to abide by sth	to accept or obey sth (the law, rules, regulations)
to be absorbed in sth	to be very interested in sth and give all your attention to it
to account for sth/the fact that	to explain (often in academic essay titles)
in the aftermath of sth	in the period of time following a disaster, tragedy or a war
aside from sth/sb	except for/apart from + noun or -ing form
a ban on sth/doing sth	an official prohibition
to be barred from somewhere/doing sth	to officially be prevented from entering a place or from practising medicine or law
to be based on sth	if one thing is based on another thing, the former is developed from/is founded on the latter
to bombard sb with questions	to ask sb a lot of questions
to brag about sth	to proudly talk about sth in such a way that other people find it annoying
to cater for	to provide things/a service that sb needs or wants (to cater for all tastes)
to collide with sth/sb	to crash into
to comment on sth/sb	to give an opinion about sth/sb
to comply with sth	to do what you have to do or what you have been asked to do (for a rule, decision)
to confide in sb (about sth)	to tell sb sth which is private or personal
to cope with sth	to deal with a difficult situation or problem
to be credited with sth/doing sth	to be considered responsible for sth good/important
to be cruel to sb/sth	to do/say sth that hurts a person/animal
a cutback in sth	a reduction in the numbers of sth or the amount of money spent on sth
an asset to sth	very valuable to sth (company or institution)