iron out

iron out
iron out
is a common phrasal verb, American in origin and used informally to mean ‘to remove (difficulties etc.)’. As the physical image is still fairly near the surface, it is prudent to avoid contexts that might sound incongruous. Gowers (1965) pointed out the absurdity of ironing out bottlenecks, and to this may be added the following from the age of the Internet:

• I'm still ironing out a couple of bugs over at my Back Pages, which is my new blog —weblog, AusE 2003.


Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • iron out — verb a) To remove (a crease or creases) with an iron. That shirt still has a few more wrinkles to iron out. b) To resolve (a dispute); to solve (a problem). Lets just sit down and iron out an agreement on …   Wiktionary

  • iron out — phr verb Iron out is used with these nouns as the object: ↑crease, ↑detail, ↑problem, ↑wrinkle …   Collocations dictionary

  • iron out differences — Iron I ron, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ironed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ironing}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To smooth with an instrument of iron; especially, to smooth, as cloth, with a heated flatiron; sometimes used with out. [1913 Webster] 2. To shackle with… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • iron out — {v.}, {informal} To discuss and reach an agreement about (a difference); find a solution for (a problem); remove (a difficulty). * /The company and its workers ironed out their differences over hours and pay./ * /The House and Senate ironed out… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • iron out — {v.}, {informal} To discuss and reach an agreement about (a difference); find a solution for (a problem); remove (a difficulty). * /The company and its workers ironed out their differences over hours and pay./ * /The House and Senate ironed out… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • iron out — transitive verb Date: 1858 1. to make smooth or flat by or as if by pressing 2. to resolve or work out a solution to < ironed out their differences > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Iron out — 1. smooth and remove (problems and difficulties, etc.); 2. flatten (someone); knock down …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • iron out — Australian Slang 1. smooth and remove (problems and difficulties, etc.); 2. flatten (someone); knock down …   English dialects glossary

  • Iron — I ron, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ironed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Ironing}.] [1913 Webster] 1. To smooth with an instrument of iron; especially, to smooth, as cloth, with a heated flatiron; sometimes used with out. [1913 Webster] 2. To shackle with irons; to …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • iron — ironless, adj. ironlike, adj. /uy euhrn/, n. 1. Chem. a ductile, malleable, silver white metallic element, scarcely known in a pure condition, but much used in its crude or impure carbon containing forms for making tools, implements, machinery,… …   Universalium

  • Iron metabolism disorder — Infobox Disease Name = PAGENAME Caption = DiseasesDB = ICD10 = ICD10|E|83|1|e|70 | ICD9 = ICD9|275.0 ICDO = OMIM = MedlinePlus = eMedicineSubj = eMedicineTopic = MeshID = D019189 Genes involved in iron metabolism disorders include HFE and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”