cement	cement
to cement relations	umocnić stosunki
brick wall	mur z cegieł
to come up against a brick wall	to not be able to continue an activity or do something you want to do/ to come up against a barrier
to put a ceiling	ustanowić limit
glass ceiling	an invisible barrier that stops poeple from rising to top position at work
to go through the roof	about prices - to increase in a rapid, uncontrolled fashion
to go through the roof	about people - to loose one's temper
to hit the roof	to lose one's temper / can also be used about prices going high/
to live in ivory tower	not to know about the unpleasan and ordinary things that happen in life
to be a tower of strength	to be extremely strong (in emotional rather than physical sense)
to towe above sth/sb	to be either outstandingly tall or outstanding in some other positive way
to be a gateway to	to provide access to
to close/shut (open) the door for sb	zamknąć(otworzyć) przed kimś drzwi (in methaphorical sense)
to close the door on one's past	zamknąć za sobą przeszłość
to do sth through/by the back door	to do sth unofficially
to provide/hold the key to	nieść klucz do... (in methaphorical sense)
to be the key to success	być kluczem do sukcesu
key figure	gruba ryba, szycha, ważna osobistość; główny bohater
key role	głowna/ważna rola (strong collocation)
key decision	głowna/ważna decyzja (strong collocation)
key reason	główny/ważny powód (strong collocation)
key difference	głowna/ważna różnica (strong collocation)
key element	główny składnik (strong collocation)
key factor	główny czynnik (strong collocation)
key feature	główna cecha (strong collocation)
key issue	głowna/ważna sprawa (strong collocation)
key moment	kluczowy moment (strong collocation)
key part	główna część/rola (strong collocation)
key player	główny/ważny gracz (strong collocation)
key point	ważny punkt (strong collocation)
key question	kluczowe pytanie (strong collocation)
key area	główny teren (strong collocation)
the roof fell in on one's world	"ich świat się zawalił"
to be atower of strength	to be enormously supportive
through/by the back door	in an unofficial way
there is/ it has a ceiling of	cannot be more than
has gone through the roof	has risen dramatically
cements a marriage	makes a marriage stronger
the gateway to	the ideal place for starting to explore
the key decision	the most important decision
in an ivory tower	in one university or another (and find it difficult to cope in the real world)
has been locked in a legal battle	has been ...(involved in) a legal battle
to be met with a wall of silence	to be met with ... (total silence)
to lay the foundations for	to... (provide the starting point for)
her eyes were locked on mine...	her eyes were ... (firmly fixed on mine)
to find one's marriage in ruins	to find one's marriage ... (had completely broken down)
to clean up its own back yard	to put things right in its own immediate sphere of influence