Work Up Idiom American Expressions and American Idioms

This database is a comprehensive collection of all the American idioms and slang available. American Idioms are many and varied. We hope you enjoy our collection. We are adding more all the time. .

work up What does work up mean?	stir up, excite	He really likes to work up a sweat when he does his exercises.
	Some Random Idioms
let (something) slip by What does "let (something) slip by" mean?	forget or miss an important time or date	We let my parent's wedding anniversary slip by without doing anything at all.

Well-oiled machine What does "Well-oiled machine" mean?	Something that functions very well is a well-oiled machine.
ferret (information or something) out of (someone) What does "ferret (information or something) out of (someone)" mean?	to get something from someone by being persistant	I tried hard to ferret out the time of the party from my friend.
on (someone's) shoulders What does "on (someone's) shoulders" mean?	someone's responsibility	I do not want to have the failure of the project on my shoulders.
bum (someone) out What does "bum (someone) out" mean?	discourage or depress someone

clear the air What does "clear the air" mean?	to calm down and remove bad feelings	We had a big argument but now it is time to clear the air.
burn (someone) in effigy What does "burn (someone) in effigy" mean?	to burn a dummy that represents a hated person	The crowd of people burned the Prime Minister in effigy.
at this stage of the game What does "at this stage of the game" mean?	at some point, at some time during an activity	at some point, at some time during an activityAt this stage of the game I don't think that we should spend more money on the project.
tighten one`s belt What does "tighten one`s belt" mean?	to live on less money than usual	If we want to go on a holiday to Europe this year we will have to tighten our belts and begin to save some money.

American Idioms and Expressions

Work Up Idiom