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25. Idioms

February 17, 2010 by admin  
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S. No. Idioms Meanings Use
1 A brain wave Bright idea A brain wave led him to a great success
2 A Child’s play Thing, which easily done It is not a Child play to get position in the exanimation.
3 A close fisted person Miser man He is a close fisted person and he will not give any donation.
4 A close shave (A narrow shave) Near the accident It was a close shave but the driver applied the brakes at once
5 A casting vote The decisive vote The chairman used his casting vole in favor of the proposition.
6 A bone of contention The cause of quarrel  The property is the bone of contention among the brothers
7 An apple of discord The cause of quarrel Kashmir is the apple of discord between Pakistan and India.
8 A.B.C Basic Knowledge He does not know even A.B.C of botany
9 A bed of roses Very Comfortable Life is not a bed of roses. It is also a bed of thorns
10 A blue stocking A literary woman She is a blue stocking and is respected among literary circles.
11 A curtain lecture A Scolding by wife  He is upset. Perhaps he has received a curtain lecture today.
12 A far cry from Great distance It is a far cry from India’s preaching peace in Asia.
13 A fish out of water To feel uncomfortable She is feeling like a fish out of water in the college hostel.
14 A Jail bird Habitual criminal He is a jail bird and does not feel happy outside the prison
15 A man of letters A man versed in literature He is a man of letters and often remains in library
16 A man of straw A weak person He is a man at straw and cannot face opposition.
17 A near miss Failure near the success His defeat is no doubt a near miss
18 A narrow escape Escape at a great risk He had a narrow escape from an accident yesterday
19 A rotten egg A black sheep A rotten egg spoils the whole lot.
20 A black sheep Spoiled person A black sheep ruins the whole society.
21 Again and again Repeatedly The students must do the difficult exercise again and again.
22 A wild goose chase A hopeless adventure Wise men do not indulge in wild goose chase
23 Add fuel to fire To increase the conflict The speech of the labor Leader added fuel to the fire and the factory workers went on a strike
24 Add Insult to Injury To humiliate further He called him thief and added insult to injury by saying that his father was a criminal
25 After one’s own heart Exactly what one likes He furnishes this house after his own heart.
26 All and sundry Everybody He invited all and sundry in his marriage ceremony
27 All at sea At a loss He was all at sea in his adventure
28 All in all Having full authority The principal is all in all in the college affairs
29 Aladdin’s lamp To have magical powers We do not have Aladdin’s lamp to solve the problems of our country
30 Alpha and Omega Complete The alpha and Omega of Islam is that God is one and Muhammad (Peace tie upon him) is his prophet.
