British English

make ends meet

make ends meet [idiom]

To earn money which is only enough to cover your expenses

make ends meet - دخل و خرج را جور کردن
Example: 

Sara gets a descent salary, bust she has to be careful about extra expenses to make both ends meet.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

make ends meet

to have only just enough money to buy the things you need When Mike lost his job, we could barely make ends meet.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

make (both) ends meet

make (both) ends ˈmeet idiom
to earn just enough money to be able to buy the things you need

Many families struggle to make ends meet.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

make ends meet

C1 ( Indian English make both ends meet ) to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

to make ends meet

phrase

If you find it difficult to make ends meet, you can only just manage financially because you hardly have enough money for the things you need.

With Betty's salary they barely made ends meet.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 

make ends meet : to pay for the things that you need to live when you have little money
• We had a hard time making ends meet.

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours [idiom]

Help someone back who has helped you

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours - لطف کسی را جبران کردن
Example: 

Ali: Sue, would you please give me a hand with my math homework? Sue: Sure, I’ll do it if you promise to help me with the housework later. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yoursspoken used to say that you will help someone if they agree to help you

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours

informal

used to tell someone that if they help you, you will help them

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

phrase

People say 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' to mean that one person helps another on condition that the second person helps them in return.

[informal]

string someone along

string someone along [idiom]

To deliberately deceive someone about your plans or intentions over a period of time; to make someone believe something while you know for a fact that you are misleading them and giving them false hopes about that thing

string someone along - کسی را به بازی گرفتن

فریب دادن کسی، کسی را به بازی گرفتن، سر کار گذاشتن

Example: 

Can’t you see he has strung you around? There is no pay raise or promotion and he only wants you to do all his duties to go on holiday freely.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

string along phrasal verb informal1 string somebody along to deceive someone for a long time by making them believe that you will help them, that you love them etc He’s just stringing you along.2 British English to go somewhere with someone for a short time, especially because you do not have anything else to dowith If you’re going into town, I’ll string along with you.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

string sb along — phrasal verb with string / strɪŋ / verb [ T ] ( strung , strung )

to deceive someone for a long time about what you are really intending to do:

She's been promising to pay back the money for six months, but I reckon she's just stringing me along.

He strung her along for years, saying he'd marry her and divorce his wife.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

string along

phrasal verb

If you string someone along, you deceive them by letting them believe you have the same desires, beliefs, or hopes as them.

[informal]

The longer you string him along, the more hurt he will be when you dump him. [VERB noun PARTICLE]

talk through one's hat

talk through one's hat [idiom]

say foolish things; make stupid comments

talk through one's hat - مزخرف گفتن
Example: 

He was speaking nonsense about world economy. He knew nothing about it. He only talked through his hat.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

29 be talking through your hat British English informal if someone is talking through their hat, they say stupid things about something that they do not understand

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

talk through your hat

uk informal

to talk about something without understanding what you are talking about:

Nothing of what he said made sense - he was talking through his hat.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

talk through one's hat in British

a. 

to talk foolishly

b. 

to deceive or bluff

mind your P's and Q's

mind your P's and Q's [idiom]

Try to be as polite as you can; mind your behavior and try to be polite.

mind your P's and Q's - مواظب حرف زدن خود بودن
Example: 

Susie, mind you P’s and Q’s when Aunt Martha is here and be a little good sweet girl. She likes polite girls.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

mind your p's and q's old-fashioned

to make an effort to be especially polite in a particular situation:

I have to mind my p's and q's when I'm with my grandmother.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 

mind your p's and q's also US watch your p's and q's : to be careful about behaving in a polite or proper way
• We knew to mind our p's and q's around our aunt.

on ice

on ice [idiom]

To delay or postpone something

on ice - روی هواست

به حالت تعلیق درآمده ، روی هواست

Example: 

The oil projects are on ice and can’t be run at the moment. We have to wait for the sanctions to be terminated.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

on ice

on ˈice idiom
1. (of wine, etc.) kept cold by being surrounded by ice

All the food is laid out and the champagne is on ice.

2. (of a plan, etc.) not being dealt with now; waiting to be dealt with at a later time

We've had to put our plans on ice for the time being.

3. (of entertainment, etc.) performed by skaters on an ice rink

Cinderella on ice

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

be on ice

If a plan is on ice, a decision has been made to delay it for a period of time:

Both projects are on ice until the question of funding is resolved.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

turn someone off

turn someone off [idiom]

To displease someone; make someone detest something greatly (can have sexual or physical implications)

Example: 

Martha really turned me off when she ate salad with her unwashed hands. It was really disgusting the way she picked cucumbers with her fingernails!

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

urn-off 4 turn somebody ↔ off to make someone decide they do not like something :

Any prospective buyer will be turned off by the sight of rotting wood.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

turn sb off informal — phrasal verb with turn / tɜːn /   / tɝːn / verb

to stop someone feeling interested or excited, especially sexually:

I should think the smell of her breath would turn any man off.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

To get up on the wrong side of the bed

To get up on the wrong side of the bed [idiom]

To be in a bad mood and to be easily annoyed all day

Example: 

What's wrong with Ali? Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed??

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

get out of bed on the wrong side

get out of bed on the wrong side idiom

(BrE) (NAmE get up on the wrong side of the bed) to be bad-tempered for the whole day for no particular reason

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

get out of bed (on) the wrong side ( US get up on the wrong side of the bed )

to be in a bad mood and to be easily annoyed all day

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 

get up on the wrong side of the bed US or chiefly Brit get out of bed on the wrong side : to be in a bad mood throughout the day
• Be careful when you talk to the boss. He got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

give someone the slip

give someone the slip [idiom]

To escape or get away from someone

give someone the slip - جیم شدن
Example: 

Oh no, look over there, that's my old uncle. If we go for a greeting, we’ll be late. Let’s give him the slip! Let’s go that way.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Give somebody the slipinformal to escape from someone who is chasing you Somehow she’d given them the slip.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

slip / slɪp / noun (ESCAPE)

give sb the slip informal

to escape from someone who is following or chasing you

© Cambridge University Press 2013

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

give sb the slip

phrase

If you give someone the slip, you escape from them when they are following you or watchingyou.

[informal]

He gave reporters the slip by leaving at midnight.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary: 

give (someone) the slip

 idiom

Definition of give (someone) the slip

 

informal

to escape (someone) to get away from (someone)The robber gave the police the slip.

raise a stink

raise a stink [idiom]

To protest publicly and strongly

raise a stink - به صورت جمعی اعتراض کردن
Example: 

The new students to the college raised a stink about the poor quality of the food. They gathered in front of the headmaster’s office with some plaques saying “poor food, poor management".

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
 

create/kick up/raise a stink informal

to make a strong public complaint:

She created a stink about the lack of recycling facilities in the town.

© Cambridge University Press 2013

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