Phrases & Expressions

To speak and act on behalf of the people who live in the area that elected you.

• A good MP must represent their constituents even when local opinion conflicts with the national party line.
• Politicians who ignore local problems are failing to represent their constituents properly.

To start providing a service as usual again after a break or problem.

• Train companies hope to resume normal service by Monday, once the floodwater has gone down.
• After the storm damaged its cables, the internet provider needed two days to resume normal service for all customers.

To change an estimate or official figure to a higher number after getting new information.

• The government has revised its growth forecast upwards after a period of strong export sales.
• As rescue teams reached remote villages, the death toll was revised upwards several times.

To move quickly and violently through a place, causing serious damage.

• A huge fire ripped through the factory overnight, destroying equipment worth millions of pounds.
• A stomach virus ripped through the boarding school, and nearly half the pupils were ill within a week.

To meet and spend time socially with important or famous people.

• At the film festival, young directors get the chance to rub shoulders with some of the industry's biggest names.
• Working at the embassy, she regularly rubbed shoulders with politicians, diplomats and business leaders.

To publish an in-depth piece of journalism that explores a single theme.

• The newspaper ran a six-page feature on youth unemployment, including interviews with recent graduates.
• Our school magazine is planning to run a feature on students who volunteer in the local community.

(of a cost or amount of money) to reach a total of more than 100,000.

• The cost of repairing the old bridge is expected to run into six figures.
• Donations to the flood appeal have already run into six figures, far more than the organisers hoped.

To print or photocopy one or more copies of a document quickly.

• I'll run off a few extra copies of the handout in case more students turn up.
• The teacher ran off extra worksheets for the students who had been absent.

Used by a pilot to report that the whole aircraft has left the runway.

• Once the whole aircraft was on the taxiway, the pilot reported "Runway vacated."
• The controller asked the crew to report runway vacated before the next landing.

Of the number of products sold, to fall suddenly and by a very large amount.

• The chart shows that DVD sales plummeted between 2010 and 2020, while streaming subscriptions rose steadily.
• After the safety scandal hit the headlines, the company's sales plummeted by almost forty per cent in a single month.