Hey guys!

Everybody knows the importance of learning some phrasal verbs, idioms and colloquial expressions, especially when you live in a foreign country. We always learn a lot of them by communicating with native speakers or watching movies and series. In this post, you learn some phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions to communicate in a more natural way when speaking English in a foreign country.

* rip through sth – to move very powerfully through a place or building, destroying it quickly.

A hurricane ripped through the Caribbean.

* take (a) hold – become strong and difficult to remove or stop.

The tornado took a hold and the area was completely destroyed.

* sweep sth away – completely destroy sth.

The floods wept many houses away.

* wreak havoc (on sth) – cause a lot of damage, destruction of confusion.

The forecast is predicting a storm with a potential to wreak havoc on the city.

* be/get caught up in sth – become involved in sth undesirable.

Many local residents were caught up in the flood.

* in the grip of sth – experiencing sth unpleasant that can’t be stopped.

Ethiopia is in the grip of severe drought.

* cave in on sb/sth – collapse and fall.

The roof is about to cave in after the thurderstorm.

* lose your life – be killed.

You can lose your life if you don’t go to the shelter during the hurricane.

* wipe sth/sb out – destroy or get rid of sth completely.

The whole city was wiped out by the tsunami.

* head for sth – move towards a place.

The local residents were forced to head for the neighbouring city.

* catch sb unawares – happen in a way that sb is not expecting and was not prepared for.

They were caught unawares as the storm happened overnight.

* come to a standstill/halt – slowly stop completely.

The strong winds finally came to a standstill.

* tow sb/sth away – pull another car using a car or a chain.

The car had to be towed away due to the flood.

* run low – when you only have a little left.

The population is running low on basic needs and the government is asking for donations.

* at risk (of/from sth) – in danger of sth unpleasant or harmful hapenning.

The houses in that region were at risk so the authorities demanded the residents to leave.

* be snowed in – be unable to leave a place because of heavy snow.

Many Canadians are snowed in every year during winter in some regions.

I hope you learned some new phrasal verbs and idioms today, see you next time!

Source: Idioms and Phrasal Verbs – Advanced / Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman – Oxford