31 Apple of one’s eye Very dear She is apple of her mother’s eyes
32 Animal spirit Physical strength I the players exhibited animal spirit during the last match.
33 An axe to grind A selfish and to serve He is selfish and will not help anyone unless he has axe to grind.
34 An eye wash A mere show His expression of grief on the death of his rival is only an eye was.
35 An open script A known secret It is an open secret that leaders are running the country
36 At a loose end Without work He is at a loose and after his retirement
37 At a stone’s throw Quite near My college is at is a stone’ throws from my house
38 At arm’s length At a distance You must keep the bad boys at your arm’s length.
39 At daggers drawn Having enmity The two brothers are at daggers drawn since tile death of their fate
40 At large At liberty The police reported that the murder was at large in the city.
41 At tile eleventh hour At the latest time The meeting was cancelled at the eleventh hour
42 At home To be perfect He is quite at home on computer
43 At the finger’s tip To be perfect She has mathematics at her finger’s tip
44 Above head and soul very deep He loves his children above his head and soul
45 At the mercy of Purely on the wish of other He is at the mercy of judge
46 Back out Shrink back He promised to help me but at the last moment he backed out.
47 Bad blood Ill feelings The politician have created bad blood among the people
48 Bad debt Irrecoverable loan He was ruined in his business because of bed debt
49 Bag and baggage With all the belongings He left the city with bad and baggage
50 Be coast down Be in low spirit He is coast down these days because of this failure in examination
51 Bear the brunt of Endure the main force The manager has to bear the brunt on the dismissal of labor leader
52 Bear the palm To be the winner He bore the palm in spite of the various difficulties in his way.
53 Beard the lion You suppose I cannot say anything against the officer. It is just like to bread the lion in his den.
54 Beat about the bush Talk irrelevant You are wasting my time by beating about the bush.
55 Beat the air Useless efforts He is totally failure. He is again trying but in fact he is beating the air.
56 Better half Wife The husband had a complete trust in his better half.
57 Bird of passage A roomer He will never settle down on one place. He is a bird of passage.
58 Bird’s eye view A general view We had a bird’s eye view of Islamabad from Shakespearian.
59 Black and blue Extremely The teachers can not punish the students black and blue.
60 Birds of a feather People of the same taste Birds of the feather flock together.
61 Blow hot and cold Praise and blame alternately We cannot trust him. He blows hot and cold in the same breath.
62 Blow one’s own Trumpet self praise He does not listen to anyone. He always blows his own trumpet.
63 Blue blood Noble blood She is the real princess. She has blue blood in her veins.
64 Bolt from the blue Unexpected misfortune A bolt from the blue stopped him to go abroad.
65 Bosses friend Very close friend I can never imagine betraying my bosom friend.
66 Bread and butter Material interest Nowadays, people only think about their bread and butter.
67 Break the ice Start talking The company was sitting silent. One of us broke the ice and we started talking.
68 Break the news Convey unexpected news Some on broke the news of his failure in his business.
69 Break the ground Explore new ways The genius always breaks a new ground and adds to the comforts of many.
70 Bring down the house Earn great praise His brilliant performance brought down the house.
71 Bring home Make one realize His forceful speech brought home the true meaning of democracy.
72 Bring to book call to account We can control the crimped if the criminals are brought to book.
73 Broken health Ill health His broken health is due to over work and depression.
74 Bring to light To reveal His misdeeds must be brought to light.
75 Broken read one Who does not help in need I asked for his help but he proved to be a broken reed
76 Burn mid night Oil to work hard He burnt mid night oil and got first position.
77 Burn one’s boats To have no means to retreat He has burnt his boats and is determined to stay here.
78 Burn one’s fingers Come to harm Keep away from bad friends. Otherwise you will burn your fingers
79 Burn the candle on both End to spend lavishly He will become poor soon as he is burning the candle on the both ends.
80 Burning question An important problem Unemployment in USA has I become a burning question.
81 Bury the hatch patch Up the quarrel It is high time to bury the hatch and try to live like friends.
82 By and By Gradually He will be convinced by and by.
83 By and large On the whole I disagree with some of his points but by and large his speech was excellent.
84 By fits and starts Irregularly Those who work by fits and starts seldom succeed in life.
85 By hook and by crook By right or wrong means The students want to pass the examination by hook or by crook.
86 By leaps and bounds Readily He has made progress by leaps and bounds.
87 Be cut to the quick To be shocked He cut to the quick when his friend accused him of theft.
88 Be done Up tired I am quite done up after a five mile walk
89 Call in question To doubt The doctors call in question about the latest medicine.
90 Call names To abuse The boys began to weep when his playmate called him names.
91 Call to account To demand explanation The principal called the naughtily boys to account and fined them.
92 Call to mind To remember We must call to mind while deciding about future relations.
93 Carry one’s point To succeed in gaining the point He is a clever man and will use all means to carry his point.
94 Carry the day Win the victory His approach was a great success.
95 Carry weight To have influence The point of president carries weight.
96 Cast a slur upon To put stain Your bad habits will cast a star on the good name of you family
97 Cast a spell To impress His personality cast a spell over the audience.
98 Cat and dog life Full of quarrels The husband and wife are leading a cat and dog life. They could never realize each other’s point of view.
