· keep ones fingers crossed祈求成功

The leader was guilty of a serious dereliction of duty. Hekepthis fingers crossed that he could escape severe punishment.

· let something slip through ones fingers眼睁睁地看着……跑掉

The lawyer studied the case very carefully. He wouldntletsomething slip through his fingers.

· build a fire under someone紧催促某人……

That guy is a slowpoke. I wish there were some way to build afireunder him.

put a fire under someone其主语一般是物，而不是人。

· have other fish to fry有其他要紧事要做

Come on out! Forget about the exam, Youre got other fishtofry.

· a flash in the pan昙花一现

He used to be called a young entrepreneur. But soon hewasforgotten by the public. He was a flash in the pan.

· a fly in the ointment美中不足

Mobile phone are quite popular nowadays, but they ring at anytimein the public areas. It is a fly in the ointment.

· be nobodys fool不傻，精明

You can not easily take him in. It is obvious that he isnobodysfool.

· get off on the center foot开门红

Everything will go smoothly if we get off on the center foot.

· put ones foot down气愤的表示反对

The boy wanted to quit school, but his father put hisfootdown.

· play footsy with…与……调情

Jack was s

o in love with Mary that he couldnt helpplayingfootsies with her while having dinner.

· marry a fortune嫁给了有钱人

Scariet was in trouble, She wanted to marry a fortune and savethewhole family.

· as sly as a fox非常狡猾

Though the suspect was as sly as fox, he had to admit his crimeinfront of solid evidence.

· a dime a dozen数不清，很多

Pagers were rare ten years ago. Now they are a dime a dozen.

· make free with…擅自使用……

Do you think Im a millionaire? Dont make free withmythings.

· a freeloader白吃白喝，爱占便宜的人

In America, even if you live with your relative, you cant beafreeloader.

· a fair-weather friend不能同患难的朋友

I have searched my conscience, and believe I have nevermistreatedyou. But you turned out to be a fair-weather friend.

· get stage fcenter怯场，紧张

The student got stage fcenter when he stepped into exam room.

· add fuel to the flames火上浇油

The boy refused to make an apology to his father, which addedfuelto the flames.

· have a barrel of fun极开心

Children had a barrel of fun in the masquerade.

· make fun of someone取笑某人

It is not center to make fun of the disabled.

· play to the gallery哗众取宠，收买人心

Hes so good at playing to the gallery, especially in frontofgirls.

· gang up on someone结伙对付某人

The local ruffians ganged up on the policemen.

· be in high gear全力进行，快速进行

Construction on the subway is in high gear.

· get away with…逃脱惩罚

Law offenders cant get away with their offence.

· have the gimmies患伸手病（来自小孩子give me的说法，后来就说成gimmies）

Dont you know you have grown up? How shameful of you7 to havethegimmes.

· give as good as one gets不服输，不示弱

He is a small boy, but he gives as good as he gets inchessmatch.

· fit like a glove恰倒好处，非常适合

A: How do you like the frame? B: It fits like a glove. Itwellmatches with the room decoration.

· handle…with kid gloves小心，谨慎对待……

The antique is very precious. Youd better handle it withkidgloves.

· get someones goat使人恼怒，惹人生气

The way he boasted that he was an authority got my goat.

· for good永远地

I hope war will disappear for good in the world.

· be too good to be true好的令人难以置信

Yesterday Joe received a letter saying that the company decidestooffer her a job with a salary which was too good to be true.

· have the goods on someone有某人犯罪的证据

Fred was sure that he would win the case. He had the goods ontheculprit.

· goof off偷懒耍滑

Williams has been goofing off at school and his report cardshowsit.

· through the grapevine道听途说，小道消息

I hear through the grapevine that Jim has been dismissed fromhispost.

· The grass is always greener on the other hill这山望着那山高

He wrote to his brother, persuading him to keep his mind onhiswork and not to think the grass is always greener on theotherhill.

· use elbow grease费很大的劲头

How long havent you cleaned your kitchen? Itll use elbowgreaseto get it shine again.

elbow-grease常指“费劲儿的体力活儿”

You have to use a bit of elbow-grease to clean all windows.

· get the green light得到批准

Were got the green light from our dean that we can havesomechanges on teaching curriculum.

give the green light给予批准，准许某人干……

The employees can have a day off. The director has given themthegreen light.

· grin and bear it一笑忍之，相当于汉语的“逆来顺受”

You have had enough insults from your boss. How can you grinandbear it?

· catch someone off guard乘虚而入

Within three days, the run-away was exhausted. He fell asleep inabasement. The police caught him off guard.

· hate somebodys guts恨之入骨

He dismissed my for no reason at all. I hate his guts.

· kick the habit戒除恶习

You are doomed to be broke one day if you dont kick thedrughabit.

· get in somebodys hair苦恼某人

Every day, salesmen come to my door. I cant concentrateonstudied. They do get in my hair.

· let ones hair down无拘无束

Our supervisor is a stone-faced young lady. In front of her,youcant let your hair down and do what you desire.

· without turning a hair保持冷静的态度，不动声色

The president talked about the international situationwithoutturning a hair.

· a half-wit弱智者

Do you think it is a good idea to send a half-wit to anormalschool?

· bite the hand that feeds one恩将仇报

Sorry, I can tell you nothing about my master. Otherwise, Iwillbe biting the hand that feeds me.

· gain the upper hand占上风

In strength, their team gain the upper hand; but in skill, wecanhave a chip on our shoulder.

· have someone eating out of ones hand使人完全服从某人的摆布

Money can let him eating out of your hand.

· live from hand to mouth勉强糊口

With three children to support, the window had to live fromhandto mouth.

· overplay ones hand做的过火了，做得过头了

We may have overplayed our hand by urging him to give us anearlyreply.

· tip ones hand无意中亮底

Our rival was drunk. He tipped his hand by murmuring thathiscompany will cut down the price of its products.

· try ones hand at…试着干……

Michael Jordan is a great basketball player, and he has evertriedhis hand at baseball.

· fly off the handle大发雷霆

Its no use flying off the handle. You can reason with us.

· play into someones hand正中某人下怀

Think it over. If we reduce the price, Im sure were playingintohis hand.

· wash ones hands off something洗手不干某事

Mr. Butcher, with a long family history of gambling, decidedtowash his hand off gambling.

· get the hang of something掌握某事的窍门

Ive got the hang of the new computer system pretty soon.

· go haywire乱了套

The computer opposes me. Everything goes haywire when Iuseit.

· bury ones head in the sand逃避现实

The environmental pollution is getting worse and worse. Wecantbury our head in the sand, or the nature will punish us.

· make neither head nor tail of…对……摸不着头脑

Tim scribbled a note to me during the lecture. But I couldntmakehead or tail of it.

· have ones head in the clouds满脑子幻想

I know you have been dreaming of becoming a professor. Butyoushouldnt have you head in the clouds all the time. Settle downanddo something.

· turn ones head使某人满意

Sara is a successful woman, but she never allows herachievementsto turn her head.