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

clip someone’s wings • give someone wings
clip someone’s wings —restrain a person; restrict the scope of
smb.’s activities: He could not succeed in clipping the wings
of his restless neighbor.
give someone wings —provide inspiration to a person: I love
his belief in me. He has given me wings and convinced me I
can do all things.
clock someone • clock someone in
clock someone—
1
. measure the time a person takes doing
smth.: I doubt anyone will clock you on it. But if you’re selling
your game you will be present at the booth a part of the day
to promote it. 2. (Traffic Police) measure the speed of a passing
car using radar gun (in order to detect speedsters): Stay out of
this city if possible … the police will clock you for going 5
miles over the speed limit. 3. (U.S. sl.) hit a person: The guy
behind me clocked me in the back of the head right as the ball
hit my palm and I dropped it.
clock someone in —record smb.’s arrival for work: When I
arrived at work, usually about 3:
1
0 every day, someone had
clocked me in at 3:00. Ten additional minutes each day gave
me a little over $2.50 a month, which paid my bus fare. Cf.:
clock someone out— register smb.’s departure from work: His
buddy clocked him out so it appeared that he worked a full
day even though he never showed up.
close down • shut down
close down —
1
. (of a shop, factory, etc.) cease doing business;
stop production: The shop will be closing down for good on
Saturday, so everything is half price. 2. (of a radio or TV sta-
tion) stop broadcasting for the day: This station is now closing
down and we wish you all good-night.
shut down — = close down 
1
: The whole company shuts down
for three weeks’ holiday every year.