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

overwhelmed by something • overwhelmed with
something
overwhelmed by something —completely overpowered with
emotion: We want them to know what happened; on the other
hand, we don’t want them to be overwhelmed by the horror
of it all.
overwhelmed with something —
1
. = overwhelmed by something:
As you can imagine, I have been overwhelmed with the horror
of the stories I’ve read. 2. provided with a very large or exces-
sive amount of smth.: Our daughter was so overwhelmed with
presents, it took her a good two days to get to all of them.
owe for something • owe on something
owe for something —owe money for smth. one has bought
but not paid for: I still owe the butcher for the meat I had
last Sunday.
owe on something —owe money for smth. one has bought
and partially paid for: We still owe nearly a hundred pounds
on that car.
oyster catcher • oyster fisher
oyster catcher —any of various wading birds of the genus
Haematopus: Our game-bag was thinly lined with oyster-
catchers, and sanderlings.
oyster fisher —a man engaged in oyster-fishing: The mass of
ova is spoken of by oyster fishers as “white spat,” and an oyster
containing them is said to be “sick.”
P
pace out the room • pace the room
pace out the room —(also: pace off the room) measure the room
by counting steps: They walked along the wall, pacing out the
room, which turned out to be a square about ten steps long
on each wall.
pace the room —move restlessly up and down the room: He
could not fall asleep, nor even remain in one place, but had
to jump up and pace the room with rapid steps.
pack something away • pack something off
pack something away —
1
. put smth. (in a box, etc.) for safe
keeping: She packed away the clothes until they would be
needed again. 2. (coll.) eat (a lot of food): He can pack away
more food than anyone else I know.
pack something off —send smth. in a parcel: Could you pack
these clothes off to my sister?