to give birth to

to give birth to: to bear a human being or animal

• Jane's mother has just given birth to twin girls.
• The zoo's Siberian tiger just gave birth to a baby cub.

to make do

to make do: to manage, to cope

This idiom is used when a person must accept a substitute that is not the most suitable.

• Pearl doesn't have a clean shirt so she has to make do with the one she wore yesterday.
• During difficult economic times, many people have to make do with less.

to pull off

to pull off: to succeed in doing something difficult(S); to exit to the side of a road (also: to pull over)

• The group of investors pulled off a big deal by buying half the stock in that company. I wonder how they pulled it off before the company could prevent it.
• The motorist pulled off the road when the police officer turned on the red lights and the siren.
• If you get a flat tire while driving, you should pull over right away.

to take off

to take off: to leave the ground(for airplanes); to leave, often in a hurry

The noun form takeoff derives from this idiom.

• The plane took off over an hour late. The passengers had to buckle their seat-belts during takeoff.
• Do you have to take off already? You just arrived an hour ago!

to look down on

to look down on: to feel superior to, to think of someone as less important

• People who are in positions of power should be careful not to look down on those who work for them.
• Why does Alma look down on Mario just because his family is so poor?

to look up to

to look up to: to admire, to respect greatly

• Children will most certainly look up to their parents if the children are brought up well.
• Everyone looks up to the director of our department because he is kind and generous person.

to look on

to look on: to watch as a spectator, to observe

• Hundreds of people were looking on as the police and firefighters rescued the passengers in the wrecked train.
• I stayed with my son at his first soccer practice and looked on as the coach worked with the boys.

to stand a chance

to stand a chance: to have the possibility of accomplishing something

This idiom is often used with an adjective such as good or excellent. It also occurs in the negative, sometimes with the adjective much.

• The New York baseball team stands a good chance of winning the World Series this year.
• Because John doesn't have any previous work experience, he doesn't stand a chance of getting that job.
• The woman injured in the serious train accident doesn't stand much chance of surviving.

to stand for

to stand for: to represent, to signify; to tolerate

The second definition is usually used in a negative sense.

The meaning is the same as to put up with.

• On the American flag, each star stands for one of the fifty states, and each stripe stands for one of the original thirteen colonies of the 1800s.
• The citizens wouldn't stand for the increase in crime in their city, so they hired more police officers and built another jail.

to cross one's mind

to cross one's mind: to come to one's thoughts unexpectedly or briefly, to occur to one

• It didn't cross my mind to invite Rachelle to the party until it had already started.
• The thought of visiting Spain crossed my mind, but I went to Turkey instead.