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

deal 
(big deal, a; big deal; great deal, a;
make a deal with someone)
dear 
(cost someone dear)
death 
(be death on someone; be the
death of someone; beaten to death;
catch one’s death; hand of death; like
death; like grim death; meet one’s
death; to death; to the death)
decision 
(judicial decision; judicious
decision)
deck 
(flight deck; flying deck; on deck;
on the deck; on the decks; twin-
deck)
deep 
(be too deep for someone; skin-
deep)
deer 
(run like a deer)
degree 
(honorary degree; honors
degree; third degree; third-class
degree; to the nth degree)
delusion 
(be under the delusion)
demand 
(in demand; on demand)
demonstration 
(for demonstration; to
demonstration)
department 
(fire department)
depth 
(at the depth of something; in
depth; in the depth of something;
out of one’s depth)
devil 
(be the very devil; blue devil;
blue devils; dust devil; pull the devil
by the tail)
dialect 
(eye dialect)
dictionary 
(swallow the dictionary)
difficulty 
(make difficulties; present
difficulties)
digger 
(gold digger)
dime 
(drop a dime)
dinner
(dog’s dinner; duck’s dinner)
dip 
(skinny dip)
direct 
(contact someone direct)
directly 
(contact someone directly)
dirt 
(eat a peck of dirt; eat dirt; hit pay
dirt; hit the dirt)
dirty 
(do the dirties with someone; do
the dirty on someone)
disease 
(green monkey disease; heart
disease; mediterranean disease;
panama disease; yellow stripe dis-
ease)