Movement and transport

PHRASAL VERBS
cordon off : to stop people from entering an area by surrounding it with police, soldiers, etc.
- Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was made safe.
creep up on : to move slowly nearer to sb, usually from behind, without being seen or heard
- The cat quietly crept up on the pigeon.
fall behind : to fail to keep level with sb/st
- She soon fell behind the leaders.
go astray : to become lost; to be stolen
- Several letter went astray or were not delivered.
head off : to prevent sb from going somewhere by getting in front of them.
- We’ll head them off at the bridge.
hold back : to prevent sb/st from moving forwards or crossing st
- The police were unable to hold back the crowd.
move in : to start to live in your new house
- Our new neighbors moved in yesterday.
move on : to start doing or discussing st new
- I’ve been in this job long enough – it’s time I moved on.
move out : to leave your old home
move over : to change your position in order to make room for sb
- There is room for another one if you move over a bit.
pull over : to move to the side of the road in order to stop or let st pass
- She saw the ambulance coming up behind her and pulled over.
slip away : to leave secretly
- He slipped away while we were all sleeping.
step aside : to step sideways to make a space for sb else
- Step aside, please – this lady needs a doctor.
stop off : to visit sw before continuing to another place
- We stopped off at a hotel for the night.
tip up : (of an object) to fall or turn over; to make st do this
- The mug tipped over, spilling hot coffee everywhere.
walk out : to leave an event such as a meeting or performance because your are angry or disapprove of st
- All the parents walked out of the meeting in protest.
block off : to close a road, path, or entrance so that people cannot use it
- All the roads out of the town had been blocked off by the police.
close off : to put st across the entrance of a place to stop people from entering
- The entrance to the train station was closed off following the explosion.
fence off : to separate an area with a fence in order to stop people or animals from entreing it
- The hill had been fenced off to prevent animals from grazing on it.
rope off : to surround an area or place with ropes in order to keep people out
- The police roped off the scene of the crime.
seal off : to prevent people from entering an area or building, often because it is dangerous
- Two more bombs have been discovered since the police sealed off the area.
COLLOCATIONS
put your back into st : to use a lot of physical effort to try to do st
- You could dig this plot in an afternoon if you really put your back into it.
back on st : if a building backs on st, its back faces that thing
- The house backs onto a narrow alley.
back sb (to do) : to give support to sb or st with money or words
- Her parents backed her in her choice of career.
come to power : to gain some degree of political power, as though election or appointment (lên năm quyền)
- He is a brutal tyrant – that’s how he came to power.
come into view : to suddenly emerge or become visible
- I wasn’t sure what the bunny was running from, until a dog came into view.
drive sb crazy/mad/etc. : to make sb extremely annoyed
- My mother-in-law has been staying with us this past week and she is driving me crazy.
drive sb to do st : to force sb to do st
- In the end, it was his violent behavior that drove her to leave home.
drive at : what sb is driving at is the thing sb is really trying to say (có ý, nhắm tới)
- I still couldn’t understand what Toby was driving at.
drop a hint : to suggest st without saying it directly
- He dropped a few hints about some gifts he’d like to get.
fall into place : to happen in a satisfactory way, without problems.
- If you plan the project well, then everything should fall into place.
fall short (of) : to fail to reach a standard that was expected or hoped for, causing disappointment
- August car sales fell short of the industry’s expectations.
fall to pieces : to become unable to think clearly and control their emotions because of st unpleasant or
difficult that they have experienced; to become very emotional
- Poor Jane really went to pieces during the funeral service.
fly at sb/st : to attack another person or animal suddenly.
- He flew at his brother like a crazy person.
follow sb’s argument : to understand, grasp the meaning
- I couldn’t really follow his argument.
follow suit : to do the same thing that sb else has done
- In 2008, United States charging for bags and other airlines quickly followed suit.
follow sb’s lead : to act in a manner similar to sb else
- I know you’re nervous about having to lie to Mom, but just follow my lead and don’t start rabling.
follow sb’s advice : to act or do st in the way that sb else has indicated
- You should have no further problems as long as you follow the advice above.
get somewhere : to make progress in what you are doing
- After months of talks, negotiators think they’re finally getting somewhere.
go and do st : used to show that you are angry or annoyed that sb has done st stupid
- Why did you have to go and upset your mother like that?
jump the queue : to go to the front of a line of people without waiting for your turn
- A boy jumped the queue in front of me when I was waiting to buy a drink.
jump the gun : to do st too soon, esp. without thinking carefully about it, before the right time
- They’ve only just met – isn’t it jumping the gun to be talking about marriage already?
get a move on : to hurry
 - We need to get a move on if we are going to catch the train.
to the point : dealing only with the important subject or idea, and not including any unnecessary discussions
- Her comments on my work were very apt and to the point.
