form, state, or condition, especially in the phrases, to do death, to put to death; to slay; to do away (often do away with), to put away; to remove; to do on, to put on; to don; to do off, to take off, as dress; to doff; to do into, to put into the form of; to translate or transform into, as a text.
Done to death by slanderous tongues. -- Shak.
The ground of the difficulty is done away. -- Paley.
Suspicions regarding his loyalty were entirely done away.
--Thackeray.To do on our own harness, that we may not; but we must do on the armor of God. -- Latimer.
Then Jason rose and did on him a fair Blue woolen tunic. -- W. Morris (Jason).
Though the former legal pollution be now done off, yet there is a spiritual contagion in idolatry as much to be shunned.
--Milton.It [``Pilgrim's Progress''] has been done into verse: it has been done into modern English. -- Macaulay.
-
To cheat; to gull; to overreach. [Colloq.]
He was not be done, at his time of life, by frivolous offers of a compromise that might have secured him seventy-five per cent. -- De Quincey.
To see or inspect; to explore; as, to do all the points of interest. [Colloq.]
(Stock Exchange) To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
-
To perform work upon, about, for, or at, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, or the like.
The sergeants seem to do themselves pretty well.
--Harper's Mag. -
To deal with for good and all; to finish up; to undo; to ruin; to do for. [Colloq. or Slang]
Sometimes they lie in wait in these dark streets, and fracture his skull, . . . or break his arm, or cut the sinew of his wrist; and that they call doing him.
--Charles Reade.Note: (a) Do and did are much employed as auxiliaries, the verb to which they are joined being an infinitive. As an auxiliary the verb do has no participle. ``I do set my bow in the cloud.''
--Gen. ix. -
[Now archaic or rare except for emphatic assertion.] Rarely . . . did the wrongs of individuals to the knowledge of the public. -- Macaulay. (b) They are often used in emphatic construction. ``You don't say so, Mr. Jobson. -- but I do say so.'' --Sir W. Scott. ``I did love him, but scorn him now.'' --Latham. (c) In negative and interrogative constructions, do and did are in common use. I do not wish to see them; what do you think? Did C[ae]sar cross the Tiber? He did not. ``Do you love me?'' --Shak. (d) Do, as an auxiliary, is supposed to have been first used before imperatives. It expresses entreaty or earnest request; as, do help me. In the imperative mood, but not in the indicative, it may be used with the verb to be; as, do be quiet. Do, did, and done often stand as a general substitute or representative verb, and thus save the repetition of the principal verb. ``To live and die is all we have to do.'' --Denham. In the case of do and did as auxiliaries, the sense may be completed by the infinitive (without to) of the verb represented. ``When beauty lived and died as flowers do now.'' --Shak. ``I . . . chose my wife as she did her wedding gown.'' --Goldsmith. My brightest hopes giving dark fears a being. As the light does the shadow. -- Longfellow. In unemphatic affirmative sentences do is, for the most part, archaic or poetical; as, ``This just reproach their virtue does excite.'' --Dryden. To do one's best, To do one's diligence (and the like), to exert one's self; to put forth one's best or most or most diligent efforts. ``We will . . . do our best to gain their assent.'' --Jowett (Thucyd.). To do one's business, to ruin one. [Colloq.] --Wycherley. To do one shame, to cause one shame. [Obs.] To do over.
To make over; to perform a second time.
-
To cover; to spread; to smear. ``Boats . . . sewed together and done over with a kind of slimy stuff like rosin.'' --De Foe. To do to death, to put to death. (See 7.) [Obs.] To do up.
To put up; to raise. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.To pack together and envelop; to pack up.
To accomplish thoroughly. [Colloq.]
-
To starch and iron. ``A rich gown of velvet, and a ruff done up with the famous yellow starch.''
--Hawthorne.To do way, to put away; to lay aside. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.To do with, to dispose of; to make use of; to employ; -- usually preceded by what. ``Men are many times brought to that extremity, that were it not for God they would not know what to do with themselves.''
