901

thrill (someone) to pieces/death

- to please or excite someone very much
The music that they played at the wedding thrilled me to pieces.

through and through

- completely
I was wet through and through after walking in the heavy rain.

through hell and high water

- through all sorts of severe difficulties
I went through hell and high water to complete the report on time.

through the grapevine

- from other people
I heard it through the grapevine that my boss was going to move to Paris next
summer.

through the mill

- to experience a difficult situation
The man has been through the mill recently with his divorce and loss of job.

through thick and thin

- through all difficulties and troubles, through good times and bad times
The woman's husband is always ready to help her and supports her through thick and
thin.







902

throw Idioms


throw a fit

- to become very angry
The boy's mother threw a fit when she heard about his problems at school.

throw a monkey wrench into the works

- to cause something that is going smoothly to stop
My friend threw a monkey wrench into our plans to go to the lake for the summer.

throw a party for (someone)

- to give or hold a party for someone
We plan to throw a party for our boss next week.


throw away a chance or opportunity

- to fail to make use of a chance or opportunity
My cousin threw away a chance to get a good education when he began to work when
he was very young.

throw away (something)

- to discard something, to dispose of something
I plan to throw away my old jacket tomorrow.

throw caution to the wind

- to become very careless
I plan to throw caution to the wind and tell my boss of my complaints about the
company.


903

throw cold water on (something)

- to discourage/forbid something
My boss quickly threw cold water on my plan to go to New York City on a business
trip.

throw down the gauntlet

- to challenge someone to a fight or to do something
The government threw down the gauntlet to the opposition party and told them to stop

criticizing the government`s plans or quickly suggest an alternative.

throw good money after bad

- to waste additional money after wasting money before on the same thing
We were throwing good money after bad when we continued to pay money to repair
our old car.

throw in one`s lot with (someone or something)

- to take part in something, to join someone or something
We decided to throw in our lot with the workers who were on strike.

throw in (something)

- to give or put something in as an addition
When we bought our car the dealer threw in some new tires as a bonus.

throw in the towel

- to surrender, to give up
The boxer threw in the towel about halfway through the match.






904


throw off an illness

- to recover from a sickness
I was able to throw off my cold and I quickly recovered.

throw off (someone)

- to mislead/confuse/fool someone
The criminals threw off the police and ran into the subway.

throw one's hands up in despair

- to raise one's hands making a sign of giving up, to give up
I threw my hands up in despair and said that I could no longer continue to work on the
project.

throw one's hands up in horror

- to be shocked, to raise one's hands in horror
The woman threw her hands up in horror when she saw the results of the accident.

throw one's voice

- to project one's voice so that it seems to be coming from some other place
The man learned how to throw his voice when he was a teenager.

throw one`s weight around

- to use one`s influence in an aggressive way
Our boss has been throwing his weight around ever since he got his promotion.


throw oneself at (someone)

- to give oneself willingly to someone else for romance
The woman in the movie threw herself at the hero of the story.


905

throw oneself at (someone's) feet

- to behave in a very humble and contrite manner
I was forced to throw myself at the manager's feet and apologize for the mistake that I
had made.

throw oneself at/on the mercy of the court

- to plead for mercy from a judge in a courtroom
The man who robbed the bank decided to throw himself at the mercy of the court.

throw out (someone)

- to force someone to leave, to dismiss someone
The umpire threw out the coach for arguing with him.

throw some light on (something)

- to reveal something about something
The investigation did not throw any light on the problem with food safety.


throw (someone)

- to confuse someone slightly
It threw me when I saw the different salesman.

throw (someone) a curve

- to confuse someone by doing something unexpected, to pitch a curve ball to
someone in baseball
The lawyer threw the witness a curve with his very complex questions.







906

throw (someone) for a loop

- to confuse or shock someone
The complaints from my colleague at work threw me for a loop.

throw (someone) for a loss

- to cause someone to be uncertain or confused
The question threw me for a loss and there was no way that I could reply.

throw (someone) off (someone's) trail


- to cause someone to lose the trail (when following someone or something)
The criminals were able to throw the police off their trail and they could escape
easily.

throw (someone's) name around

- to impress people by saying that you know a famous or influential person
The salesman often throws the names of important people around.

throw (someone) to the wolves

- to send someone into danger without protection
The coach threw the boy to the wolves when he joined the team of older players.

throw (something) into the bargain

- to include something in a deal
The owner of the store threw some DVD'S into the bargain when I purchased a DVD
player.







907

throw (something) together


- to make something in a hurry and without care
We did not have much time last night so we threw together a quick meal and went to
the football game.

throw the baby out with the bathwater

- to reject all of something including the good because part of it is bad
When they discarded all of the computers because one was broken it was like
throwing the baby out with the bathwater. They only needed one new computer.

throw the book at (someone)

- to punish someone severely for breaking a rule or the law
The judge threw the book at the man after he was convicted of robbing a bank.

throw together (people)

- to group people together by chance
We were thrown together with a variety of people when the storm forced the train to
stop for a day.

throw up

- to vomit
The man threw up two times after he got food poisoning from the seafood.

throw up one`s hands (in defeat)

- to give up trying, to admit that one cannot succeed

He threw up his hands and decided to let the students go home early.






908

.



thrust and parry

- to compete actively with someone, to enter into verbal combat with someone (this
idiom comes from the sport of fencing)
The debate was a form of thrust and parry and continued for a long time.

thumb a lift/ride

- to hitchhike
Our car had a flat tire so we thumbed a lift to the nearest gas station.

thumb one`s nose at (someone or something)

- to look with disfavor or dislike at someone or something
The star player thumbed his nose at the fans when they began to yell at him.

thumb through (something)


- to look through a book/magazine/newspaper without reading it carefully
I thumbed through several magazines while I was waiting for the dentist.

thumbnail sketch

- a short description of someone or something
The new book included a thumbnail sketch of the author.

thumbs down on (someone or something)

- to be opposed to someone or something
My boss told me to vote thumbs down on the policy that was presented at the
meeting.


909

thumbs up on (someone or something)

- to be in favor of someone or something
Everybody cheered when it was announced that we had voted thumbs up for a new
holiday in the winter.

tickled pink

- to be very happy
The man was tickled pink to receive a prize for growing the best flowers.

tickle (someone's) fancy


- to interest someone, to make someone curious
Going to the restaurant did not tickle my fancy so I decided to stay home.

tide (someone) over

- to help someone through a difficult situation, to last until someone can get more of
something
I gave my friend some money to tide him over until he gets paid.


tie Idioms


tie down (someone or something)

- to keep someone or something from going somewhere or doing something, to have
family or job responsibilities which keep you busy
The project tied my father down for over three months.
My friend is tied down now that he has a family.






910

tie in (something) with (something)


- to connect something with something else
The merchandise was tied in with the movie and had very good sales.

tie (someone) up in knots

- to make someone very nervous or worried
My colleague was tied up in knots before the speech at the convention.

tie (someone's) hands

- to prevent someone from doing something
The court system ties the police department's hands when they try and enforce some
laws.

tie the knot

- to get married
The couple decided to tie the knot after dating each other for three years.

tie up (a boat)

- to dock a boat/ship
We tied up our boat at the pier when the storm came.

tie up (someone)

- to take all the time of someone
The meeting tied up the manager so she was unable to answer the phone.

tie up (something)


- to limit or prevent the use of something
All of my uncle's money is tied up in real estate investments.