to fade away: to diminish gradually in time or distance Examples of TO FADE AWAY The memory of that unpleasant experience has slowly faded away. The music of the band gradually faded away as the parade passed down the street.

a bone of contention: something which people argue and disagree over.Examples: Medicaid costs have long been a bone of contention between counties and the state. How climate change will affect hurricanes has long been a bone of contention.

by far: by a great margin, clearly Examples of BY FAR Germany continued to have by far the largest trade surplus in the currency area. This was one of the best dishes by far and nobody is reinventing the wheel here.

to kick the habit: to stop a bad habit Examples of TO KICK THE HABIT People have grown up reading paper books and will not kick the habit easily. The doctor advised the heavy cigarette smoker that her heart had become damaged and that she should kick the habit right away.

to clear up: to make understandable (also: to straighten out); to become sunny Examples of TO CLEAR UP – The teacher tried to clear up our confusion about the meaning of the difficult paragraph in the reading.– It’s rather cloudy this morning. Do you think that it will clear up later?

for once: this one time, for only one time Examples of FOR ONCE For once they were the stars, not just a sideshow in the track-and-field circus. For once I agree that the brilliant Shaw talks his way into a theatrical morass.