Understanding health-related idioms and phrasal verbs can enhance your English communication, especially when discussing health and wellness. This post introduces 20 commonly used expressions, helping you to better express health-related concerns and situations in everyday conversations.
1. Under the weather
Meaning: Feeling unwell
Example: She’s feeling under the weather today.
2. In good shape
Meaning: Physically fit
Example: He is in good shape after exercising.
3. Kick the habit
Meaning: Quit a bad habit
Example: He decided to kick the smoking habit.
4. Break out
Meaning: Develop a skin condition
Example: She broke out in a rash.
5. Come down with
Meaning: Start to suffer from an illness
Example: He’s come down with a cold.
6. Fight off
Meaning: Resist an illness
Example: She’s fighting off the flu.
7. Run down
Meaning: Feeling exhausted
Example: He’s feeling run down lately.
8. Bounce back
Meaning: Recover quickly
Example: She bounced back from her illness.
9. Pass out
Meaning: Faint
Example: He passed out from the heat.
10. Pull through
Meaning: Survive a serious illness
Example: She pulled through the surgery successfully.
11. Shake off
Meaning: Get rid of an illness
Example: He can’t shake off his cold.
12. Feel up to
Meaning: Feel well enough to do something
Example: She doesn’t feel up to going out today.
13. Take a turn for the worse
Meaning: Health deteriorates
Example: His condition took a turn for the worse.
14. On the mend
Meaning: Recovering
Example: She’s on the mend after her surgery.
15. Catch a bug
Meaning: Contract a minor illness
Example: He caught a stomach bug last week.
16. Come around
Meaning: Regain consciousness
Example: He came around after fainting.
17. Let up
Meaning: Pain or symptoms decrease
Example: The pain let up after medication.
18. Come to
Meaning: Regain consciousness
Example: She came to after the accident.
19. Put on weight
Meaning: Gain weight
Example: He put on weight during the holidays.
20. Throw up
Meaning: Vomit
Example: She threw up after eating bad food.
