speak or write in a dull

in a roundabout way

be biased(heed and trust only one side)

pound the table and stand up

as far removed as heaven is from earth(poles apart)

a phase or two

not a single armoured warrior remains

frightened out of one's wits

as right as a trivet(safe and sound)

animal courage(reckless courage; foolhardiness)

dead poor

Gunfire licked the heavens.

a phase or two(half a word)

make frivolous remarks about a woman's appearance(be overcritical; find fault with)

full of flaws

a friend in earlier days when one was poor(friends in days of poverty)

a person's overstimating his strength

make a show of readiness to fight

have no fixed abode because of constant traveling(float about free as duckweed)

fabrication founded upon nothing(dream up)