99 Cat’s paw A person used as a tool The mind who is arrested by the police is merely a cat’s paw.
100 Cock and bull story Incredible story No sensible person will believe in your cock and bull stories.
101 Off with flying colors Succeed with honor He passed the examination with flying colors.
102 Come to a head To reach the peak Their differences have come to ahead. There cannot be compromise.
103 Come to Blows to begin fighting There was exchange of hot words between them and they came to blows.
104 Come to grief Meet with disaster You will come to grief if you do not improve your position.
105 Crocodile tears False tears He is shedding crocodile tears over the death of his rival.
106 Cry for the moon Desire for impossible His dream to become a doctor is nothing but cry for a moon
107 Cry over spilt milk Useless regret He was weeping on his failure but it is useless to cry over split milk.
108 Cry wolf False alarm The Indian leaders often cry wolf to get more weapons from west
109 Cut a sorry figure Poor performance He cut a very sorry figure in the annual examination.
110 Curry favor Get favor by flattery A confident person will never curry favor. He depends upon talents.
111 Cool as a cucumber Perfectly composed He remains cool as a cucumber in all the circumstances.
112 Dance attendance On to flatter A lazy worker will always dance attendance on his officer.
113 Bark horse A Person with hidden qualities He proved a dark horse and won all the prizes in the game.
114 Day in and day out Day after day He worked day in and day out and achieved his target.
115 Dead letter law Out of force Capital punishment is a dead letter in some countries.
116 Die a dog’s Death die in shame Traitors die a dog death and they deserve it.
117 Die in harness To die on active duty Johnson died in harness.
118 Do away With to discard The modern society has done away with many old customs.
119 Do for To serve the purpose We don’t have place. This room will do for the reading room.
120 Do the trick To get one’s own interest His tears did the trick and he got money from his mother.
121 Do With To deep Union He has nothing to do with my affairs.
122 Double faced Deceitful Never trust a double faced person. He can never be sincere.
123 Down and out Extremely helpless We must help those who are down and out in the society.
124 Draw a blank To be failure He went to his friend but came back draw a blank.
125 Drawn on one’s Memory to recall He drew on his memory and remembered his old friend at last.
126 Drawn game A match in which no side wins The match between colleges and school teams was a drawn game.
127 Dutch courage Courage due to wine He moved the heavy stone but Dutch courage.
128 Eat one’s words Retract one seed Think before you speak lest you should have to eat your own word.
129 End in smoke Come to nothing He tried his best but all his efforts ended in smoke.
130 Face the music Bear the consequences If you torture the dog, you will face the music.
131 Fair play Clean dealing I believe info air play. I never play tricks upon my friends.
132 Fall a prey To be the victim of A simple person falls on easy prey by the criminals.
133 Fall foul Of to quarrel The two friends fell foul over a minor matter.
134 Fall short Diminish He could not continue his studies because he fell short of move.
135 Feather one’s nest To provide for own self Some people always feather their own nest and they never care about the benefits of others.
136 Few and far between Rare Your visits are few and far between.
137 Finds faults wit To blame some one We do not find our own faults; we find faults with the people.
138 First and foremost Of primary importance Our first and foremost duty is to think about the interest of country.
139 Flesh and blood Human nature A man of flesh and blood cannot escape from mistakes.
140 Flog a dead horse Useless efforts It is no use flogging a dead horse because time cannot come back.
141 For good Once for all He has left this country for good.
142 French leave Leave without permission He was terminated because he enjoyed French leaves all the time.
143 From hand to mouth To be very poor He has a large family to support and lives from hand to mouth.
144 Get into hot water To be in difficulties He got into hot water because of his repeated mistakes.
145 Get rid of Get free from It is really difficult to get rid of foolish habits.
146 Get wind of To hear rumors He got wind of the conspiracy against him.
147 Gird ones loins To prepare oneself Gird up your loins and face the situation badly.
148 Give a false coloring to To present in wrong way He tried to defame me by giving false coloring to what I said?
149 Give a good account of To perform well He gave a good account of himself during his studies.
150 Give a handle to To give an excuse Do not give a handle to anyone to defame you.
151 Give and take Mutual settlement Many problems can be solved by give and take policy.
152 Give loose rein to To leave without restraint He gave a loose rein to his passions and ultimately ruined.
153 Give oneself airs Self praise He gives himself airs on his knowledge of English.
154 Give the cold shoulder To treat with disrespect He gave me a cold shoulder when I asked him for help.
155 Give the devil his due (share) To admit good things of a bad man We must give the devil his due and admit that Hitler did much for his country.
156 Give up the ghost To die He gave up the ghost after a long illness.
157 Give went to To give expression He gave vent to his emotions in a flood of tears.
158 Go a long way To a great length His help will go a long way in solving our problems.
159 Go hand in hand To be intimate Hard work and success go hand in hand.
160 Go through Discuss in detail We have not gone through the matter yet.
161 Gift of job A good speaker The teachers must have the gift of job.
162 Hair breadth escape A narrow escape He was near the wheels of a bus but was lucky to have a herbiest escape from the accident.
