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

scale 
(on a large scale)
scene 
(behind the scenes; change the
scene; change the scenes; make a
scene; make the scene; set the scene)
school 
(board school; boarding school;
drama school; finish school; finishing
school; first school; grammar school;
high school; higher school; infant
school; leave school; normal school;
nursery school; old school; play
school; preparatory school; primary
school; private school; public school;
special school; training school; upper
school)
science
(advance of science; advance-
ment of science)
scotchman 
(flying scotchman, the)
screw 
(have a screw loose; put the
screws to someone; there is a screw
loose; tighten up screws)
sea 
(at sea; half-seas over; high sea;
high seas; in the sea; king of the sea;
on the sea; open sea)
seal 
(put one’s seal to something; put
the seal on something; set one’s seal
to something; set the seal on some-
thing)
seam 
(burst at the seams; come apart at
the seams)
season 
(dead season; high season; in a
season; in season; off season; out of
season)
seat 
(back seat; be seated; hot seat;
keep one’s seat; keep the seat warm;
love seat; take a seat; take one’s seat;
take one’s seat on the bench)
second 
(one’s second self )
secret 
(in secret; in the secret)
security 
(as security; for security)
sell 
(be sold on someone; be sold out
to someone; made to be sold; made
to sell; soft sell)
semblance 
(bear a semblance of some-
thing; have a semblance of some-
thing)
sense 
(come to one’s senses; common
sense; have no sense of something; in
a sense; in the sense; not have the
sense of something; regain one’s
senses)