A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase clean someone’s clock—(sl.)
1
. give smb. a beating: He’s
much bigger than you and could easily clean your clock. 2.
defeat a person decisively in a fight or competition: If this is a
battle the other side wants to have, we welcome it. We’ll clean
their clock!
stop the clock —
1
. postpone a deadline by not counting the
elapsing time: Management agreed to stop the clock so that
a new contract could be negotiated before the present one
expired. 2. = stop one’s clock: Either player may stop the clock
to summon the arbiter to settle a dispute.
stop someone’s breath • take someone’s breath
away
stop someone’s breath —affect smb. by a sudden strong emo-
tion such as fear, etc.: Even in the dusk, the look on Sam’s
face was enough to stop her breath.
take someone’s breath away —inspire a person with utter
delight: The thought of practicing on that splendid instrument
quite took her breath away.
storm petrel • stormy petrel
storm petrel —any of various small sea birds of the family
Hydrobatidae of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean:
As for birds, the colonies of yellow-legged gull and the nesting
of the storm petrel are worth mentioning.
Note:
The expression is not equivalent in meaning to the phrase
storm bird
—
1
. Common Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea) a member
of the cuckoo family: From a tree several yards away could be
heard the monotonous coo-ee of a bird which Claud told them
was the Koel, otherwise known as the storm bird. 2. Chan-
nel-billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae) a member of the
cuckoo family: Did you know that a Channel-billed Cuckoo
is the proper name for the bird we commonly know as the
storm bird?
stormy petrel —
1
. = storm petrel: Of the two species the true
– 307 –
storm petrel

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stormy petrel is found in the North Atlantic, south to the
Newfoundland Banks and the western coast of Africa. 2. smb.
who brings discord or appears at the onset of trouble: The
stormy petrel from West Bengal is known for her penchant
for hurling insinuations at persons holding office.