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

dozen 
(dime a dozen, a; ten to the
dozen)
draft 
(at a draft; feel a draft; feel the
draft; on draft)
drag 
(be a drag on someone; have drag
with someone)
draw 
(beat someone to the draw)
drawer 
(bottom drawer; top drawer)
drawing-board 
(back to the drawing-
board)
dream 
(in one’s dream; like a dream;
like in a dream)
dress 
(all dressed up; evening dress;
night dress)
dresser 
(kitchen dresser)
drink 
(big drink; big drink of water;
hard drink; in drink; in the drink;
long drink; on the drink; straight
drink)
drinking 
(hard drinking; straight
drinking)
drive 
(test drive)
drop 
(back drop; have a drop; have a
drop too much; have the drop;
name-dropping; penny drops, the;
take a drop)
dry 
(cut and dried; go dry; hang some-
one out to dry; high and dry; home
and dry; run dry)
duck 
(get a duck; lame duck; shoot
ahead of the duck; shoot the sitting
duck; swim like a duck)
duckling 
(ugly duckling)
dump 
(in a dump)
dumps 
(in the dumps)
dusk 
(at dusk; in the dusk)
dust 
(devil’s dust; hit the dust; make a
dust; make the dust fly; raise dust;
raise the dust; wait for the dust to
settle)
dutch 
(be in dutch with someone; do
the dutch; go dutch with someone;
talk double dutch)
dutchman 
(flying dutchman, the)
duty 
(call of duty; do duty; do one’s
duty; on active duty; on duty)
eagle 
(vulturine eagle; when the eagle
flies)
ear 
(be wet behind the ears; bend the
ear of someone; bend the ear to
someone; come out of someone’s
ears; crash about someone’s ears;
dog’s ear; fall about someone’s ears;
fall on someone’s ears; give ear to
something; give someone a thick ear;
give someone one’s ear; go in one ear
and out the other; have an ear for
music; have an ear for something;
have the ear of someone; have van
gogh’s ear for music; lower one’s ears;
on one’s ear; out on one’s ear; pig’s
ear; pin back one’s ears; pin back
someone’s ears; play by ear; play it
by ear; prick up one’s ears; reach the
ear of someone)
earth 
(bring someone down to earth;
burn the earth; come down to earth;
down to earth; end of the earth; go
to earth; like nothing on earth; peo-
ple of the earth; scorch the earth;
take earth)