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

firm 
(stand firm)
first 
(at first; from the first; ladies first)
fish 
(be a queer fish; big fish; blue devil
fish; cold fish; cool fish; feed the fish;
feed the fishes; flying fish; go fishing;
gone fishing; have bigger fish to fry;
have other fish to fry; neither fish
nor fowl; sleep with the fishes; slice
of fish; swim like a fish; swim with
the fishes; there are other fish in the
sea)
fishbowl 
(live in a fishbowl)
fisher 
(oyster fisher)
fit 
(in fits; in fits and starts; running fit;
running fits)
five 
(five-by-five; give someone five;
give someone high five; take five)
fivepence 
(fine as fivepence)
fix 
(be in a fix; get a fix of something;
get a fix on something)
flag 
(dip the flag; drop the flag; fly the
flag; haul down the flag; hoist one’s
flag; hoist the flag; keep the flag fly-
ing; put out the flags; put the red
flag out; show the flag; show the
white flag; wave the flag; wave the
red flag)
flame 
(go down in flames; go up in
flames; shoot someone down in
flames)
flat 
(go flat; go flat out)
flesh 
(in flesh; in the flesh)
flight 
(in flight; take a flight; take
flight)
floor 
(fall through the floor; first floor;
from the floor; have the floor; on the
floor; on the shop floor; take the
floor; walk the floor)
flower 
(language of flowers; tudor
flower; yellow trumpet flower)
flutter 
(be in a flutter; have a flutter)
fly 
(break a fly upon the wheel; green-
fly; greenbottle fly; let that fly stick
to the wall; on the fly; send someone
flying)
fog 
(in a fog; in fog)