Commonly-Used Idioms, Sayings and
phrasal verbs - "S" Idioms 746

S
sack out

- to go to bed, to go to sleep
I sacked out as soon as I arrived home last evening.

a sacred cow

- something that is never criticized or laughed at even if it sometimes deserves to be
The medical insurance system is a sacred cow of the government and is never
criticized by anyone.

sadder but wiser

- unhappy about something but having learned something from the experience
The man was sadder but wiser after he learned that his wallet had been stolen.


I waited for my friend to ask me for my sage advice regarding his problems.

sail into (someone)

- to scold or criticize someone very hard, to attack someone
When I entered the office my supervisor sailed into me for being late.

sail right through (something)

- to finish something quickly and easily
I was able to sail right through the material for my final exam.

sail under false colors

- to pretend to be something that one is not
The politician was sailing under false colors when he appealed to the citizens for
votes.

salt away money

- to save money
My friend has salted away much money from her new job.

748

- the accumulated tiny amounts of time (like the sand in an hourglass)
The sands of time have done much to change the woman's attitude toward her sister.

749

save face

- to preserve one`s good reputation or dignity when something has happened to hurt it
Our boss was very embarrassed when our company lost a lot of money. However, he
was able to save face when he showed that the problems were outside of his control.

save one`s breath

- to remain silent because talking will do no good
You may as well save your breath and not talk to her as she will not believe you
anyway.

save one`s neck/skin

- to save oneself from danger or trouble
The man left the scene of the fire as soon as possible in order to save his neck.

save (something) for a rainy day


The man's saving grace was his mathematical ability. His other personality traits were
very strange. say Idioms say a mouthful

- to say something of great importance/meaning/length
"You certainly said a mouthful," I said when my friend began to tell me about his
complaint.

say grace

- to say a prayer of thanks before or after a meal
The bride's father was asked to say grace before the wedding banquet.

say one`s piece

- to say openly what one thinks
I said my piece at the meeting and then left quietly by the back door.

751
scale (something) down

- to make something smaller by a certain amount or proportion
The government decided to scale down their plans for the sports stadium. 752

scare (someone) out of his or her wits

- to frighten someone very much
The dog scared the little boy out of his wits.

scare (someone) silly

- to frighten someone very much
The mouse scared the girl silly.

scare (someone) stiff

- to scare someone severely
The little boy was able to scare his little brother stiff when he decided to hide in the
closet and scare him.

scare the (living) daylights out of (someone)

- to frighten someone very much
Falling off the bicycle scared the daylights out of the little girl.

scout around for (someone or something)

- to search here and there and all over for someone or something
The company is scouting around for a new warehouse for their products.

scrape the bottom of the barrel

- to take whatever is left after the best has been taken
The company is scraping the bottom of the barrel if they must give that woman a job.

scrape (something) together

- to gather small amounts of money or something (usually with some difficulty) for
some purpose
We managed to scrape together enough money to go on a holiday even though
business is very bad at the moment.

scrape (something) up

- to find or gather something with some effort
My friend scraped up some money and came to visit me during the summer.
754

scratch around for (something)

overnight.
755

screw up one's courage

- to build up one's courage for something
I screwed up my courage and went in to ask my supervisor to transfer me to a
different department.

scrimp and save

- to be very thrifty, to save up for something
I have been scrimping and saving in order to buy a new laptop computer.

scrounge around for (something)

- to look/search in many places for something
We did not have enough wood for the fence so we had to scrounge around the
neighborhood to find some more.

seamy side of life

- the most unpleasant or roughest aspect of life
The policeman learned much about the seamy side of life during his many years on

situation.

second hand

- not new, used by someone else
We went to a second-hand bookstore to look for the books.

second nature to (someone)

- to be easy and natural for someone
Playing a musical instrument is second nature to my friend.

second-rate

- to be not of the best quality
The performance of the school choir was second-rate and they need more practice to
improve.

a second thought

- a thought that one has after thinking about something again
"On second thought maybe you should bring an extra coat." 757

second to none

- to check into something
I am going to see about getting the book before next week. 758

see double

- to see two of everything instead of one
I began to see double after I hit my head on the edge of the fence.

