MATURE

MATURE

• He's only 15, but his mature approach to life is unbelievable.
• When she left home to study in a foreign country she became more mature than I've ever expected.

enterprise

enterprise (n): 

a company, organization, or business:

• commercial enterprises such as banks and food manufacturers

state/public enterprise especially British English (=one owned by the government)

the activity of starting and running businesses:

• the management of state enterprise (=done by the government)

a large and complicated project, especially one that is done with a group of other people [= initiative]:

• The programme is a joint enterprise with the London Business School.

the ability to think of new activities or ideas and make them work:

• We're looking for young people with enterprise and creativity.

to be cut out for

to be cut out for: to have the necessary skills or talent for

This idiom is most often used in the negative or in questions.

• John is certainly not cut out for the work of a trial lawyer.
• Are you certain that you are cut out for that kind of job?

to catch on

to catch on: to become popular or widespread; to understand, to appreciate a joke 

This idiom is often used with the preposition to for the second definition.

• Fashions of the past often catch on again among young people.
• When the teacher speaks quickly like that, can you catch on easily?
• His joke was very funny at the time, but when I told it to others later, nobody seemed to catch on. I had to tell the joke again before anyone could catch on to it.

to sell out

to sell out: to sell all items (S); to arrange for the sale of a company or business (S); to abandon one's beliefs or principles for money or success

• That store is closing its doors for good and is selling out everything this weekend.
• If my new business enterprise is successful, I'll sell it out for a few million dollars.
• The politician sold out when he changed political parties to win the election.

to buy out

to buy out: to purchase a business or company (S); to purchase all of a person's shares or stock (S)

This idiom is similar in meaning to to take over.

• Larger companies often buy out smaller companies that are having financial difficulties.
• Mr.Lee has been trying for some time to buy his partner out so that he can control the company by himself.

to buy up

to buy up: to buy the complete stock of (S)

• Before the hurricane struck, residents bought up all the food and water in local stores.
• The government plans to buy up all surplus grain in order to stabilize the price.

to have one's heart set on

to have one's heart set on: to desire greatly, to be determined to

• She has her heart set on taking a trip abroad. She's been thinking about it for months.
• Todd has his heart set on going to medical school and becoming a doctor.

to back out

to back out: to drive a vehicle out of a parking space (S); to withdraw support, to fail to fulfill a promise or obligation

• The parking lot attendant had to back another car out before he could get to mine.
• We were all ready to sign the contracts when one of the parties to the agreement backed out.

to back up

to back up: to drive or go backwards (S); to defend, to support (S); to return to a previous thought

• I couldn't back my car up because there was a bicycle in the driveway behind me.
• Kyoko asked her friends to back her up when she went court to fight her speeding ticket.
• Wait a minute. Could you back up and say that again?