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

add fuel to the fire
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They acquired Joan Miro pictures painted in the manner of a
4-year-old struggling to come to terms with the human face.
again and again • every now and again
again and again —(also: time and again) habitually; repeat-
edly: I was absorbed in “The Cloud on the Sanctuary,” reading
it again and again.
every now and again —(also: now and again) occasionally;
from time to time: Every now and again the ear could catch
the sudden splash of pike meeting pike.
agree on something • agree to something • agree
with something
agree on something —
1
. have the same view about smth.: Mu-
sicians rarely agree on the way a piece of music should be
played. 2. decide on smth.: We’ve agreed on Spain for our
holiday next year.
agree to something —(of a suggestion, statement, etc.) view
with favor; accept what has been proposed: Neither the peo-
ple, nor their representatives, would agree to the plan.
agree with something —
1
. go along with a person in an opin-
ion or statement: It is great what Martin has done and I agree
with his comment. 2. (of two versions, accounts, etc.) be similar
or fully correspond: This bill doesn’t agree with my calcula-
tions.
ahead of one’s time • before one’s time
ahead of one’s time—(of people, new ideas, etc.) too advanced
to be accepted by one’s contemporaries: Men who are ahead
of their time can lead the present into the future.
before one’s time —
1
. before a person was born, had arrived,
etc.: There was at one time a little cinema, but that was before
my time. 2. before the due or expected time: His poverty, and
continual harassment by the authorities had made him old be-
fore his time. 3. = ahead of one’s time: Robert Owen, with his
enlightened ideas on working conditions in factories, was be-
fore his time.