Meaning: to reach an agreement or solution after a lot of

negotiation or discussion

For example:

hammer out sth It took their lawyers nearly a year to

hammer out a divorce settlement.

hammer sth out How long does it usually take to hammer

one of these contracts out?

Nouns often used as objects with

hammer out: agreement, contract, settlement, deal, plan,
policy, guidelines, regulations

Meaning: to pass knowledge or skills from one generation to

the next

Synonym: pass down

For example:

hand sth down Their grandfather handed his skills down

to younger members of the family.

hand down sth For hundreds of years the members of the

family had been handing down their secret method of
winemaking.

Meaning: If you hand something on, you pass it to

somebody else.

Synonym: pass on

For example:
 hand sth on After you've signed the petition, hand it on to
the next person.

hand sth on Instead of doing the job himself, he handed it

on to one of his subordinates.

Meaning: If you hand something over, you give it to

someone who has demanded it.

Synonym: surrender

For example:

hand over sth After the thief had entered the bank, he
pointed his gun at the teller and told her to hand over the
money.

hand sth over Max knew that Jim had taken his phone, so
he told Jim to hand it over.

Meaning: If you feel that you are facing a threat or a danger,

we can say the threat or the danger hangs over you.

For example:

hang over sb/sth The threat of unemployment hangs

over everyone in the company.

hang over sb/sth After a fire had destroyed the old

church, a sense of loss hung over the town.

Meaning: If you have something against someone, you don't

like them because of something they've said or done in the
past.

For example:
 have sth against sb She says she doesn't have anything
against him, but she just doesn't have much in common
with him.

have sth against sb A lot of people say they don't have

anything against gay people, but they wouldn't want one of
their children to be gay.

Note: can never be used in one of the continuous tenses, so

you cannotsay "I'm having something again

Meaning: If you have people round, they visit your home,

usually for a meal or for a social gathering.

Synonym: have over

For example:

have sb over We're having some friends round for dinner

tomorrow night. Would you like to come?

have sb over Let's invite some people round for drinks on

Sunday. It's been ages since we had anyone over.

Variety: This is typically used in British and Australian English

but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Meaning: If you hear about something, someone tells you

about it or you find out about it from an information source
like the news media.

For example:

hear about sth Have you heard about the terrorist attack
in Los Angeles this morning? I just heard about it on the
news.
 hear about sth Francine heard about the party, and she
told Gerry and me.

Meaning: If you hear somebody out, you listen to them until

they've finished what they are saying.

For example:

hear sb out You should hear somebody out before you

respond to what they say.

hear sb out You should hear me out before you start

telling me what's wrong with what I'm saying.

Meaning: If something like a discussion, a contest or a

conflict heats up, it gets more intense, more exciting or more
dangerous.

For example:

heat up When they got onto the topic of human rights, the
discussion heated up and people got angry and began
shouting.

heat up The match started to heat up after the referee

made a bad decision and the players got frustrated and
started pushing and shoving.

Meaning: to restrict someone's movement, or to limit

someone's freedom

Synonym: constrain (formal)

For example:

hem sb in Ronaldo was hemmed in by defenders, so he

couldn't get a shot on goal.
 be hemmed in by sth Louis had always felt hemmed in by
social conventions and the pressure to conform.

Meaning: to have a idea or to think of something

Synonym: come up with

For example:

hit on sth We were talking about ways to increase sales

when Takahiro hit on the idea of marketing online.

hit on sth Sam says he hits on his best ideas when he's
lying on the beach.

Note: Also "hit upon"

Meaning: to dislike somebody, or be angry with them,

because you blame them for something bad that happened in
the past

For example:

hold sth against sb He didn't mean to cause the accident,

so I try not to hold it against him.

hold sth against sb Pauline made a serious mistake but

her boss doesn't hold it against her. He says we all make
mistakes.

Meaning: to stop someone or something from going forward,

or from progressing in some way

Synonym: keep back, restrain (formal)

For example:
 hold sb/sth back Joey was so angry that he wanted to
attack the referee, but luckily his teammates held him back.

hold back sb/sth Tiger thinks his lack of arm strength is

holding back his development as a golfer, so he's building
up his arm muscles.

Meaning: to stop something from rising by pressing down on

it or putting a heavy object on it

For example:

hold down sth/sb The vet's assistant held down our dog
while the vet gave her the injection.

hold sth/sb down I held the board down with my foot

while I hammered it in place.

Meaning: to talk about a topic for a long time, often in a

way that other people find boring

For example:

hold forth As Mark held forth on a range of topics, those

caught in his circle started to yawn and look at their
watches.

hold forth on sth All through dinner Ruth held forth on

her favourite subject - herself.

Meaning: to delay doing something until a later time

Synonym: delay

For example:

hold off sth We've decided to hold off our expansion plans
because of the downturn in the economy.
 hold off doing sth We should hold off publishing the book
until the end of the year.

Meaning: If a supply of something holds out, it continues to

be enough and it doesn't run out.

Synonym: last

For example:

hold out Kenny says he'll take any job now because his
savings won't hold out much longer.

hold out Our water supply should hold out until Monday.

Meaning: to wait until you get what you want, especially

when negotiating

For example:

hold out for sth The workers held out for a better wage
deal and, after another round of negotiations, they got it.

hold out for sth We held out for a better contract, and we
got it after some hard bargaining.

Meaning: If you hook up things like computers and their

peripherals, or the components of a home theatre, you
connect them with cables.

Synonym: connect

For example:

hook up sth Do you know how to hook up the new sound

system to the TV?
 hook sth up How did you expect to hook the parts up
correctly without reading the instructions?

Meaning: to make someone do what they promised or

agreed to do

For example:

hold sb to sth The player will hold the club to the exact
terms of his contract, and if they try to break the contract
he'll take them to court.

hold sb to sth You said you'd give us all a bonus if we got

the deal, and we're going to hold you to that.

Meaning: to try to keep something secret, especially

something that could damage the reputation of a person or
an organization

Synonym: cover up

For example:

hush up sth Governments try to hush up anything that

could damage their chances of being re-elected, such as
corruption charges.

hush sth up When it became clear that he had died of a

drug overdose, his family tried to hush it up.