Dictionary: letter I

ice up (insep) (river, road, lake, engine, wings) become covered in ice so that it doesn't work properly.

• Sometimes Atlanta ices up and you don't want to drive if you can avoid it.
• The river ices up in the winter and public areas are inaccessible after the snow falls.
• The pathway is steep and iced up in winter.

idle away [idle something away] (afternoon, day, hours, time) spend your time doing nothing in particula loaf away

• I spent the day idling away the time at home.
• We idled away the afternoon watching the rain and sipping our drinks.
• He idled away the hours by gambling with his friends.

invite back [invite someone back] invite someone to do something again or invite them in return for their previous invitation

• The hotel invited us back after a very poor experience the first time.
• Staff involved in the project have invited us back next year to see how things are progressing.

invite in [invite someone in] ask someone to come in ask in

• They were not expecting her but invited her in for a cup of tea and a chat.
• They invited us in for coffee.
• The cool blue waters invite you in for a swim.

invite out [invite someone out] ask someone to go with you for a meal, to see a show, etc ask out

• I invited her out again, and she said she really wanted to go dancing.
• My friend called to invite me out for coffee.
• I used to invite them out literally every weekend.

invite over/ round [invite someone over, invite someone round] ask someone to pay you a visit

• Do you invite them over for food after the service?
• The best way to celebrate and thank people is to invite them round to your place for a party.
• I called her and I invited her over for tea.

iron out [iron something out] (problems, difficulties, differences, details, faults, misunderstanding, crease, fold) get rid of a problem or find an anwer for it

• They managed to iron out all the problems with the new production process.
• The system has been tested in the UK for the last 9 months to iron out any teething problems.
• We still have a long way to go before we iron out all the current financial difficulties.

For other verbs and to get more examples build your own lists in the Lists section.