U-V
The boys were rolling around on the ground fighting, but neither one was willing to say "Uncle!"
uncle- [to say/cry "Uncle!"] to admit defeat; to
agree to give up; to concede to the opponent
Don't try to move the vehicles during a storm like this. Just wait it out.
[to wait it out] to not do anything yet; to relax
Joe, totally unprepared, had his back to the wall when the boss asked him to lead the meeting
[to have one's back to/against the wall] trapped with no way to escape; in bad trouble
Don't worry about it now. It'll all come out in the wash.
[to all come out in the wash] to work out satisfactorily in the end
love the way Frank can yank Joe 's chain about political issues.
to yank one's chain -to intentionally provoke and irritate someone in order to get an overreaction
Joe wasn't sure if the deal was on the up and up, so he didn't sign the papers.
[on the up and up] honest or legitimate
My cousin's marriage is a train wreck waiting to happen.
[(some disaster) waiting to happen] something that will end in failure or calamity
The way he was talking nonstop, I thought he was going to drive me up the wall.
[to drive someone up the wall] to drive someone crazy; to irritate someone
He said that he's washing his hands of the matter.
[to wash one's hands of something] to refuse any responsibility for
Teacher: These idioms are very easy to learn.
Student: Yeah, right!
Yeah, right.- a sarcastic way of indicating disagreement
The children are too quiet. They must be up to something.
[to be up to something] to be planning or doing something secretly
You need to wake up and smell the coffee if you plan to graduate this summer.
[to wake up and smell the coffee] to become aware of and accept reality
We were talking about our various projects when he started making these off-the-wall comments about sports.
[off the wall] totally unexpected; unrelated to the current topic
That old actor is completely washed up and can't find another job.
[washed up] being a failure; having no future
I asked Jesse for his help with the program and he said, "You bet."
you bet -certainly; of course
My computer has been up and running since 0700 this morning.
[up and running] operational; ready to use
Rudy woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so don't talk to him yet.
[to wake up on the wrong side of the bed] to awake in a bad mood
Every time I try to implement a change, I run into a brick wall. The bosses don't want to take a chance on anything new.
[to run into a stone/brick wall] to be unable to penetrate or proceed
Don't waste your breath trying to convince Richard. He won't change his opinion.
to waste one's breath- to argue without getting results
The commander told the officers that the zero hour for the attack was at 0200.
the zero hour - the critical time
We're expecting a VIP from the Pentagon tomorrow.
a VIP- a very important person
True, Joe can talk the talk, but he can 't walk the walk.
to walk the walk (after talking the talk)- to do what one says one can do
It's been a real war of nerves around here with the two new assistant vice-presidents vying for dominance.
a war of nerves - a psychological conflict
It's water under the bridge now, so I don't want to discuss it anymore.
[It's water under the bridge.] Something happened in the past and cannot be changed now.
The police who were investigating the robbery say they have come up with zilch.
zilch - nothing; zero