163 Hand and glove Very close They are hand and glove with each other.
164 Hang fire To remain in suspense The case has been hanging fire since long.
165 Hang in the balance To be undecided He hung in balance and could not do anything to save himself.
166 Hard and fast Definite There are no hard and fast rules to control the beggars.
167 Hard nut to crack Difficult problem The problem of water logging is really a hard nut to crack.
168 Heart and soul With full devotion He put his heart and soul in his work and succeeded at last.
169 Here and there Every where The parents searched Lucy Gray here and there.
170 Hit below the belt To cause harm by unfair means Only a coward will hid below the belt.
171 Hold brief Argue in favor An honest man will never hold brief for a criminal.
172 Hold ones head high To be proud He held his heads high while talking to his rival.
173 Hold out To offer The Minister did not hold out any promise to the delegation.
174 Hold water Beer examination Your arguments are not sound and will not hold water
175 Holdup ones head To keep the head up An upright man always holds up his head in all the conditions.
176 Hue and cry A great noise The man raised hue and cry and all the people rushed to help him.
178 Hope against hope Very little hop A man seldom loses hopes. He even hopes against hope.
179 Keep a straight face Not to show concern It is difficult to keep a straight face when one is disturbed.
180 Keep abreast of To have up to date knowledge A doctor has to keep abreast of the latest method of treatment.
181 Keep an eye on To keep a watch The teachers keep an eye on the naughty boys.
182 Keep ones head Mental balance He was in great irritation but he kept his head.
183 Deep at arm’s length Avoid close contact It is better to keep the strangers at arm’s length.
184 Keep the ball rolling  Do ones part in talk He continued talking and kept the ball rolling during the meeting.
185 Keep the wolf away from door Escape from poverty His small income hardly enables him to keep the wolf away from his door.
186 Keep to the point To remain precise He kept to the point during his interview.
187 Keep up appearance To keep white collar He was ruined in business but he kept up appearance.
188 Kick the bucket To die Many innocent persons kick the buck during the strikes.
189 Kith and kin Near relatives We must look after our poor kith and kin
190 Kick up a row To pick a quarrel The losing team kicked up a row and walked out of the ground.
191 Laugh in ones sleeve To enjoy the misery of others Do not laugh in your sleeves over the miseries of others.
192 Laughing stock Object of joke He became the laughing stock in the class because of his funny style.
193 Lame excuse Unsatisfactory reason He has always some lame excuse for coming late in the class.
194 Lead by the nose To influence easily He has no opinion of his own, you can lead by the nose.
195 Learn by heart To, remember The child has learnt many poems by heart.
196 Leave in the lurch To desert in time of need One must not leave ones friends in the lurch.
197 Leave no stone unturned Make all efforts He left no stone unturned but he could not succeed in life.
198 Lend an ear  Pay attention The students must lend their ear to the voice of teacher.
199 Let the cat out of bag To disclose the secret He promised to let the cat out of bag but he never discloses it.
200 Lick the dust To be defeated You will have to lick the dust if you will not be pardon.
201 Liens share The biggest share India got the lion’s share of assets during partition.
202 Lose ones head Lose the mental balance He short tempered and loses his head very often.
203 Maiden speech First speech It was his maiden speech in the assembly but he did well.
204 Make a clean breast of Disclose fully He made a clean breast of everything he had done.
205 Make a mountain of mole hill Exaggerate Do not believe him; he always makes a mountain of a mole hill.
206 Make amends for To compensate He is working hard to make amends for his failure in the exam.
207 Make both ends meet To live within sources He has a small income. He cannot make both ends meet.
208 Make faces Make grimaces It is unmannerly to make faces.
209 Make good To restore He promised to work hard and make good next time.
210 Move heaven and earth To do impossible He moved heaven and earth to win the election but failed.
211 Now and then Occasionally He comes in the college only now and then.
212 Null and void Ineffective The high court declared the orders null and void.
213 Odds and ends Remnants They picked up all the odds and ends after the panic.
214 Off and on With intervals He has been visiting us off and on for the last two years.
215 Off hand Without study He is a great scholar and can speak off hand on any topic.
216 On one’s last legs Near the end His lecture is on the last legs and soon there would be break.
217 Once in a blue moon Extremely rare Wishes never come true once in a blue moon.
218 Out and out Thoroughly He is gentleman out and out.
219 Over and above Besides The workers of the factory get bonus over and above their wages.
220 Over head and ears Deeply He is in debt over head and ears, or he is love head and ears.
221 Part and parcel An essential part A reading room is the part and parcel of a library.
222 Pass away To die He passed away at the age of eighty.
223 Pay lip service Act without sincerity We are mere paying lip service to our country.
224 Pay through the nose To pay dearly You will have to pay through your nose if you do not realize it.
225 Play a double game Doubled faced He is playing a double game. Please be aware of him.
226 Play truant Stay away He is in habit of playing truant from the school.
227 Pocket an Insult To bear the disgrace He could not hit back and thus had to pocket the insult.
228 Poke one’s nose To interfere Do not poke your nose in the affairs of other people.
229 Poison one’s ears To misguide Someone has poisoned the ears of his officer against him.
230 Pros and cons For and against You must submit your report with all the pros and cons.
231 Pull along face To show grief He is pulling a long face because he has lost his money today.
232 Put the cart before the horse To reverse the natural order You cannot win the game by putting the cart before the horse.