--Tillotson.To have to do with, to have concern, business or intercourse with; to deal with. When preceded by what, the notion is usually implied that the affair does not concern the person denoted by the subject of have. ``Philology has to do with language in its fullest sense.''
--Earle. ``What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?
--2 Sam. xvi. 10.
do
doh \doh\ (d[=o]), n. the syllable naming the first (tonic) note of any major diatonic scale in solmization, usually written do.
Syn: do, ut.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
do
Middle English do, first person singular of Old English don "make, act, perform, cause; to put, to place," from West Germanic *don (cognates: Old Saxon duan, Old Frisian dua, Dutch doen, Old High German tuon, German tun), from PIE root *dhe- "to put, place, do, make" (see factitious).\n
\nUse as an auxiliary began in Middle English. Periphrastic form in negative sentences ("They did not think") replaced the Old English negative particles ("Hie ne wendon"). Slang meaning "to do the sex act with or to" is from 1913. Expression do or die is attested from 1620s.\nCompare does, did, done.
Wiktionary
do
Etymology 1 n. 1 (context colloquial English) A party, celebration, social function. 2 (senseid en hairdo)(context informal English) A hairdo. 3 (context colloquial obsolete English) A period of confusion or argument. (rfex) 4 Something that can or should be done (usually in the phrase ''dos and don'ts''). 5 (context obsolete English) A deed; an act. 6 (context archaic English) ado; bustle; stir; to-do 7 (context obsolete UK slang English) A cheat; a swindler. vb. 1 (context auxiliary English) (non-gloss definition: A syntactic marker in questions.) 2 (context auxiliary English) (non-gloss definition: A syntactic marker in negations.) Etymology 2
alt. (context music English) A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale. n. (context music English) A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale. Etymology 3
adv. (context rare English) (abbreviation of ditto English)
WordNet
do
do
v. engage in; "make love, not war"; "make an effort"; "do research"; "do nothing"; "make revolution" [syn: make]
carry out or perform an action; "John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters"; "the skater executed a triple pirouette"; "she did a little dance" [syn: perform, execute]
get (something) done; "I did my job" [syn: perform]
proceed or get along; "How is she doing in her new job?"; "How are you making out in graduate school?"; "He's come a long way" [syn: fare, make out, come, get along]
give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" [syn: cause, make]
carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions; "practice law" [syn: practice, practise, exercise]
be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity; "A few words would answer"; "This car suits my purpose well"; "Will $100 do?"; "A 'B' grade doesn't suffice to get me into medical school"; "Nothing else will serve" [syn: suffice, answer, serve]
create or design, often in a certain way; "Do my room in blue"; "I did this piece in wood to express my love for the forest" [syn: make] [ant: unmake]
behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself; "You should act like an adult"; "Don't behave like a fool"; "What makes her do this way?"; "The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people" [syn: act, behave]
spend time in prison or in a labor camp; "He did six years for embezzlement" [syn: serve]
carry on or manage; "We could do with a little more help around here" [syn: manage]
arrange attractively; "dress my hair for the wedding" [syn: dress, arrange, set, coif, coiffe, coiffure]
travel or traverse (a distance); "This car does 150 miles per hour"; "We did 6 miles on our hike every day"
Gazetteer
Wikipedia
DO
DO may refer to:
Do (singer)
Dominique Rijpma van Hulst (born 7 September 1981), is a Dutch singer known by her stage name Do . She is best known for singing the vocals of " Heaven," DJ Sammy's worldwide top 10 hit in 2002-2003, a cover of the 1980s hit of the same name by Bryan Adams. She has released two albums, Do and Follow Me.
