to all it a day/night: to stop working for the test of the day/night Examples of TO CALL IT A DAY/NIGHT I’m going to have to call it a night in a few minutes but thanks for all your emails. After working for ten hours, I decided to call it a day, even though my…
would rather: prefer to (also: would just as soon) Examples of WOULD RATHER I would rather go biking than running, because biking is easier on my knees. He would rather go to the salad bar, but she wanted to go to the steakhouse.
had better: should, ought to, be advisable to Examples of HAD BETTER “You had better tell me what’s going on!” the suspicious father demanded. “Stephanie had better confess to stealing the candy,” Nancy thought, “or I might get in trouble!”
to get sick,well,tired,busy,wet,etc.: to become sick, well, tired, busy,wet, etc. Examples of GET SICK I pretended to get sick, so that I could miss class that day. The rainstorm only lasted a few minutes, but it was enough to get my suit wet.
to get better, worse, etc.: to become better, worse, etc. Examples of GET BETTER, WORSE I practice the violin every day, because I know there’s no other way to get better. When he got the angry call from his manager, he knew his day was going to get worse.
in time to: before the time necessary to do something Examples of IN TIME TO He had good position but had not turned his head in time to see the ball arrive. Officers went to the hospital, but did not arrive in time to talk to the victim.
on time: exactly at the correct time, punctually Examples of ON TIME Melissa is such a good student; she always hands in all her papers on time. I accelerated down the road, hoping to be on time for the play.
to be over: to be finished, to end (also: to be through) Examples of BE OVER He was secretly happy to be over with his ex-girlfriend, but he pretended that she’d broken his heart. Benny needs to be over his reliance on clichés when he writes.
to be up: to expire, to be finishedThis idiom is used only with the word time as the subject. Examples of BE UP When the time is up, he said, they will have to move out or buy the mobile home. As soon as your time is up they sack you and get another free…
to point out: to show, to indicate, to bring to one’s attention Examples of POINT OUT “I thought it was important for me to point out your mistake in this equation,” the math professor told his student. Because it was my first day on the job, I didn’t want to point out things I thought…