iron out — solve or remove problems or difficulties
phrasal verbB2IELTS 5.5+neutralcommon
to fix small problems or settle disagreements so that everything works smoothly
Say it like a native
Textbook We still need to resolve a few minor outstanding issues.
Native We've just got a few details to iron out.
'Iron out' naturally means smooth away small problems. 'Resolve minor outstanding issues' is corporate.
Pattern: iron out + noun (problem/difference/issue)
In use
- We need to iron out a few details before launching the new project.work
- In my opinion, it's important to discuss any misunderstandings openly so that you can iron out problems before they get worse.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ We need to iron out about the schedule.
✓ We need to iron out the schedule.
'Iron out + thing' directly — no 'about'.
Common collocations
iron out + problem— the details, a few issues, the kinks, our differences
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'work out' (which can mean exercise or solve), but 'iron out' is only for fixing problems or disagreements.