o The police officer radioed to the station that she had the emergency
situation in hand and didn't require any assistance.on hand: available, nearby
This idiom is often followed by in case.
o I always keep some extra money on hand in case I forget to get cash
from the bank.
o The concert organizers arranged to have some security guards on hand
in case there were any problems during the performance.
LESSON 33
to kick (something) around: to discuss informally (over a period of time)
(S) (also: to toss around)
o At first my friends were reluctant to consider my suggestion, but they
finally were willing to kick it ground for a while.
o Herb thought that we should kick around the idea of establishing a
special fund for supporting needy members of the club.
on the ball: attentive, competent, alert
o Jim was the only one who caught that serious error in the bookkeeping
statements. He's really on the ball.
o Ella was certainly on the ball when she remembered to reconfirm our
fight arrangements. All the rest of us would have forgotten.
to make up: to meet or fulfill a missed obligation at a later time (S); to create,
to invent (an idea) (S); to apply cosmetics to (S); to comprise, to be composed
of
Note that all of the definitions are separable except the last one.
o The teacher allowed several students who missed the exam to make it
up during the next class.
o The little boy made up a bad excuse for wearing his dirty shoes in the
house, so his mother punished him.
o Dee was able to make her face up in half the normal time because she
didn't use much makeup.
o Two separate bodies --- the House of Representatives and the Senate --
- make up the Congress of the United States.
to make up with: resolve differences with
This idiom is used for differences of opinion between friends and lovers.
o Gundula made up with her roommate after their serious
misunderstanding about arrangements for the party.
o After the bad quarrel the two lovers kissed and made up with each
other.
to pull together: to gather, to collect (information) (S); to gain control of
one's emotions (S)
A reflexive pronoun must e used for the second definition.
o The reporter pulled together information from several sources in
preparing the newspaper article.