101. cinch – easy. Adding and subtracting was always a cinch. 

102. clamp down – become stricter. Because he came home from the party so late, his father said he will start to clamp down on his curfew. 

103. clean up – make a big profit. Since he started his new business, he’s really cleaning up. 

104. clear – go through. When will this check clear my bank? 

105. clear the air – calm anger and remove misunderstanding. We were tired of fighting, so we decided to start talking and clear the air. 

106. close shave – narrow escape. It was a close shave getting out of the burning building. 

107. coast is clear – no enemy is in sight. Take the present out of the closet when the coast is clear. 

108. come a long way – make great progress. He came a long way in his recovery from surgery. 

109. come across – find or meet by chance. If you come across any pictures of my friends from high school, let me know. 

110. come apart at the seams – be upset and lose control. I almost came apart at the seams when I saw the taxicab hit my car. 

111. come clean – tell the truth. I came clean when I knew I was caught in a lie. 

112. come hell or high water – no matter what happens. Come hell or high water, I’ll for sure be at that meeting. 

113. come off it – stop kidding, boasting or making believe. Herbert said he was the only one who could do the job. I told him to come off it. 

114. come on strong - overwhelm with excessively strong language or personality. The car salesman came on too strong and angered my wife. 

115. come through with flying colors – succeed, win, exceed. When he graduated with honors, it was evident that he came through with flying color. 

116. comeback – to be successful again. The actress made an outstanding comeback on the stage, after her bout with pneumonia. 

117. con – lie, swindle, trick. His boss conned him into working on the weekend for no pay. 

118. cook someone’s goose – create big problems for someone. He knew that when he was caught in a lie his goose was cooked. 

119. cough up – give money unwillingly, give up a secret. You said that you would help pay for their wedding. Well, it’s been three months – cough it up. 

120. count on – rely on, trust. I could always count on my best friend. 

121. cover for someone – protect someone. Please cover me, if I end up not knowing what to say at the meeting. 

122. crack down – The police are beginning to crack down on teenagers who are out too late at night. 

123. cream of the crop – the best of a group, top-choice. This university only accepts the cream of the crop. 

124. creeps, the – fear, uneasiness. It gives me the creeps every time I pass the strange looking house. 

125. crocodile tears - show of sorrow that is not really felt. He cried crocodile tears when he discovered that he couldn’t go to the meeting. 

126. crop up – happen quickly without warning. I had to stay at work late yesterday. Some new work cropped up.

127. cross one’s mind – think of, occur quickly to someone. It did not cross my mind to thank her for my birthday card. 

128. cut corners – limit one’s buying. She was way over budget for the wedding, so she needed to cut corners. 

129. cut down on – use less, reduce. My doctor wants me to cut down on sugar. 

130. cut the mustard - succeed, do well enough what needs to be done. He wasn’t able to cut the mustard so he had to leave the army after only one year. 

131. cut out – have talent for, be suited for. She is not cut out for the swim team. She’s too slow. 

132. cut someone down to size – prove someone is not as good as he or she thinks. John thought he was the smartest student in the class. We needed to cut him down to size. 

133. dawn on – become clear, begin to understand. It finally dawned on me that I missed our anniversary. 

134. dead-end job – position with no future. He decided to go back to college because he realized he had a dead- end job. 

135. dig up – find, recall, discover. Have you dug up any information on the new employee? 

136. dime a dozen – common, easily obtained. Those shiny stones are not worth anything. They are a dime a dozen. 

137. dish out – criticize, abuse, scold - Sometimes he’s nasty and insulting. He can really dish out. 

138. dive – disreputable, low class bar or nightclub. I did not like where he brought me last night. It was a real dive. 

139. do the trick – be successful, achieve a good result. The recipe needs a little help. I think salt may do the trick. 

140. do without – live without something. When the television broke, I knew that I could do without it for a week or two. 

141. doctor it up – fix temporarily. The hem on the dress ripped. I doctored it up with some tape. 

142. double check – reinvestigate thoroughly, look again for errors. This column does not add up. I will double check it for a mistake. 

143. double-cross – betray. I cannot double-cross my best friend. 

144. dough – money. He makes a lot of dough. 

145. down and out – having no money, no success. Although he was successful a few years ago, today I hear he’s down and out. 

146. down in the dumps – unhappy. She’s been down in the dumps ever since she lost her job. 

147. down the drain – wasted, lost. I don’t like to throw my money down the drain. 

148. down to earth – having good sense, practical. My fiancée is friendly and sensible. She’s very down to earth. 

149. draw the line – set the limit. He sets an early curfew for his children. He draws the line at 10:00 PM. 

150. dress up – wear one’s best clothing. We need to dress up for this wedding. 

151. dressed to kill - wear one’s finest clothing. She was dressed to kill when I saw her at the convention last year. 

