keep quiet

keep quiet: avoid complaining, telling a secret, or causing problems

• We knew they were doing something wrong, but we kept quiet.
• The working conditions were awful, but we decided to keep quiet because we were afraid we'd lose our jobs.

clear (one's) throat

clear (one's) throat: cough in order to speak more clearly

• The speaker took a drink of water and cleared her throat before continuing.

clear (something) with someone

clear (something) with (someone): get formal permission for an action

• The ambassador cleared it with the State Department before announcing that he was leaving the country.

clear (someone's) name

clear (someone's) name: prove that a person is not guilty of something

• Marthe worked hard to clear her son's name after he was accused of cheating.

clear a space

clear a space: move things to make room for something else

• Before you put those books down, let me clear a space for them on the desk.

to be had

to be had: to be victimized or cheated

• When the jeweler confirmed that the diamonds that the woman had purchased abroad were really fake, she exclaimed, "I've been had!"
• The angry customer complained about being overcharged at the store, asserting that this was the third time that he had been had.

to fix up

to fix up: to repair or put back in good condition (S); to arrange a date or an engagement for another person (S)

• Instead of buying an expensive new home, we decided to buy an older home and fix it up ourselves.
• Since my visiting friend didn't have a date for dinner, I fixed her up with a male friend of mine. They got along very well together.

to keep after

to keep after: to remind constantly, to nag

• Lynn always has to keep after her children about cleaning up their rooms and doing chores around the house.
• Yen is so forgetful that it's necessary to keep after him about every little thing.

to be in (someone's) shoes

to be in (someone's) shoes: to be in another person's position, to face the same situation as another person

• If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't take too many classes this semester.
• When his boss finds out about that accounting error, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

to play by ear

to play by ear: to play music that one has heard but never read (S); to proceed without plan, to do spontaneously (S)

The pronoun it is often used with the second definition.

• That pianist can play most popular music by ear. She never needs to read sheet music.
• My husband wanted to plan our trip carefully, but I argued that it was more fun if we played it by ear.