see eye to eye (with someone)

- to agree with someone
We do not always see eye to eye on things but generally I have a good relationship
with my friend.

see fit to (do something)

- to decide to do something
I hope that my company sees fit to spend more time training its employees.

see no objection to (something)

- to not have any objection to something
I see no objection to my friend coming to the meeting with me.

see one`s way clear to (do something)

- to feel able to do something

see (someone) to (somewhere)

- to escort someone to a place safely
I saw my friend to the door when he decided to go home.

see (something) out

- to finish something, to not quit doing something
I decided to stay with my company in order to see out the restructuring process.

see (something) through

- to do something until it is completed
I want to see the building project through until it is finished.

see stars

- to think that one is seeing stars as a result of being hit on the head
When I was hit by the opposing player I fell to the ground and began to see stars. 760

see the color of (someone's) money

- to verify that someone has (enough) money
I did not give anybody a ticket for the dinner until I saw the color of their money.

see the handwriting on the wall



761

see the sights

- to see the important things in a place
We stopped downtown during our holiday so that we could see the sights.

see the world/things through rose-colored glasses

- to see only the good things about something, to be too optimistic
She is unrealistic and tends to see the world through rose-colored glasses.

see things

- to imagine sights that are not real, to think that one sees something that is not there
He is always daydreaming and imagining that he is seeing things.

see through (someone or something)

- to understand someone`s true character or motivation, to understand the real reason
for something
I could easily see through the supervisor's attempt to fire the woman from her job.

see to it (that something is done)

- to take the responsibility to do something, to make sure that something is done
"Will you please see to it that the garbage is taken out in the morning."

see to (someone or something)

- to take advantage of an opportunity
I seized the opportunity to take the extra class as soon as I heard about it.

seize upon (something)

- to take hold of something and make an issue of it
The opposition politician seized upon the mistake of the other politician. sell Idioms sell like hotcakes

- to sell quickly, to sell rapidly
The tickets for the concert were selling like hotcakes when I called this morning.
763

sell out (someone or something)

- to be disloyal, to betray someone or something
The man does not want to sell out his moral values when he begins work for the new
company.

sell (someone) a bill of goods

- to deceive someone, to get someone to believe something that is not true


sell (something) off

- to sell much or all of something
The computer company decided to sell off some of their real estate business.

sell (something) on credit

- to sell something now and let the purchaser pay for it later
We decided to sell the stereo system on credit. .

send Idioms send away for (something)

- to write a letter asking for something
I sent away for some information but it has not arrived yet.

send (someone) about his or her business

- to send someone away (in an unfriendly manner)
I sent the man about his business when he interrupted my work last evening.


send up a trial balloon

- to suggest something and see how people respond to it
The company sent up a trial balloon to see how people would react to their new
product. 766

.
separate but equal

- to be segregated but of equal value or quality
The teaching staff and adminstration were separate but equal regarding decisions that
were made at the school.

767

serve (someone) right

- to get the punishment or results that one deserves
My friend never studies at all so it serves him right to fail his exam.

serve time

- to spend time in jail
The man served time when he was young but now he is a good citizen.

set Idioms
set a precedent

- to establish a pattern, to set a policy that must be followed in future cases
The legal case set a precedent that will be followed for many years in the future.

set a trap

- to prepare a trap to catch an animal or a person who is doing something
wrong/illegal
The conservation officers set a trap to try and catch the bear.

set about to (do something or go somewhere)

- to begin/start something, to prepare to go somewhere
We set about to prepare the office for the move to a bigger building.

set back (someone or something)

set forth (somewhere)

- to start to go somewhere, to begin a trip
We set forth on our holiday at 7:00 this morning.

set great store on (someone or something)

- to like or value someone or something
Our company sets great store on their ability to attract good people.

set in

- to begin and probably continue (used for a weather or mental condition)
The rain has set in and it looks like it will not stop for awhile.
A mild depression has set in for my neighbor 769

set in one's ways

- to lead a fixed lifestyle
My grandfather is set in his ways and he does not like to change his habits at all.

set one`s heart on (something)

- to want something very much
I set my heart on a nice holiday this winter but I will not be able to go because I have
no money.