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

have a fortune • have the fortune
have a fortune —have a very large amount of money: Don’t
imagine you have a fortune there. A hundred francs goes
nowhere these days.
have the fortune —have good luck; succeed in doing smth.:
Israel has had the fortune to attract a nucleus of Jewish sci-
entists from the Western countries.
have a free hand • have one’s hands free
have a free hand —have freedom of action in affairs that one
has to deal with: The new president had a relatively free hand
to implement reforms.
have one’s hands free —said of smb. whose time is not occu-
pied by anything: The Duke of Normandy now had his hands
free to pursue the conquest of Maine.
Note: 
a) Neither expression correlates in meaning with the
compound free-handed— generous; giving and spending money
freely: Pike was free-handed, especially to his kinspeople.
b) Neither expression correlates in meaning with the compound
freehand—done by hand without mechanical aids or devices:
Make a freehand drawing of an interior of a room.
have a frog in one’s throat • have a lump in one’s
throat
have a frog in one’s throat—be suffering from temporary
hoarseness: “I had a frog in my throat,” she says with a laugh
“and so I was not at my peak singing voice.”
have a lump in one’s throat—have a sensation of constriction
in the throat (caused by some strong emotion): I had a lump
in my throat and tears in my eyes throughout his story.
have a gas • run out of gas
have a gas —(sl.) have a great time doing smth.; enjoy one-
self: I had a gas watching the improbably outrageous action
and dialogue unfurl.
run out of gas—(of a project, campaign, etc.) lose momentum;
progress slowly or halt: Florida’s transportation program is
running out of “gas” and attention needs to be focused on this
issue.