o Mr. Simpson was so frightened when he heard footsteps behind him on
the lonely, dark street that it took several minutes to pull himself
together.to be looking up: to appear promising or optimistic, to be improving
This idiom is used in a continuous tense, very often with the subject things.
o The board chairman is glad to report that things are looking up for the
company after several years of declining sales.
o Prospects for building that new library in the downtown area are
looking up.
to kick the habit: to stop a bad habit
o Once a child becomes accustomed to chewing his nails, it's difficult kick
the habit.
o The doctor advised the heavy cigarette smoker that her heart had
become damaged and that she should kick the habit right away.
to cover up: to conceal, to hide (S)
This idiom is used for events which are potentially embarrassing to one's
reputation, as well as against the law. The noun coverup can be formed.
o The office worker tried to cover up his crimes, but everyone knew that
he had been stealing office supplies all along.
o The political coverup of the bribery scandal failed and was reported by
all the major media.
to drop off: to fall asleep; to take to a certain location (S); to decrease (for
the third definition, also: to fall off)
o My mother dropped off during the boring television show; her head
was nodding up and down.
o I don't mind dropping you off at the store on my way to work.
o Business has been dropping off rapidly recently, but fortunately it
hasn't been falling off as quickly as for our competitors.
to turn over: to place upside down (S); to flip, to turn upside down; to pass
or give control to someone (S)
o the teacher asked the students to turn the answer sheet over and to
write a short essay on the back.
o The car was going too fast around the corner and turned over twice.
o Mr. Collins has decided to turn over his jewelry store to his son at the
end of the year.
to go through channels: to send a request through the normal way
This idiom can be used with the adjective proper.
o If you go through proper channels in this company, it's sometimes
impossible to get anything done quickly.
o The police told the important civic leader that even she had to go
through channels in reporting the burglary of her house.
last straw: the final event in a series of unacceptable actions
This idiom is always used with the definite article the.