152. dribs and drabs – little by little, small quantities. She told us the story in dribs and drabs. 

153. drive at – try to say, insinuate. What were you driving at when you said that insulting comment? 

154. drive someone up a wall – make someone crazy. My son is driving me up a wall! 

155. drop in the bucket – a small amount. The cost of fixing the sink is a drop in the bucket compared to replacing the whole sink. 

156. drop out – one who doesn’t complete a study course. My cousin dropped out of college. 

157. drown one’s sorrows – drink liquor to forget one’s problems. I was so upset last night, that I drowned my sorrows at the bar. 

158. dump – get rid of, reject – I can’t believe you dumped your girlfriend. 

159. dwell on – talk and think about something all the time. I know it is a big decision, but you shouldn’t dwell on it all day. 

160. eager beaver – ambitious, hard working. Charlie gets to work at 7:00 am everyday. He is an eager beaver. 

161. earful – interesting gossip, information. My friend found out about the local politician. I got an earful.

162. egg someone on – push, urge. My wife didn’t want to take the job, but I egged her on. 

163. elbow grease – strength for cleaning. I needed to use a lot of elbow grease to get the dirt off the floor. 

164. elbow room – enough space to be comfortable. It was so tight in that restaurant. There wasn’t any elbow room. 

165. end up – finish. I heard that you got lost on your way home last night. Where did you end up? 

166. every Tom, Dick and Harry – the average person, nobody special. It seemed like every Tom, Dick and Harry came out to purchase tickets for the movie. 

167. face the music – meet one’s punishment, accept the consequences. When he got caught stealing the money from the bank, he realized that soon he would have to face the music. 

168. face up to – accept something unpleasant or difficult. You need to face up to the fact that you did not win the election. 

169. fair and square – honest, honestly. I won the contest fair and square. 

170. fall apart – stop working properly, deteriorate. His old car finally fell apart. 

171. fall behind – not be able to keep up, fail to maintain a schedule or rate of speed. When she couldn’t go to school because of her illness, she significantly fell behind in her work. 

172. fall for – begin to love, have strong emotions for. I fell for her as soon as I met her. 

173. fall off – decrease. Sales have been falling off since the economy has slowed down. 

174. fall through – fail, collapse – The big sale I made at work yesterday fell through this morning. 

175. false alarm – warning or report that is untrue. She thought that she was pregnant, but it was a false alarm. 

176. far-fetched – unlikely, exaggerated. The possibility of her receiving a full scholarship is very far-fetched. 

177. fast buck – money obtained easily and often unethically. I know a way we can make a fast buck. 

178. feather in one’s cap – proud achievement. His speech went well at the corporate meeting. It was a feather in his cap. 

179. fed up with – had enough, disgusted with. She was fed up with his attitude at the office. 

180. feel in one’s bones – know by intuition, feel certain without evidence. I believe he is going to get the promotion. I can just feel it in my bones. 

181. feel like a million bucks – feel wonderful. I felt like a million bucks when I wore my new suit to the wedding. 

182. feel like two cents – feel ashamed or embarrassed. I felt like two cents when I dropped the birthday cake on the floor. 

183. feel sorry for – pity. She felt sorry for him when she heard the news of his accident. 

184. fender bender – minor accident. I had a fender bender on my way to work this morning. 

185. fiddle around – work without a definite plan and knowledge. The clock was broken, so he fiddled around with it until he got it to work. 

186. figure out – try to understand, solve. She couldn’t figure out one of her math problems. 

187. fill someone in – tell a person the details. We had the meeting yesterday when you were out. Let me fill you in on what you missed. 

188. find fault – complain, criticize – She always seems to find fault with any of my friends. 

189. fish out of water - someone who does not fit in. She felt like a fish out of water when she went to the party in her formal dress while everyone else was wearing jeans. 

190. fishy – suspicious, false sounding. Your company is giving you a month off from work? That sounds a bit fishy. 

191. fix someone up – arrange a date for someone. I fixed her up with my best friend. 

192. flip one’s lid – get angry, go crazy, become very excited. He flipped his lid when he found out his son stole some candy from the store. 

193. floor someone – surprise, confuse. I was floored when I found out they had made me a surprise birthday party. 

194. flop – failure – His business ended up being a flop.

195. fly off the handle – get angry. Her mother flew off the handle when she found out that her daughter dropped out of college. 

196. fly the coop – leave suddenly, run away. As soon as he turned eighteen years old, he flew the coop. 

197. fly-by-night – unreliable, untrustworthy. I don’t want to buy my computer from that store. It’s a fly-by-night company; they may not be in business next year. 

198. foot in the door – opening, hopeful beginning of success. It is not my idea of a perfect job, but at least I have my foot in the door with a great company. 

199. foot the bill – pay. Who is going to foot the bill for the office renovations? 

200. for a song – at a low price, cheap. He got his new car for a song.