to distance oneself (from); to keep (something or someone) at a distance; to maintain a distance (from)
to lose (something); to mislay; to get rid of; to eliminate; to remove
making light of; thinking little of; slighting; belittling; dismissing; contempt
preventing (someone) from leaving; confinement; keeping indoors; being stranded; grounding
head-on; to one's face; squarely; directly; flatly (e.g. refuse)
in itself; the thing itself; this itself; for its own sake; per se
to wait for a favorable chance; to wait for a favourable chance
to trample underfoot; to tread on; to crush with a foot
simultaneous; all at once
serious; grave; dignified; solemn
to be talented; to be able
class (of students); group (of people); party; lot; bunch; crime family; organized-crime syndicate
from the beginning; from the first; all along; of course
gaining time; stalling for time; time-buying
sacrificial pawn; sacrificed piece; sacrifice
mob; the masses; rabble; riffraff
to deceive (with words); to cajole; to talk into; to explain away (e.g. unpleasant evidence); to argue away; to wheedle
wait-and-see (situation, stance, etc.); waiting to see (how things play out); watching developments (before acting)
stallion brought close to a mare to test her readiness to mate; stalking horse; spoiler
a little bit; a little while
to hunt out; to flush out; to round up; to impress; to recruit
(necessary) personnel; required person
encirclement; encircling net; tight besiegement
player put on starting list to be replaced by another when the opponent's pitcher is known
out of the question; unthinkable; impossible
in (e.g. secret); with (e.g. success)
to have no way of knowing; to be completely ignorant of
to wash again; to reconsider
suspicion will raise bogies; once you suspect something, everything else will look suspicious; jumping at shadows
discord; breaking up (e.g. friendship)
doing something separately (from the group); going off on one's own
withdrawal; secession; separation; breakaway
any and every thing; altogether; lock, stock, and barrel; the whole shooting match; the whole kit and caboodle; without reserve
one's property; personal effects; one's belongings
details (of an incident, event, etc.); whole story; course of events; facts; circumstances; particulars
at full speed; as fast as one's legs can carry one
men and women; man and woman; both sexes; both genders