to hold off: to delay, or to be delayed, in occurring Examples of TO HOLD OFF They’re snapping pictures of the new open-air ballpark and hoping the rain holds off. The judge agreed to hold off making a decision until new evidence could be introduced into court.

little by little: gradually, slowly (also: step by step) Examples of LITTLE BY LITTLE Little by little, we built up our investment portfolio so we could have a good retirement. The old building was slowly falling apart, little by little.

to work out: to exercise; to develop, to devise (a plan) Examples of TO WORK OUT She home-schools her 15-year-old son, runs errands, cleans house, takes care of her family, works out at the fitness center and tries to sleep. Eventually we worked out a plan so that he could return to work.

to beat around the bush: to avoid discussing directly, to evade the issue Examples of TO BEAT AROUND THE BUSH – Most candidates beat around the bush on controversial topics like health care.– We sensed his genuine interest, but we beat around the bush in terms of money.

to take advantage of: to use well, to profit from; to use another person’sweaknesses to gain what one wants Examples of TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF It’s not right to take advantage of people who aren’t as clever as you. The cab driver knew I was new to the city and so he tried to take…

fifty-fifty: divided into two equal parts Examples of FIFTY-FIFTY We’ve got, I’d say, a better than fifty-fifty chance of winning the game. The odds are the same for a heads or a tails to come up, they’re fifty-fifty.