English Slang Idioms (179)

"I hate how one keeps ......... into the one person he or she doesn't want to see. I have tried my hardest to avoid my ex-girlfriend Sally and I have run into her three times in the past month. It isn't like this is a small town," Jeff said to Christian.
stopping
jumping
bumping
discovering

"Did you hear that our boss is in jail? I guess he tried to bump his wife ......... the other night and she managed to escape and call the police. Crazy, isn't it? I never would have thought that a guy that nice would be capable of something like that," James said to Raquel.
off
in
down
to death

"Watch out, when using a hole-boring bit on hard wood, that you don't ......... up your drill. I just ruined mine drilling holes in a planter box the other day. It started smoking and then quit," Derrick said to Paul.
bump
stop
burn
stump

He almost caught his apartment on fire the night before. He was trying to deep-fry some chicken when the pot of oil ......... into flames. He tried to find a lid but couldn't The cabinets had just started to catch fire when he found his fire extinguisher and then was able to douse the flames.
rushed
started
jump
burst

He felt like a jerk. He told his girlfriend that he had fell in love with another woman and she burst into .......... He felt horrible after that.
crying
tears
sniffles
cries

"This company is going out of business! You can either bury your head in the ......... and pretend it isn't happening or we can try to find a solution but something has to happen now!" The accountant told Bob.
sand
rock
paper
drink

"When I was in school not college I hated it when the teachers made us do ......... work to keep us occupied. I felt like we were there to learn, not to be babysat," Rick said to Martha.
busy
stupid
take up time
schedule

"Dad said that we can't go to the roller-skating rink on Saturday. Why don't we try to ......... him up a bit by telling him how much we appreciate all he's done for us and how smart he is. Then, maybe he'll let us go. It has worked before," Rachel told Rhoda.
oil
fatten
puff
butter

"I had a hard time going from a social worker to someone who works in health insurance. There are so many ......... words to learn. It sounds like the people who work there are talking another language when you first hear them talk to each other," Beth said to Sylvia.
made up
special
buzz
constructed

The detective was disgusted when he found out the police chief had been ......... off by the mob. He wondered why the chief stopped investigating them and, then, he just happened to hear a telephone conversation between someone in the mob and the chief. They were discussing his payment for looking the other way.
hired
employed
tricked
bought