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

be on the wire • be on wires
be on the wire —(dated) be speaking on the telephone (also:
be over the wire): He ought to have spoken to Nunez about
the broken chain while he was on the wire.
be on wires —(coll.) be in a state of nervous excitement or
agitation: “I could not sleep,” began the Countess. “I was all,
as you say, on wires.”
be on one’s own ground
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Note: 
The expression does not fully correlate in meaning with
the phrase be wired—
1
. be carrying a hidden communications
device connecting to other people: Rodriguez was convicted for
receiving bribes from an undercover agent who was wired. 2.
(of premises) be equipped with a microphone, loudspeakers, etc.,
to transmit sound: The hall was wired with miles of cables,
computer monitors, and loudspeakers to showcase new music.
3. be programmed like a robot to do smth.: Remember, he’s
wired to kill and rape everything in sight — and he knows how
to dispose of the body! 4. (coll.) = be on wires: Some nights he
is so wired until he comes to bed but can’t sleep, so he is just
watching TV for hours.
be on top of someone • top someone
be on top of someone —
1
. (of an approaching vehicle) suddenly
come too close to a person: It was raining and I couldn’t see
anything until the car was right on top of me and I dove out
of the way. 2. said of a small space where people find it difficult
to have any privacy: He still lives in Downsea. Near enough
for me to babysit but not so close that we’re on top of him. 3.
said of smth. involving more work than one can cope with:
By no stretch of the imagination could our work have been
termed exhausting, but it was always on top of you.
top someone —
1
. exceed a person in height or weight: She
was so tall that she topped her father by a head. 2. have the
supremacy over smb.: Dance in movies begins with Fred As-
taire, and no one has ever really topped him. 3. (sl.) kill a per-
son: Tom King wasn’t a good enough character to warrant
months of interest in who topped him.