put the screws to (someone) Thành ngữ, tục ngữ

bug (someone)

bother, irritate, get to me That scraping noise bugs me. It's quite annoying.

catch (someone) red-handed

catch someone in the middle of doing something wrong The woman was caught red-handed at the store trying to steal some cosmetics.

cost (someone) an arm and a leg

" cost a lot; be very expensive."

cut (someone) off

stop someone from saying something We tried to outline our proposal but we were constantly cut off by our noisy opponents.

down on (someone)

be critical of someone, angry at She is really down on her friend but I don

draw (someone) out

make a person talk or tell something She was very quiet but we finally were able to draw her out so that she would join the party.

drop (someone) a line

write or mail a note or letter to someone She promised that she would drop me a line when she gets to Singapore.

egg (someone) on

urge or push someone to do something He is always egging his friend on when he is angry which makes him even angrier.

fill (someone) in

tell someone the details I will fill you in later about our plans for the weekend.

get hold of (someone)

find a person so you can speak with him or her I tried to get hold of him last week but he was out of town.

get (someone) down

make (someone) unhappy, cause discouragement The long commuting time has begun to get her down so she wants to quit her job.

get the better of (someone)

win against, beat, defeat He got the better of me and won the tennis match.

give (someone) a hard time

make trouble for someone, tease She was giving her boyfriend a hard time about his new haircut.

go out with (someone)

date or be dating someone She went out with him for two years before they got married.

go (someone) one better

do something better than someone else, do more or be better than someone I decided to go him one better and buy a bigger present for my girlfriend.

going for (someone)

in one

hand it to (someone)

give credit or praise to someone You have to hand it to him - he worked hard and was very successful with his business.

keep (someone) up

prevent someone from going to bed They kept me up last night with their noisy radio.

lay off (someone)

get rid of workers when business is bad Six hundred workers at the automobile factory were recently laid off.

leave (someone) holding the bag

leave someone else to take the blame He left me holding the bag when he ran away from the accident.

let (someone) have it

hit someone hard He really let the other man have it when they got into a fight on the bus.

let (someone) know

tell, inform Let me know when you are ready to go to the movie.

let (someone) off the hook

excuse someone from a penalty or promise He let me off the hook and I didn

look (someone) up

seek and find When I was in New York I looked up my friend from university.

play hardball with (someone)

act strong and agressive about an issue with someone The union representatives have been playing hardball during the contract talks.

play (someone) for something

treat someone as something, act toward someone as something He was trying to play me for a fool but I could easily see what he was trying to do.

push (someone) around

make someone do what you want He is always pushing around his salesmen and saleswomen.

put (someone) out

inconvenience, bother, She shouldn

run into (someone)

meet by chance I ran into him when I was at the supermarket.

run off with (someone)

go away with someone, elope My sister ran off with her boyfriend and got married when she was quite young.

run (someone) in

take to jail, arrest The police ran the three boys in for questioning about the robbery.

set (someone) up

put someone in a position to be manipulated I don

stand (someone) in good stead

be a great advantage to someone It will stand you in good stead with the company if you do the extra work.

stand (someone) up

fail to keep an appointment or date with your boyfriend or girlfriend He stood her up on a date last Saturday and now she won

stick (someone) with

leave someone with something unpleasant I was stuck with paying the bill when I went to the restaurant with my friends.

take (someone) under one

protect someone He has taken the new employee under his wing and is teaching him about the company.

tell (someone) off

speak to angrily He told his neighbor off after their music was too loud last night.

tide (someone) over

help someone through a difficult situation I lent him some money to tide him over until he gets paid.

tip (someone) off

warn, inform The police were tipped off that there was going to be a robbery at the bank.

turn (someone) off

disgust, irritate, repel someone Her constant complaining always turns me off.

turn (someone) on

excite a person, become interested in an idea, person or undertaking She was turned on by the idea of going to Spain for the summer.

catch (someone) dead|catch dead|catch someone dead

v. phr., informal To see or hear (someone) in an embarrassing act or place at any time. Used in the negative usually in the passive. You won't catch Bill dead taking his sister to the movies. John wouldn't be caught dead in the necktie he got for Christmas.