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

feel 
(have a feel for something; have a
feel on the pulse of something; have
the feel of something)
feeling 
(have a feeling about some-
thing; have a feeling for something;
relieve one’s feelings)
fellow 
(odd fellow; odd fellow)
fence 
(jump over the fence; over
the fence; sit on the fence; stone
fence)
fever 
(mediterranean fever; panama
fever; red fever; red light fever; scar-
let fever)
few 
(chosen few; good few, a; quite a
few)
fiddle 
(be on the fiddle; fine as a fiddle;
hang up one’s fiddle; hang up one’s
fiddle at the door)
field 
(cover the field; hold the field; in
the field; keep the field; leave some-
one a clear field; leave someone the
Key Word Index
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382 –

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field; on the field; out in left field;
out in the field)
fifth 
(take the fifth)
fight 
(cat fight; dog fight; fire fight)
figure 
(head figure; lay figure; man of
figure; man of figures)
fill 
(have one’s fill of something)
film 
(art film; artful film; arty film;
black and white film; black film;
strip film; stripping film)
finger 
(have a finger in something;
have one’s fingers in the till; lay a
finger on someone; lay a finger on
something; lay one’s finger on some-
thing; not move a finger; pull one’s
finger out; put the finger on some-
one)
fingertip 
(at one’s fingertips; to one’s
fingertips)
finish 
(photo finish)
finishing 
(photo finishing)
fire 
(build a fire under someone; dead
fire; death-fire; fat is in the fire, the;
irons in the fire; keep the home-fires
burning; lay out the fire; light a fire
under someone; liquid fire; on fire;
on the fire; put out the fire; run like
wild-fire; saint anthony’s fire; saint
elmo’s fire; sea-fire; set the thames
on fire; time fire; timed fire; water
fire)