American idioms starting with the letter P

Idioms P

pass by = to go past a place or to stop at a place for a short time.

If you pass by the store today, please get some bananas.

pass out = to give to many people; to distribute.

The woman is passing out flowers to everyone she meets today.

pass up = to decide not to do something.

She passed up an opportunity to work for a big company in order to stay home with her baby .

pick out = buy; choose from a group of things.

There were a lot of great guitars to choose from at the pawn shop. He picked out this telecaster.

pick up = get or buy

I'm going to pick up some Chinese food after work.

(the "going to" future tense)

point out = to explain something important; to show

The chef points out the need for having fresh vegetables at his restaurant every day.

chef

push around = to be mean to another person; to tell someone what to do. This is similar to "boss around."

No one likes the boss. He constantly pushes his employees around.

push through = to try to change a rule or a law very quickly; to use one's influence in order to change something.

The White House is trying to push an energy bill* through Congress.

*bill = a proposal for a law

white house

put off: to do something later; to postpone.

Hang and her boyfriend didn't want to put off geting married any longer, so they got married last year.

a. put out = to extinguish a fire or a cigarette; to stop a fire.

Please put your cigarette out in the ashtray.

b. put out = produce a product; make

This newspaper has been putting out a daily paper for over 70 years.

put up with: to tolerate; to permit something.

Harold could no longer put up with a boss who was always yelling at him, so he quit.

A	B	C	D	E
F	G	H	I	J
K	L	M	N	O
P	Q	R	S	T
U	V	W	X	Y
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