Idioms and Phrasal Verbs to talk about Health

Hey guys!

Everybody knows the importance of learning some phrasal verbs, idioms and colloquial expressions, especially when you live in a foreign country. We always learn a lot of them by communicating with native speakers or watching movies and series. In this post, you learn some phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions to communicate in a more natural way when speaking English in a foreign country.

* throw up – vomit.

I spent all night throwing up.

* pass out – faint, lose consciousness for a short time.

I was hit on the head and passed out.

* wear off – when a pain, feeling or effect gradually disappear or stop.

Most patients find that the numbness from the injection wears off after about an hour.

* go round – spread from person to person.

There is a nasty virus going round at the moment.

 * pick sth up – catch an infectious disease / illness.

You could have picked this virus up from him as he was sick.

* take a turn for the worse / better – suddenly become worse / better.

His condition took a turn for the worse when he stopped taking the medication.

* go downhill – get worse in health.

His health went downhill as he refused the treatment.

* pull through sth – get better after a life-threatening illness or operation.

She pulled through cancer and now helps people to fight for their lives too.

* swell up– when a part of the body becomes bigger in size.

I hurt my finger with the hammer and it might swell up.

* come out in sth – become covered in spots or a rash.

This heat has made me come out in an itchy red rash.

* go away – disappear.

I took the medicine and the pain went away.

* be on the safe side – If you say you are doing something to be on the safe side, you mean that you are doing it in case something undesirable happens, even though this may be unnecessary.

You might still want to go for an X-ray, however, just to be on the safe side.

* better safe than sorry – it’s wiser to be cautious than to be hasty or rash and so do something you may later regret.

Make sure you take an umbrella – I know it’s sunny now, but better safe than sorry.

I hope you learned some new phrasal verbs and idioms today, see you next time!

Source: Idioms and Phrasal Verbs – Advanced / Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman – Oxford