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

take the heat for something • take the heat off
something
take the heat for something —(coll.) take the blame for smth.;
endure severe criticism: We took the heat for oversleeping and
missing our flight when we landed.
take the heat off something —(also: take the heat out of some-
thing ) 
1
. stop people criticizing or attacking smth.: The con-
ference was designed to take the heat off his failure to make
good on economic promises that got him elected. 2. lessen the
bitterness or hostility of an argument, etc.: Ishiba tried to take
some heat out of his comments, maintaining there was no evi-
dence of an imminent North Korean attack.
take the road • take to the road
take the road —follow a particular route: We stayed high
and took the road that followed the contours of the moun-
tainside.
take to the road —
1
. set out; get on the way: I got back in
the van, finished my ice cream and then took to the road. 2.
= take the road: Jonathan Butts in a buggy, took to the road
– 315 –
take the road

---

that runs between Palo Alto and Mayfield. 3. become a tramp:
Cook did not take to the road through want, but rather from
what the psychiatrists call “maladjustment.”
take the time • take time
take the time —use a certain amount of one’s time for an
activity: I dislike to take the time to study out laboriously
these things which are mostly well known to botanists.
take time —
1
. require time; extend over a relatively long
period: It was merely a matter of shock to the nerve centers.
Such a thing sometimes took time to mend. 2. = take the time:
The abstentions of 
1
972 were due to an overwhelming con-
viction that Mr. Nixon had it made, so why take time to go
out and vote?