IDIOMS AND PHRASES for IELTS – Part 11

Come Rain and Shine: Do regularly, whatever the circumstances.

Sentence – Every morning at about 5am, come rain or shine, James Zarei leaves his South Croydon home on his morning run.

Come to Grips With: To acknowledge a problem as a prelude to dealing with it.

Sentence – I should have the report ready for you by this afternoon, I just need to come to grips with this new software update first.

Come to Terms With (Something): Feel acceptance toward something bad that has happened.

Sentence – I should have the report ready for you by this afternoon, I just need to come to terms with this new software update first.

Coming Down the Pike: Likely to occur in the near future.

Sentence – You should take this job offer—who knows when another will come down the pike?

Cook Someone’s Goose: To insure someone’s defeat, to frustrate someone’s plans.

Sentence – News of my involvement in this scandal will cook my goose for sure.

Cook Up a Storm: Cook a great deal of food.

Sentence – You can always tell when Logan is stressed because he starts cooking up a storm. But I am more than happy to taste-test everything he makes!

Cool as A Cucumber: Calm and composed even in difficult or frustrating situations; self-possessed.

Sentence – You can hardly be held responsible for Darrow waltzing in, cool as a cucumber, and demanding thousands of pounds.

Cool Cat: Someone who has the respect of their peers in a young, casual way.

Sentence – Their guitar player is one cool cat.

Cool Your Heels: Wait.

Sentence – We were excited, but we had to cool our heels when the release date for the new game got pushed back.

Couch Potato: A lazy person who watches a great deal of television.

Sentence – Lisa wants to date a man who loves to travel and explore, not a couch potato who watches television all the time.

Crash a Party: To attend a party without being invited.

Sentence – Come on, let’s go crash the neighbors’ party—I’m sure they won’t mind us showing up.

Cross to Bear: A problem one must deal with over a long time, a heavy burden.

Sentence – When Nancy’s husband passed away, she was left with quite a cross to bear having to raise four children on her own.

Crunch Time: A period of high pressure when one has to work hard to finish something.

Sentence – Okay, we’ve got two minutes to tie the game—it’s crunch time, guys!

Crunch the Numbers: Do calculations before making a decision or prediction.

Sentence – We’ve been crunching the numbers for hours, and I just don’t see how we’ll be able to afford another child!

Cry Over Spilt (USA: Spilled): Milk To waste energy moaning about something that has already happened.

Sentence – Don’t cry over spilt milk. Unless you can cry milk.

Cry Wolf (verb): To issue a false alarm, to ask for help when none is needed.

Sentence – The growers who are crying wolf today about the lack of water will post their annual profits in a few months.

Cry Your Eyes Out: Cry hard for a very long time.

Sentence – I can’t watch those sappy movies because I just cry my eyes out every time.

Cut (Someone) To the Quick: To deeply hurt someone emotionally.

Sentence – Be careful—one slip of that knife and you’ll cut yourself to the quick.

Curiosity Killed The Cat: Stop asking questions, don’t be too curious.

Sentence – I know curiosity killed the cat, but I can’t stop the investigation until I know where the donations are really going.