to clear up: to make understandable (also: to straighten out); to become sunny
– 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?
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 have (time) off: to have free time, not to have to work (also: to taketime off Examples of HAVE (TIME) OFF I wish that I could have taken some time off during my day to go out on a cycle. When it comes to graduate school, you might have no choice but to take…
all in all: considering everything Examples of ALL IN ALL All in all, this was the best marathon I’ve ever run. All in all, I can’t wait to go back to Mackinac Island next year!
to run out of: to exhaust the supply of, not to have more of Examples of TO RUN OUT OF It was new construction, and the builders ran out of money to complete the work. The 10-point lead would hold, as the Red Wolves ran out of gas down the stretch.
to look out: to be careful or cautious (also: to watch out) Examples of LOOK OUT We had a big drop in numbers and we have to look out for the safety of our kids. We were told to look out for a red van.
Hold all the aces: If you say that someone holds all the aces, you mean that they are in a very strong position because they have more advantages and more power than anyone else.Examples: How can I advance in my career when my competitor holds all the aces? In a situation like this, it’s the…