Phrases & Expressions

To finally realize or understand the truth about a difficult situation.

• We need to wake up to the dangers of climate change.
• She finally woke up to how much trouble she was in.

To measure a particular amount of something by weighing it.

• Before you start baking, weigh out all the ingredients and put them in separate bowls.
• The chemistry students carefully weighed out ten grams of salt for the experiment.

To think carefully about the good and bad sides of something in order to reach a sensible judgement.

• Good journalism gives readers enough facts to weigh up the evidence for themselves.
• I'm still weighing up whether to take a gap year or go straight to university.

To continue to follow a belief, rule or set of principles.

• Many members of the community still adhere to traditional beliefs about marriage and family life.
• All researchers must adhere to strict ethical guidelines when working with human participants.

To name a particular person or thing as the creator or cause of something.

• The company attributed its poor sales to the unusually warm winter.
• Doctors attribute the rise in childhood obesity to poor diet and a lack of exercise.

To be enclosed by people or things around you, with little space to move or get out.

• Our car was hemmed in by two badly parked vans, so we had to wait for the drivers to return.
• The old town is hemmed in by mountains on three sides, so there is little land for new housing.

To be improving, especially after a difficult or disappointing period.

• Things are looking up for the local tourism industry after two years of falling visitor numbers.
• Job prospects for engineering graduates are looking up as more companies start hiring again.

To be bought by a bigger company and become just one part of it.

• Many small, successful breweries have been swallowed up by multinational drinks companies in recent years.
• The start-up was swallowed up by a tech giant just two years after it launched its first app.

To be shown to have started at a particular time or place in the past.

• Most of the town's problems can be traced back to the closure of the coal mine in the 1980s.
• The city's love of street food can be traced back to its long history as a busy trading port.

To feel troubled or held back by a lot of problems, worries or responsibilities.

• Many small companies are weighed down with paperwork that larger firms can deal with easily.
• Many graduates are weighed down with student debt for years after they leave university.