bombshell She dropped a bombshell when she announced she was going to leave.
a wake-up call Climate change, global warming and extreme weather were a wake-up call for humanity.
damp squib The Michelin 3-Star restaurant was a damp squib, I’d rather cook for myself at home.
cause a disturbance She caused a disturbance when she asked the bus driver to stop the bus.
morning sickness She is pregant and has morning sickness.
brand The royal family has their own brand.
in line She is in line to the throne. She is in line for the leadership position. She is in line for the position of leader.
sick as a parrot She felt sick as a parrot when she failed.
sick to death of sth She was sick to death of studying. I’m sick to death of noise outside.
sick as a dog She was sick as a dog and had a high fever.
to weather the storm She endured the difficulties to weather the storm.
pounds The rain pounded the roof all night.
darkness She went through several days of darkness after losing her job.
in sth’s wake/in the wake of sth In the hurricane’s wake, many trees were uprooted. In the wake of volcano eruption, many people lost their lives.
would-be She, a would-be scientist, was charged with theft, and lost her job opportunity.
war against It’s a war against climate change for all governments.
giants Woolworths is a supermarket giant in NZ.
wannable She’s a wannable physicist, but she knows nothing about physics.
take up I take up yoga to stay fit.
enjoy She enjoys her good grades in school and is a would-be professor.
spell trouble The economic crisis spells trouble for NZ.
bleed I haven’t worked for 2 months, and living costs, especially rent, are bleeding me dry in Auckland.
someone is green She is green at teaching.
map out She mapped out everything about her future life.
goes it alone Her business is successful enough, so she will go it alone.
step back from the brink The effects of climate change are becoming more dangerous, the government needs to step back from the brink.
to put sth on the map She worked hard to challenge public bodies on climate issues to put herself on the map.
take action on The government takes action on food wasting.
lays bare She laid bare about her husband’s scandal.
glaring It’s a glaring error that we can’t ignore.
bare your soul/heart She bared her soul/heart to her best friend.
sparking She was sparking controversy exposing everything.
ripple There was a ripple of laughter when she tossed a small stone into the water.
comb through The police combed through the entire area to find the criminals.
cataclysmic There was once a cataclysmic earthquake in her town.
curb The government has implemented various strategies to curb air pollution.
template The laboratory has a lot of templates for chemistry students to use in their experiments.
exempt Libraries exempt service animals from pet restrictions in public areas.
on the qui vive The police are on the qui vive for any criminals in society.
not the full quid He’s a nice guy but sometimes he acts like he’s not the full quid.
take a toll Her lack of sleep is taking its toll.
swelter It is sweltering bcos of global warming.
flee She fled after she stole bargins in a shop.
toll bike I’ve never tried bike-sharing with a toll bcos there’s no toll for bike lanes, so I just ride my own bike everywhere.
low-key I’m getting older so I prefer a low-key birthday celebration.
lessons I’ve learnt my lesson: never trust or rely on others. I’ll teach you a lesson if you don’t do that.
the promise of I keep my promise to my friend about her secrets. The promise of better education gives ppl hope for the future.
get into power The government gets into power when they control enough oil and gas. A new political party got into power after the election.
shutter Alas, she sold out everything to shutter her business. Her restaurant was also shuttered.
deck There are an upper deck and a lower deck of a bus.
a tad I am a tad tired after working.
a soft opening The restaurant is having a soft opening this Friday.
bring/get them up to speed The government got them up to speed to ensure successful research.
school record not low Needless to say, her school record is not low, she works hard everyday.
a new record-low The country’s tourism income has hit a new record-low.
hiring pool I wonder how many ppl are in the hiring pool.
gross negligence The official’s gross negligence led to his dismissal.
pay-off He finally got a big pay-off after years of hard work when they led him leave.
state and federal The company must comply with state and federal regulations on environmental protection.
a must-see in-and-of-itself The museum is a must-see in and of itself, even if you’re not into history.
round-trip I took a round-trip(round trip) to Hongkong. I bought both a round-trip ticket and a one-way ticket.
