to have one’s heart set on: to desire greatly, to be determined to Examples of TO HAVE ONE’S HEART SET ON She has her heart set on taking a trip abroad. She’s been thinking about it for months. Todd has his heart set on going to medical school and becoming a doctor.

a lost cause: a hopeless case, a person or situation having no hope of positivechange. Examples of A LOST CAUSE Repeat these steps as necessary to remove the stain, but it may be a lost cause. Even this late in the game, the search for the black boxes is not a lost cause.

on the whole: in general, in most ways (also: by and large) Examples of ON THE WHOLE He is, on the whole, a good student. Rents and occupancy rates in commercial real estate remain healthy on the whole.

upside down: with the upper side turned toward the lower side Examples of UPSIDE DOWN Nobody noticed that the abstract painting was hung on the wall upside down. After the second hit, the truck rolled over into a ditch and landed upside down.

to think over: to consider carefully before deciding Examples of THINK OVER “I’ll tell you tomorrow. I’m going to want to think over your proposal,” said the businessman to his associate. You’ll want to think over your options before picking the right college for you.

to cut off: to shorten by cutting the ends; to disconnect or stop suddenly Examples of TO CUT OFF The rude waitress tried to cut me off while I was placing my order. “I’ll need to cut off the microphone, if you don’t behave yourself,” the chairman said to the angry committee member.