1. To act out something (or act something out) is to perform the actions, gestures and speech of something (e.g. a play or a story). Examples of use: a) In my drama class today we acted out scenes from The Lord of the Rings b) Every Christmas the school children act out the story of [...]
1. To tamper with something is to touch or change something without permission. Examples of use: a) The lock on my drawer has been tampered with and some of my files have gone. b) He went to prison for tampering with the brakes of his neighbour's car. c) The cricket player was accused of tampering [...]
To build up to something is to gradually prepare yourself, or someone else, for a particular occasion or event. Examples of use: 1. The shops are building up to Christmas with festive decorations and music. 2. I built up to running in the London Marathon by running short distances every day. 3. He's been [...]
To scrape into (or scrape in) is to be accepted somewhere, or to achieve a position, but with a lot of difficulty or by a very small number of points or votes. Examples of use: 1. The marathon runner beat his rival by one second, and scraped into first place. 2. Her exam results [...]
To make it up to somebody is to do something good for someone you have upset or done something bad to, or for someone who has done something good for you. Examples of use: 1. I'm really sorry I broke your vase. I'll make it up to you, I promise. 2. I've been working [...]
1. Add up to (something) is to become a particular amount or figure: when separate amounts add up to a total amount, they become that total. Examples of use: a) My food shopping bill added up to £120 this week! b) Your business expenses for 2010 add up to £14,528. b) Your purchases add [...]
To worm something out of somebody is to get information from someone which they are trying to keep secret. Informal English. Examples of use: 1. He didn't want to tell his mother where his new trainers were, but she wormed it out of him. 2. The police managed to worm a confession out of him. [...]
