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

like a wet rag • like a wet weekend
like a wet rag —utterly exhausted: At the end of a day I’m
just like a wet rag. All I’m good for is to plotz in a chair.
like a wet weekend —sad and miserable: Try to be a bit more
cheerful. I don’t want you standing around looking like a wet
weekend.
like death • like grim death
like death —(U.S. also: like death warmed over) feeling or
looking very unwell or completely exhausted: Much of the
time I feel like death. I am in rather a bad temper.
like grim death — gripping smth. very firmly; clinging to smth.
tenaciously: By clinging like grim death to the gunwale, we
just managed to keep inside the boat, but it was exhausting
work.
like water • like water off a duck’s back
like water —(of money) spend in great quantity or recklessly:
She spends money like water to create a luxurious home far
beyond the means of her humble husband.
like water off a duck’s back —(of criticism, etc.) have no effect
or make no impression whatsoever: I keep telling him it’s fool-
ish to gamble, but it’s like water off a duck’s back.
listen for something • listen out for something
listen for something— make a conscious effort to catch the
sound of smth.; concentrate on hearing smth.: If beyond the
silence we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled,
continuous hum of insects.
listen out for something —
1
. = listen for something: You will
be listening out for any human presence such as cutting of
firewood, dogs barking, etc. Poaching still sadly exists…. 2.
wait expectantly to hear or learn smth.: He sees Focus Groups
as a platform in which we test known hypotheses rather than
listen out for new hypotheses to emerge.
listen in to something • listen to something
listen in to something —(also: listen in on something) 
1
. listen
secretly to a conversation: Little does he know that the shop’s
owner is standing in the doorway, listening in to the conver-
sation. 2. follow a radio broadcast: We recieved a positive
response from everyone that contacted us after listening in to
the show.
listen to something —
1
. = listen in to something 2: I have just
listened to the show with Marc Perrin and it was great. 2. fol-
low what smb. is saying, etc.: Here are a few of the notes I
took while I was listening to his sermon. 3. pay attention to
smth.; heed smth.: The problem is, neither of the other two
are particularly willing to listen to his advice.