• almost there
• almost die laughing
• airbrush out
• after taste
• assume a mask
• airtight
• antidote
• ablaze
• angel of death
• adrift

• built on the rock
• bay the moon
• bread and circuses
• beachhead
• burn money
• bay at the moon
• bed of roses
• blank wall
• become hearing impaired
• birthday

• cog in the wheel
• close the spigot on
• castle of cards
• cast ~ to the wind
• come to heel
• carve ~ in stone
• completely in the dark
• card castle
• chicken game
• chainless

• do someone's dirty work
• dagger pointed at the heart of
• downhill course
• dry spell
• draw a line
• derail
• doormat
• damp squib
• deliver a knockout blow
• do someone's dirty work for him

• earthquake
• ember
• even keel
• elbow one's way into
• ecosystem
• electronics lab
• early bloomer
• eat what one kills
• excoriation
• easy pill to swallow

• foothold
• fray
• feel a lump in one's throat
• feed on each other
• face of an organization
• fall out of one's chair
• firestorm
• force a stalemate
• find a way round
• feel the wind

• get into hot water
• gold mine
• go bail for
• go on autopilot
• give someone a pat on the back
• golden key
• get a slice of the cake
• get up steam
• game of chicken
• gather steam

• have long sight
• hand someone ~ on a silver platter
• hit a bump in the road
• hold the aces
• harvest
• high water
• hammer a nail into one's coffin
• have zero visibility
• have ~ in one's pocket
• have eyes bigger than one's stomach

• in the same club
• inundation
• iron grip
• insatiable thirst
• in the deep end
• in a bad light
• in deep water
• in a good light
• in the same oven
• intimate part

• journey through school
• jigsaw
• jugular

• kernel
• kiss the ground
• keep one's finger on the pulse
• kick in the head
• keep pulse on
• knockout blow
• keep ~ afloat
• know the buttons to push
• known quantity
• keep one's powder dry

• lead sheep
• loosen one's shackles
• long arm
• leech
• long journey
• lifetime ago
• late bloomer
• lean over backwards
• look for four-leaf clovers
• low-hanging fruit

• mop someone's brow
• marrow
• make the picture too dark
• million miles away
• make a big splash
• mountain to climb
• mother
• manacle
• move the needle
• mend a fence

• nimble-fingered
• nudge someone into
• nightingale
• narrow bed
• nudge someone in the ribs
• not a get-out-of-jail-free card
• nuclear option
• new broom
• narrow house

• orbit around
• on the fence
• on the dark side of the moon
• out for the count
• off the beaten track
• owl
• open one's eyes
• off the hinges
• on a lee shore
• opiate of the people

• pale beside
• pat someone's back
• pemican
• play a bit part
• put one's foot down
• put one's nose into
• pressure point
• put a nail into one's coffin
• predator
• pathetic joke

• quarrel with one's bread and butter
• question mark

• rap on the knuckles
• rank and file
• raise the stakes
• Rosetta stone for deciphering
• red rag
• reinless
• read the riot act to
• raise the room temperature
• reach the top of the ladder
• rough sledding

• swept to the floor
• step into the mess
• stand close to
• splash about
• stand bail for
• small change
• stock-in-trade
• shot in the arm
• storm cloud
• sticky mess

• thread the needle
• turn off the spigot on
• time bomb waiting to go off
• turn of the tide
• throw in the towel
• take in a reef
• touche
• take the hard road
• troubled waters
• trample one another

• up a blind alley
• unwitting pawn
• unfiltered lens
• use the nuclear option
• unbridgeable
• unshackle
• upas

• voice of an organization
• vampirism
• voice of the government
• veil of pessimism
• voice of a company
• Viking funeral

• worlds apart from
• within a millimeter of
• weight down
• with one's arms folded
• walking powder keg
• walled garden
• wear a belt and braces
• wellspring of wisdom
• wire
• warrior