233 Put a spoke in one’s wheel To oppose a person’s plan Do not put a spoke in anyone’s wheel merely for the fun of it.
234 Plume oneself on Be proud He always plumes himself and does not realize the facts.
235 Rainy day Period of trouble We must provide something against the rainy days.
236 Read between the lines To find the hidden meaning Try to read between the lines otherwise you will be in trouble.
237 Red handed On the spot The thief was caught red handed.
238 Red letter day A day of delight Day of peace 21st September is a red day in the world.
239 Red tape Official formalities The red tape has become a source of hatred among the people.
240 Rest the oars (Laurels) To stop progress You must keep your oars (Laurels) in action if you want success.
241 Ride the high horse To feel pride You will be in trouble if you go on riding the high horse.
242 Rolling stone Who does stick to one chance A rolling stone gathers no moss.
243 Run amuck Panic The bull ran amuck and attacked a number of people.
244 Run down In poor condition His health has run down because of overwork.
245 Run short Having less quantity He has run short of money.
246 Royal road An easy way There is no royal road to success.
247 See eye to eye with To be of the same opinion I see eye to eye with you in this matter.
248 Show the white feather To be coward He could not fight anymore and showed the white feather.
249 Small talk Gossip The quests made small talk after the tea party.
250 Stop Short Stop suddenly The horsemen stopped short and listened the voices.
251 Take a fancy to Have a great desire He has taken a fancy to your children.
252 Take a leaf out of someone’s book To follow a person You should take a leaf out of your friend’s book and act upon it.
253 Take to one’s heels Run away As the policeman appeared, the thief took to his heels.
254 Take to task To call to account The teacher took him to ask for not doing his homework.
255 Talk at random Talk without any aim A good teacher seldom talks at random in the class.
256 Talk shop To talk about one’s own business He talks shop most of the time, when he comes here.
257 The last straw The final limit The death of his father was a last straw and he could not overcome the problems.
258 Through thick and thin In all the conditions He stood by me through thick and thin.
259 Through cold water upon To discourage Please do not throw cold water upon me. I am sure to gain.
260 Time and again Again and again He is applying for a job time and gain.
261 To be all ears Very attentive Please continue your statement. I am all ears to it.
262 To be in a fix In trouble He is in a fix about the future of his business.
263 To be in the bad books To be in disfavor He is not in the good books of his teacher. He is in the bad books.
264 To be under a cloud To be in trouble He is under cloud nowadays, his business is failure.
265 To be under a thumb Under full control He is under the thumb of his wife, he cannot do anything.
266 To bid fair To augur well His health is very good and he bids fair to live long.
267 To carry the day To win He carried the day by winning the trophy.
268 Tooth and nail Fiercely They fought tooth and nail and won at last.
269 Turn a deaf ear to Not to listen He turned a deaf ear to may request.
270 Turn down To reject The mercy appeal was turned down by the President.
271 Turn one’s coat Change the ideas He is selfish and turns his coat off and on.
272 Turn the table To reverse the position He turned the tables by proving, the charges false.
273 Turn turtle Turn upside down The bus struck the tree and turned turtle.
274 Turn up To arrive The students did not turn up for medical checkup.
275 To make bold To venture He made a bold and caught the thief red handed.
276 Ups and down Good and bad fortune There were many ups and down in his life.
277 Up to the mark Equal to the standard He is up to the mark and is sure to qualify the test.
278 Up in arms Engaged in rebel The people are up in arms against the state.
279 White elephant Un Profitable thing Hospitals have become white Elephant for the Government.
280 White lie A harmless lie She often tells a white lie to turn the situation.
281 Wear and tear Loss in value The damaged roads caused great wear and tear to the vehicles.
282 With open arms With affection He always receives me with open arms.
283 Yeoman’s service Help in need Sir Syed Ahmed Khan did Yeoman’s service in spreading education in Pakistan.
284 Achilles heel Weak point Chemistry is proving to be my Achilles heel.

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