|
Idiom |
Definition |
Usage |
| calculated risk |
an action that may fail
but has a good chance to succeed |
Investing in that stock
is a calculated risk. |
| call a spade a
spade |
speak bluntly |
I think that you should
call a spade a spade. |
| call it quits |
finish |
She wants to
call it quits and go home. |
| call of nature |
need to go to the toilet |
He is answering the
call of nature. |
| call off |
cancel |
They had to call
off the game because of rain. |
| call on |
visit |
She was planning to
call on her friend when she got into town. |
| call on |
request participation of |
The teacher likes to
call on students sitting in the back. |
| call the shots |
make the decisions |
The new boss likes to
call the shots. |
| captain of
industry |
top corporation officer |
The company president is
a captain of industry. |
| carry over |
delay |
The store decided to
carry over the sale until next week. |
| carry over |
transfer |
They had to
carry over the budget deficit to next year. |
| carry the day |
be successful |
The new product should
carry the day. |
| carry through |
continue |
She thought It would be
best to carry through with her plans. |
| cash or credit |
cash or credit card |
Will that be
cash or credit? |
| catch some rays |
get some sunshine |
I'm going to lie on the
beach and catch some rays. |
| catch some Z's |
sleep |
I decided to
catch some Z's before going back to the college. |
| catch you later |
see you later |
Yeah, catch you
later. |
| check it out |
look |
Hey, check it
out. |
| check out |
look at |
We can check out
the babes at the park. |
| chow down |
eat a lot |
I need to find a place
to chow down. |
| close out |
discontinued merchandise |
The store had a
close out sale and sold everything. |
| close the books |
end a bookkeeping period |
The company will
close the books at the end of the fiscal year. |
| cold call |
call persons she has
never seen or met |
She had to cold
call for the entire day. |
| come on strong |
overwhelm with
excessively strong language or personality |
Salespeople usually
come on strong when trying to sell their
product. |
| company man |
person who always works
hard |
The manager is a
company man. |
| company town |
town dominated by one
company |
This is really a
company town. |
| cool down |
calm down |
Things should
cool down in a day or two. |
| crack open |
open |
Let's crack open
a bottle for his birthday. |
| cut out |
leave |
It is late. I have to
cut out. |
| cut back on |
reduce |
The company needs to
cut back on expenses. |
| cut corners |
reduce expenses |
The department tried to
cut corners to save money. |
| cut off |
cut off |
The telephone
conversation was cut off because of the
storm. |
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