Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 704 Q quake in one's boots - to be afraid, to shake from fear I was quaking in my boots when my boss told me to come to his office. queer as a three-dollar bill - to be very strange The woman is the strangest person that I have ever seen and she is as queer as a three- dollar bill. quick and dirty - fast and cheap, fast and careless The method that the company chose to cut expenses was quick and dirty. quick as a flash - very quickly I was able to get out of the house as quick as a flash and go to work. quick as a wink - very quickly The woman turned around and quick as a wink her purse was stolen. quick as geased lightning - very quickly, very fast The cat climbed up the tree as quick as greased lightning. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 705 quick on the draw - to be quick to respond to something, to be quick to draw a gun and shoot The man is quick on the draw and can answer most questions immediately. quick on the trigger - to be quick to respond to something, to be quick to draw a gun and shoot The man was too quick on the trigger and should have thought more carefully about what he was going to say. quick on the uptake - to be quick to understand something The student is quick on the uptake and understands most scientific theories very quickly. quiet as a mouse - very quiet, shy and silent The little boy was quiet as a mouse as he moved around the kitchen. quite a bit - much or many I had quite a bit of time so I decided to go to the library. quite a few - many The boy has quite a few DVDs at home. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 706 quite a lot - much or many There are quite a lot of chairs in the meeting hall. quite a number - much or many Quite a number of the teachers agreed to use the new textbooks. quite a (something) - definitely something The girl is quite a pianist and everybody loves her. quote a price - to state in advance the charge for doing or supplying something I asked the moving company to quote a price to move our furniture. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 707 R a race against time - a rush to beat a deadline It was a race against time to rescue the miners who were trapped in the mine. rack one`s brains - to try hard to think or remember something I have been racking my brains all day trying to remember the man's name. racked with pain - to be suffering from severe pain The man was racked with pain after he fell from the ladder. rail at (someone) about (something) - to complain loudly to someone about something The customer was railing at the clerk about the bad service. rain cats and dogs - to rain very hard It has been raining cats and dogs all morning. a rain check - a free ticket to an event that replaces a ticket that was cancelled because of rain or for some other reason We received a rain check for the concert that was suddenly cancelled. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 708 a rain check - a promise to repeat an invitation at a later date I did not have time to go to the restaurant with my friend so I decided to take a rain check. rain on (someone's) parade - to spoil someone's plans I tried not to let my friend's bad mood rain on my parade during the concert. rain or shine - no matter whether it rains or the sun shines We plan to go to the beach tomorrow rain or shine. rain (something) out - to spoil something by raining The music festival was rained out yesterday evening. raise Idioms raise a fuss - to make trouble, to cause a disturbance The woman at the restaurant raised a fuss when her meal arrived late. raise a hand against (someone or something) - to hit or threaten to hit someone or something If the man raises a hand against his supervisor the police will be called. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 709 raise a stink about (something) - to make a major issue out of something The small business owners began to raise a stink about the new parking tax. raise an objection to (someone or something) - to object to someone or something My friend raised an objection about including my parents in our travel plans. raise Cain - to create a disturbance, to cause trouble The boys began to raise Cain at the dance and were asked to leave. raise eyebrows - to cause surprise or disapproval It raised eyebrows when the actress appeared at the party with no invitation. raise havoc with (someone or something) - to create confusion or disruption for or against someone or something The bad weather raised havoc with our plans to clean up the area around our house. raise hell with (someone or something) - to make trouble, to behave wildly The woman began to raise hell with her supervisor after she heard about the new policy. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 710 raise one's sights - to set higher goals for oneself Our team is doing very well this year and we are now raising our sights on the city championship. raise one's voice to (someone) - to speak loudly or shout at someone in anger The teacher asked the child not to raise his voice. . to be raised in a barn - to behave crudely like a barnyard animal When the boy did not shut the door his mother asked him if he had been raised in a barn. rake in the money - to make a lot of money My cousin's new pizza franchise has been raking in the money since it opened. rake (someone) over the coals - to scold/reprimand someone My boss raked me over the coals when he heard about the lost sales report. rake (something) off - to take money from something illegally The sales clerk was accused of raking money off of the daily cash sales. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 711 rally around (someone or something) - to come together to support someone or something Everybody in the small town began to rally around the mayor when he was accused of wrongdoing. ram (something) down (someone`s) throat - to force someone to do or agree to something that is not wanted Our teacher always tries to ram her ideas down our throats which makes us angry. ramble on about (someone or something) - to talk aimlessly and endlessly about someone or something My friend spent the entire evening rambling on about his problems at work. rank and file - the members of a group and not the leaders, regular soldiers and not the officers The rank and file of the large union were happy with their new contract. rant and rave about (someone or something) - to shout angrily and wildly about someone or something The man was ranting and raving about the bad service at the restaurant. rant (at someone) about (someone or something) - to talk in a loud and violent way about someone or something The customer was ranting at her friend while they were shopping for shoes. rap (someone's) knuckles - to punish someone slightly The company rapped the man's knuckles for taking a long coffee break. