hold back
To stay back or away; show unwillingness.
The visitor tried to gel the child to come to her, but he held back.
John held back from social activity because he felt embarrassed with people.
To keep someone in place; prevent from acting.
The police held back the crowd.
keep back
To refrain or be restrained from entering; remain back.
The police had a hard time keeping back the crowd when the astronauts came to town after walking on the moon.
kick back
To pay money illegally for favorable contract arrangements.
I will do it if you kick back a few hundred for my firm.
kickback
rake-off
Money paid illegally for favorable treatment.
He was arrested for making kickback payments.
last straw
straw that breaks the camel's back
A small trouble which follows other troubles and makes one lose patience and be unable to bear them.
Bill had a bad day in school yesterday. He lost his knife on the way home, then he fell down, and when he broke a shoe lace, that was the last straw and he began to cry.
Mary didn't like it when the other girls said she was proud and lazy, but when they said she told fibs it was the straw that broke the camel's back and she told the teacher.
When John asked to borrow money from me for the fourth time, it was the last straw. I finally told him that I couldn’t lend him any more.
I can’t believe that my roommate left the door to our apartment unlocked again. It’s the last straw; I’m moving out.
like water off a duck's back
Without changing your feelings or opinion; without effect.
Advice and correction roll off him like water off a duck's back.
Many people showed him they didn't like what he was doing, but their disapproval passed off him like water off a duck's back.
look back
To review the past; think of what has happened.
As John looked back, his life seemed good to him.
Murphy looked back on his early struggles as having made him feel especially alive.
When Ed applied for a job and asked the school to recommend him, the principal looked back over his records.
monkey on one's back
An unsolved or nagging problem.
Иметь серьезную проблему, которая мешает преуспеть в чем-либо; иметь очень серьезные неприятности.
"My math course is a real monkey on my back," Jack complained.
Seven games without scoring a goal was a monkey on the back of the famous soccer player.
Семь игр без забивания гола были серьезной проблемой для известного футболиста.