Important Idioms
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Meaning: Somewhat or rather, just to a moderate degree.
Example: After a long day at work, Sarah felt kind of tired but still decided to cook dinner instead of ordering takeout. Read more ➺
Meaning: Having the title or name of something without the real power, duties, or qualities that usually go with it.
Example: Mike is the department manager in name only because Sarah quietly handles the decisions, the schedule, and the staff problems while he just signs whatever she puts in front of him. Read more ➺
Meaning: To move or travel from one place to another and then right back again.
Example: Sarah paced back and forth across the kitchen while she waited for the test results to come through. Read more ➺
Meaning: Absolutely not; a strong emphatic refusal under any circumstances.
Example: Mike asked if he could borrow Sarah's car for the weekend, but she looked at him and said no way because she had early meetings every morning. Read more ➺
Meaning: Someone finally gets exactly what they deserve, usually in a way that feels perfectly fitting or a little ironic, so the bad ones end up punished and the good ones come out ahead.
Example: After years of shortchanging his workers on pay, Mike watched his own company collapse and ended up taking a low-wage job himself, and everyone around him said it was pure poetic justice. Read more ➺
Meaning: The most important or leading person in a group, company, or activity; the boss or the one in charge.
Example: After years of solid work, Mike became the top banana of the sales team and started calling the shots. Read more ➺
Meaning: The action or stage that comes right after the current one in a process or plan.
Example: Once the team wrapped up the research, the next step was to try the idea with a small group of users and see what still needed work. Read more ➺
Meaning: A small sign or hint that something is about to happen.
Example: The empty tables on a Friday night were a straw in the wind that the restaurant's busy season was fading. Read more ➺
Meaning: To stand your ground and refuse to back down.
Example: The small town bid defiance to the new tax and simply refused to collect it. Read more ➺
Meaning: The thing that makes a person or place feel worth existing
Example: Helping kids learn to read became Sarah's raison d'etre, the one part of the day that never felt like work. Read more ➺