Dō
Dō may refer to:
- Dō (architecture)
- Dō (armour)
- Dō (philosophy)
Do (album)
Do is the eponymous debut album of Dutch singer Do, including the singles " Heaven", " On and On", " Love Is Killing Me" and " Angel By My Side". Do co-wrote 4 songs on the album, "Closer To You", "Should I", "Selfish" and "I Believe In Love". It charted at No. 3 in the Netherlands and was awarded gold certification for selling over 40,000 copies.
Do (surname)
Do is a surname of multiple origins.
Dō (martial arts)
Dō is the go-on vocalization of the Japanese kanji 道, corresponding to Mandarin Chinese ( pinyin) dào, meaning "way", with connotations of "philosophy, doctrine" (see Tao). In Asian martial arts, the word has been widely adopted as the term for a "school" or "discipline", especially in "Old School" ( koryū- 古流) lineages of Japanese martial arts, such as the Kashima Shin-ryū , although its use in the greater martial arts community has become much more widespread as a synonym of jutsu 術 "technique, method".
Do (Hadžići)
Do (Hadžići) is a village in the municipality of Hadžići, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Do (Trebinje)
Do is a village in the municipality of Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dō (architecture)
. It is very often used in Japanese Buddhism as a suffix in the name of some of the many buildings that can be part of a Japanese temple compound. (Other endings, for example -den as in butsuden, exist.) The prefix can be the name of a deity associated with it (e.g. Yakushi-dō, a name customarily translated as " Yakushi Hall") or express the building's function within the temple's compound (e.g. hon-dō, or main hall).
Some words ending in -dō are Butsu-dō, hō-dō, hon-dō, jiki-dō, kaisan-dō, kō-dō, kon-dō, kyō-dō, mandara-dō, miei-dō, mi-dō, sō-dō, Yakushi-dō and zen-dō. With some exceptions, for example the words hondō, hokke-dō and kon-dō, these terms do not indicate any particular structure.
The suffix is used sometimes also in a lay context, as for example in the word .
A dō's size is measured in ken, where a ken is the interval between two pillars of a traditional-style building. A kon-dō for example is a 9x7 ken. The word is usually translated in English as "bay" and is better understood as an indication of proportions than as a unit of measurement.
Dō (armour)
Do (administrative division)
Do is an administrative unit in both North Korea and South Korea similar to the unit of state.
Usage examples of "do".
He had learned her opinions on the subject of Aberrancy over the weeks they had spent together, and while he did not agree with much of what she said, it had enough validity to make him think.
In truth, she wondered that Tane did not suspect Asara of being an Aberrant, but it seemed that he would rather not know.
I love thee, but I should be an untrue friend did I abet thee in thy lawlessness.
UNMIK, with European Union assistance, did intervene - in setting up institutions and abetting economic legislation - it has done more harm than good.
I have heard tell of thee: thou art abiding the turn of the days up at the castle yonder, as others have done before thee.
The monstrosities abiding within the smaller man could not molest him or they would certainly already have done so.
The fact that you saw what you did confirms your ability to be functional at our destination.
The ability to sense pain and discomfort in others, Will realized, was something he had always had and assumed others did as well.
Whatsoever abjuration I have been forced to make, I never did anything against God and religion.
But it must be understood that this refers to one who had made her abjuration as one manifestly taken in heresy, or as one strongly suspected of heresy, and not to one who has so done as being under only a light suspicion.
That is the fidelity of a woman speaking, for Sier Valence has already said that he has abjured his oaths for the sake of this woman, and she does not deny it.
He did manage to use his fire magic on a few of them, setting their shirts and hair ablaze, and that forced the rest to reconsider their attack for a time.
I have brought to light a monstrous abnormality, but I did it for the sake of knowledge.
Men were started aboard this ship, it seemed, even when they were doing their work efficiently.
Now this cheaping irked Ralph sorely, as was like to be, whereas, as hath been told, he came from a land where were no thralls, none but vavassors and good yeomen: yet he abode till all was done, hansel paid, and the thralls led off by their new masters.