When you finish your stay in a hotel, you have to 'check out' at reception and pay your final bill.
- I need to check out of my hotel room by 11.
- You check us out whilst I order a taxi for the airport.
If you 'lock yourself out', you close a door without having the key to get back in.
- Richard managed to lock himself out of his hotel room stark naked.
- I've left the keys in the car and locked myself out.
If you 'pick something out', you choose it, often with some care.
- Harry has picked out all the cashew nuts and left only the peanuts for me.
- From the thirty candidates, we've picked out seven to interview.
If you 'reach out' for something, you extend your arm to get it (sometimes metaphorically.)
- Drivers have to reach out a long way to insert the ticket in the machine.
- Our present customers are almost all over fifty. We need to reach out to a younger public.
If you 'rush out', you leave or send out very quickly.
- I wanted to speak to Jane but she rushed out as soon as the meeting was over.
- We rushed out the new catalogue and it is full of spelling errors.
If you 'throw something out', you get rid of it.
- We need to throw out the terrible printers we have and buy some new ones.
- You shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater.
If you warn somebody to 'look out', it means that there is danger.
- Look out! The boss is on the warpath.
- Look out! There's a radar camera just up ahead.
If you 'send something out' you send it to a lot of people (for example, to a mailing list.)
- I'll be sending out the newsletter early next week.
- Have you sent out the invitations yet?
If someone or something 'stands out', it is very noticeable or is better than similar people or things.
- One candidate stands out from the rest.
- He likes to stand out from the crowd.
If you 'pour out' your (usually sad) feelings or your thoughts, you talk about them very honestly and without holding anything back.
- He poured his heart out to me about his recent divorce.
- Don't hold back. Let it all pour out. It will do you good.
exercise 1
exercise 2