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 712 rap with (someone) - to talk/chat with someone I passed the morning rapping with my friend at the park. raring/rarin' to go - to be extremely eager to do something Everybody was rarin' to go after the speech by our company president. rat on (someone) - to betray someone by telling someone else about illegal or wrong activities The young boy ratted on his friend who broke the store window. rat out on (someone) - to desert or betray someone, to leave someone at a critical time The boy's friend ratted out on him and refused to support him in his fight with the neighborhood bully. rat race - an endless hurried existence, a fierce struggle for success The man sometimes finds it too much of a rat race to live and work in a big city. rate with (someone) - to be in someone's favor I do not think that I rate with some of the students at my school. rattle (something) off - to recite something quickly and accurately The little boy was able to rattle off most of the countries in the world. Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com 713 ravished with delight - to be overcome with happiness or delight I was ravished with delight when I heard that my friend had decided to get married. a raw deal - unfair treatment The man got a raw deal when he was forced to resign from his company. reach a compromise - to achieve a compromise with someone The company tried very hard to reach a compromise with the workers. reach an agreement - to make an agreement The city was not able to reach an agreement on where to build the new subway line. reach an impasse - to get to a point where progress is impossible The negotiations on where to build the new bridge have reached an impasse. reach first base with (someone or something) - to make a major advance with someone or something The salesperson was unable to reach first base with the large buyer. reach for the sky - to set one's goals high The young woman was reaching for the sky when she began to look for her first job. [...]... something) - to persuade or pressure someone to do something I did not want to help with the dinner but I was roped into helping by my best friend rotten to the core - to be completely no good and worthless The local government was rotten to the core and everyone was happy when they were voted out of office rough -and- ready - to be rough or crude but to be ready for something The boat was rough -and- ready... to take it for a ride 730 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com rough -and- tumble - to be rough, a hard fighting or arguing style that does not follow any rules or laws It was a rough -and- tumble meeting at the city planning office last night a rough guess - an approximate estimate/guess I made a rough guess about how many people would come to the party rough it - to live in uncomfortable conditions without the usual... friend is rolling in money and never has to work a rolling stone - a person who does not live or work in one place The man is a rolling stone and I never know where to find him room and board - food to eat and a place to live The young man received room and board as part of his salary at the restaurant root for (someone or something) - to cheer and encourage someone or something I have been rooting for our... the environment round-robin tournament/contest - a game or contest in which each player or team plays every other player or team in turn A round-robin tournament was held in order to choose the best team in the city round-trip ticket - a train/bus/plane ticket that allows one to go to the destination and return home We purchased a round-trip ticket because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket round up... run hot and cold - to be sometimes good/useful/effective/positive and sometimes the opposite The reviews of the new movie are running hot and cold and I do not know if I will go to see it run in (somewhere) - to make a brief visit or stop somewhere I ran in to see my sister at her office before I left for the weekend run in the family - to be a common family characteristic Being a left-handed golfer runs... right and left - on both sides, on all sides, everywhere The child looked right and left before he crossed the road right as rain - to be correct, to be genuine The figures that I gave to my supervisor are as right as rain right at (a specific time/place) - to be exactly at a specific time/place The concert started right at 9:00 PM right away - immediately "I forgot to bring my book but I will go home and. .. restaurant 731 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com round-robin letter - a letter written by a group of people with each person writing part of the letter We sent a round-robin letter to the other members of the staff to try and get help for the annual flea market round-robin meeting/discussion/debate - a meeting or discussion in which each person in a group takes part We had a round-robin panel discussion on what we could... (something) over - to read something I read my presentation over before I had to deliver it to the class read (something) through - to read all of something I read the report through before I returned it to my supervisor read the handwriting on the wall - to anticipate what is going to happen by observing small hints and clues Everybody in our department could read the handwriting on the wall and knew that... much trouble run after (someone) or (something) - to chase someone The young boys were running after the small dog run an errand - to take a short trip to do a specific thing I was late for work because I had to run an errand in the morning run around - to go to various places to do things We ran around all day and now we are very tired run around in circles - to act confused, to do a lot but accomplish... village is ready, willing, and able to help the family who lost their house in the fire 715 Mr_doody2004@yahoo.com real McCoy - the genuine thing My new camera is the real McCoy and it will let me take any kind of picture that I want the real thing - something that is genuine and not an imitation The small vase is the real thing and is very valuable reality of a situation - the way that a situation . have ever seen and she is as queer as a three- dollar bill. quick and dirty - fast and cheap, fast and careless The method that the company chose to cut expenses was quick and dirty. quick. trigger and should have thought more carefully about what he was going to say. quick on the uptake - to be quick to understand something The student is quick on the uptake and understands. something) - to talk aimlessly and endlessly about someone or something My friend spent the entire evening rambling on about his problems at work. rank and file - the members of a group and not