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 tire out: to make very weary due to difficult conditions or hard effort (also:to wear out) Examples of TIRE OUT We need to tire out our puppy every night, or he’ll be so energetic we won’t be able to sleep. The first time we attended the spin class, we were the first to tire…

to be about to: to be at the moment of doing something, to be ready (often used with the adverb just) Examples of TO BE ABOUT TO I was just about to send you the email you requested. I am about to lock the doors and turn the lights off in the shop.

over and over (again): repeatedly (also: time after time, time and again) Examples of OVER AND OVER I told you, over and over, not to call me by that nickname, and you still call me by that nickname. The monkey with the miniature cymbals banged them together over and over again.

to eat in/to eat out: to eat at home/to eat in a restaurant Examples of TO EAT IN/TO EAT OUT We decided to eat in and I made spaghetti and meatballs. We decided to eat out and tried a new restaurant downtown.

out of date: not modern; not current, not timely; no longer available in published form Examples of OUT OF DATE The theme party had everyone listening to one-hit-wonders from the 1980s, wearing all sorts of out of date clothes. That study might be out-of-date, Schwartz said, but it does provide percentages.