a pit stop Before reaching the next landmark, we need to make a pit stop at the square.
extra work It takes extra work to climb to the top.
to be precise To be precise, the match ended in a nil-nil draw.
grant access The manager will grant you access to the files once you complete the training.
scathing It is scathing that we can’t do that. The review was scathing, criticizing every aspect of the movie, from the acting to the plot.
go ballistic She went ballistic when she found out her husband was smoking.
go begging After the party, everything went begging.
ultimatum She gave the children an ultimatum, if they didn’t tidy up, there wouldn’t be any crackers.
ebbing away The economic crisis is ebbing sway, businesses are starting to recover.
buy it She said she supports herself financially, I don’t buy it.
abdicate She abdicated the throne bcos of her little sister.
smitten She was smitten with someone not worth that.
dysfunctional Her family is dysfunctional so they don’t talk much.
as thick as thieves They are as thick as thieves and always talk to each other.
armageddon The town has suffered an armageddon caused by a tsunami.
pact She made a pact with the children to tidy up before mat time.
rampant Wildfires are rampant in California. I struggled to contain my rampant eating impulses.
flock A flock of sheeps grazed on the field, and a herd of cows stood in the pasture. Ppl flocked to see the scene.
offset What I gain offsets what I lose.
undercut She argued with her mom, trying to undercut her authority.
embroiled She was embroiled in a dispute/controversy bcos she caused redundancy.
exposé The exposé on police misconduct turned into a major scandal.
bombshell It was a bombshell when the news broke that she was terminally ill.
brick She has a brick, a real friend in need.
break the bank Buying a car nearly broke the bank.
associate professor She’s a former associate professor at the college, but not a full professor yet.
pay off She finally paid off her student loan. Her father has been accused of paying off/bribing officials. Her business finally paid off after years of hard work.
reusable She keeps reusable stuff to save money.
launch Musk has launched several rockets so far.
milestone She has reached several milestones in her life.
take on She took on job responsibilities with dedication.
launch She launched an initiative to combat government corruption.
harrassment There are different types of harrassment, sexual harrassment, racial harrassment, workplace harrassment and street harrassment.
unveil She was unveiled by her husband at the wedding.
scenic drive She took a scenic drive during her vacation.
regulatory scope She read about the regulatory scope of traffic laws.
be at odds with She is at odds with the incel community over their opinions.
shortsignted view, far-sighted view Instead of a shortsighted view, she has a far-sighted perspective.
call on/upon She called on the government to address issues faced by involuntary celibates.
see to She saw to the surordinate’s work on water quality and flood control.
get sth right She found problems and got the scheme right.
in field after field She pursued knowledge in field after field.
invaluable She has many invaluable pieces of furniture.
foolproof She has a foolproof idea.
break ice They played a game to break the ice.
dividend She got a dividend from the company.
pub She’s a regular at the local pub.
subdued She is subdued today bcos her dad passed away yestarday.
sparse Since the nuclear plant leak, this area is sparsely populated.
pin their hope on She pinned her hopes on the job to earn enough money to make a living.
motorcade The president’s motorcade traveled through the city.
foil She foiled the child’s screaming.
escalating She escalated the city’s financial business income.
shy away from She shied away from social parties.
set up She set up her project/business in 2020.
a pay bump She got a pay bump when she landed a full-time job.
crash She crashed a stranger’s party.
grab She aimed high and tried to grab eveything.
movement Social movements are historical events.
pardon She was pardoned for committing an offense/crime.
caricature The government became a caricature of itself. So the masses are not really exgratted.
sanitise She sanitised her experience when she told others.
few and far between Such events are few and far between.
fever pitch Her excitement ab playing the piano reached fever pitch.
rack up She racked up a high score in piano practice in a short time.
care to do She cared to join the zumba class today.
buzz around She buzzed around looking for sth fun to do.
video sharing site She shared several popular video sharing sites with everyone.
reflex-testing This game is great for testing reflex.
to date That is the best thing I have seen to date.
fluid-feeling I had a fluid-feeling when playing this game.