make a point of doing st : to always do st or to take particular care to do st; to be or make sure you do st
because it is important or necessary
- I made a point of closing all the windows before leaving the house.
make your point : to tell sb your opinion
- OK, you’ve made your point. Let someone alse say what they think now.
miss the point (of) : to not understand st correctly or what is important about it
= be at cross purposes, get the wrong impression
- What you say is true, but you’ve missed the point of my argument.
beside the point : not important
= irrelevant
- The exact cost is beside the point – what’s important is that we get the job done.
up to a point : partly, or to a limited degree
- The new traffic system wored up to a point, but it had its problems.
sore point : a subject that sb prefers no to talk about because it makes them angry or embarrassed
- Don’t ask him about the job research – it is a bit of a sore point.
raise a child/family : nuôi đứa con/ gia đình
raise sb’s hopes/expectations : to make sb hope or expect that st will be very good or successful.
- It would be unfair to raise your hopes at this early stage.
raise a smile : to react what sb has just said by smiling, or to take ab else react in this way
- She was too weak to even raise a smile.
raise your voice
(1) to make your opinion clearly known
- Voices were raised in protest at the proposed changes.
(2) to speak in a loud angry way
- We told him not to raise his voice to our children.
run a business/ campaign/etc. : điều hành kinh doanh/chiến dịch
run riot : to behave in a way that is not controlled, running in all directions or being noisy or violent
- I dread them coming here because they let their kids run riot.
run on petrol/ electricity/ etc. : chạy bằng xăng/điện/etc
run sb a bath : to fill a bath with water for washing
- I’ll run you’re a bath while you take off those wet clothes.
run through : to look, examine, or deal with a set of things, esp. quickly
- We ran through the list, but none of the machines seemed any good.
run the risk of doing st : to put yourself in a situation in which st bad could happen to you
- When doctors do not follow government guidelines, they run the risk of being sued.
run into trouble/difficulty/problems : to experience problems
- We began to run into problems when we first tried to set out our aim.
rush to conclusions : jump to conclusions
do st in a rush : to hurry to do st, esp. because you do not have much time
- I knew that I’d finished the paper in a rush, and that the final paragragh was poor.
mad rush/dash : a situation in which you are hurrying to do st because you do not have much time
 - It was a mad rush to get everything done in time.
steady yourself : to get your balance again so that you do not fall
- Ralph steadied himself on the arm if the chair.
steady your nerves : to stop yourself from feeling nervous
- She took a deep breath o steady her nerves.
steady relationship : a romantic relationship that continues for a long period of time
keep track (of) : to have all the information that you need about st
- We need a system to keep track of all our expenses.
on the right/wrong track : doing or thinking the right/wrong things
- If you suspect my son was involved, your are on the wrong track.
on track (to do) : making progress and likely to succeed
- We are right on track to create two million new jobs.
get in the way (of st) : to prevent sb from doing st, or prevent st from happening
- Your social media must not get in the way of your studies.
get st out of the way : to finish doing st, esp. st difficult or unpleasant
- I cannot wait to get all this housework out of the way.
make way (for) : to provide a space or an opportunity for st else
- Some beautiful old buildings were torn down to make the way for the new parking garage.
in the way : in a position that prevents st from happening or sb from moving
- It is a small street, and he parked right in the way.
(be) on the way to (doing) : to be close to doing st
- I am well on the way to completing the report.
have a way of doing st : to have a special habit, esp. an annoying one
- Ruth has a way of ignoring me that drives me mad.
IDIOMS
a stone’s throw : a very short distance
- The apartment is jus a stone’s throw from the sea.
as the crow flies : in a straight line between two points or places
- The villages are no more than a mile apart as the crow lines.
follow your nose
(1) to trust your own feelings rather than obeying rules or allowing yourself to be influenced by other people’s opinions
- Take a chance and follow your nose – your might be right!
(2) go in a straight line
- Turn left, then just follow your nose and you’ll see the shop on your left.
(in) the middle of nowhere : far away from any towns and cities and where few people live
- He lives in a tiny house in the middle of nowhere.
lose your bearings : to become confused about where you are and where other things are
- I lost my bearings and ended up at the entrance again.
make a beeline for sb/st : to go directly and quickly towards sb or st
- At parties he always makes a beeline for the prettiest woman in the room.
off the beaten track/path : not known or popular with many people
= obcure
- We wanted to find a camping site that was a little bit off the beaten track/path.
stop (dead) in your tracks : to suddenly stop moving or doing st
 - I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the scream.
take a shortcut to : follow a path this is quicker and shorter than the usual way
- The kids take a shortcut through the parking to get to to school.
take the scenic route : follow a longer path than the usual one because it is more attractive
- We took the scenic route home.
drive your message/point home : to state st in a very forceful and effective way
- I thought the journalist drove his point home well, and the politician didn’t know what to say.