Idioms Quiz: Understanding Common Expressions

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Questions and Answers

What does the idiom 'give in' imply?

To intensify efforts

To produce a result

To attract attention

To yield or surrender (correct)

What is the meaning of the idiom 'rest on laurels'?

To take a break from work

To be complacent and stop trying (correct)

To be overly confident

To celebrate achievements

Which idiom refers to undergoing any risk?

By fits and starts

Go through fire and water (correct)

Put up with

Reading between the lines

The phrase 'to pay through the nose' means what?

To pay an extremely high price Signup and view all the answers

What does 'talking through a hat' mean?

Talking nonsense or meaningless things Signup and view all the answers

The idiom 'turn a deaf ear' signifies what action?

To ignore or disregard something Signup and view all the answers

What does 'set the record straight' suggest?

To provide clarification and correct any misunderstandings Signup and view all the answers

What does the idiom 'the green-eyed monster' refer to?

Feelings of jealousy Signup and view all the answers

What does the phrase 'too fond of one’s own voice' imply about a person's behavior?

They enjoy talking but disregard other opinions. Signup and view all the answers

What is the meaning of 'heart to heart talk'?

A straightforward and honest discussion. Signup and view all the answers

When someone is described as 'wet behind the ears', what does it indicate about them?

They are new and inexperienced. Signup and view all the answers

What does the expression 'to break the ice' mean?

To initiate a conversation in a sociable manner. Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean when something 'spreads like fire'?

It disperses quickly and widely. Signup and view all the answers

What is implied by the phrase 'to eat a humble pie'?

To admit a mistake and show remorse. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'call for' suggest in a conversation?

To demand an action or response. Signup and view all the answers

What does the idiom 'to feel like a fish out of water' describe?

Being in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation. Signup and view all the answers

What does the idiom 'cannot hold a candle to' imply?

To be incapable of comparison Signup and view all the answers

Which idiom means to completely eliminate the possibility of going back?

Burn one’s boat Signup and view all the answers

What action does the phrase 'to take into account' refer to?

Considering facts and circumstances Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean if someone is described as a 'blue-eyed boy'?

Someone who is favored or preferred Signup and view all the answers

What is the implication of the expression 'to drop names'?

To mention well-known people to impress others Signup and view all the answers

What does 'to catch up with' someone mean?

To compete with them Signup and view all the answers

Which idiom suggests asserting authority or making a firm decision?

Putting one’s foot down Signup and view all the answers

What does the idiom 'fall back' signify in a given context?

To move or turn back Signup and view all the answers

What does the idiom 'to take after' mean?

To resemble an older member of family Signup and view all the answers

What is the meaning of 'flying visit'?

Very short visit Signup and view all the answers

Which phrase means to show strong effect?

Telling upon Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean to 'go for the jugular'?

To attack a weaker point during a discussion Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by 'leave high and dry'?

To be abandoned in a difficult situation Signup and view all the answers

Which idiom refers to a useless search?

Wild goose chase Signup and view all the answers

What does 'at one’s wit’s end' signify?

Being so worried that you don’t know what to do Signup and view all the answers

What does 'make a mountain of a molehill' mean?

To make a small issue seem significant Signup and view all the answers

What does the phrase 'keep the wolf away from the door' mean?

To prevent hunger or starvation Signup and view all the answers

Which phrase indicates a controversial issue?

Vexed question Signup and view all the answers

What does 'eat humble pie' mean?

To suffer humiliation or apologize for a mistake Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean to 'take a French leave'?

To leave early without permission Signup and view all the answers

Which idiom represents a strong instinct based on feelings?

Gut feeling Signup and view all the answers

What does the phrase 'bird's eye view' refer to?

A general overview from above Signup and view all the answers

What does 'to set the Thames on fire' imply?

To undertake a heroic or tirelessly extraordinary task Signup and view all the answers

What is indicated by the term 'arm-chair critic'?

Someone who gives advice without practical experience Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Common English Idioms

Heads will roll - Implies that significant changes, often involving dismissals, are coming
Make no bones about - To be frank or straightforward, without hesitation
Take after - To resemble someone in appearance or character, especially a family member
To starve off - To delay or postpone something unpleasant, often by avoiding action
To give a piece of mind - To reprimand or scold someone firmly
Rest on laurels - To become complacent and stop striving for improvement, often after success
Pay through nose - To pay an extremely high price for something
Draw on fancy - To use imagination or creativity
Turn an honest living - To earn a living through legitimate means
Give the game away - To reveal a secret inadvertently or intentionally
Cheek by jowl - Very near or close together, often in a crowded or uncomfortable manner
Give in - To yield to pressure or persuasion or to surrender
Run riot - To act without restraint or control, often causing chaos or damage
Go through fire and water - To undergo any difficulty or risk to achieve something
Talking through hat - Talking nonsense or without any real knowledge or understanding of a topic
Put up with - To tolerate or endure something unpleasant
By fits and starts - To happen in an irregular or inconsistent manner, with periods of activity followed by inactivity
Reading between the lines - To understand the hidden meaning or implication of something that is not explicitly stated
Get the sack - To be dismissed from employment
Pros and cons - Considering all of the advantages and disadvantages of something before making a decision
By leaps and bounds - To progress very quickly and significantly
In the good books - To be in favor with someone, especially a superior or a person in authority
In the long run - Ultimately, over a long period of time
To be always one’s beck and call - To be at someone's disposal, ready to serve them whenever they need
Turn a deaf year - To disregard, ignore, or refuse to listen to someone
At one’s wit’s end - To be so puzzled, confused, or perplexed that you do not know what to do
To fight tooth and nail - To fight in a determined and aggressive way for what you want
The green-eyed monster - Jealousy
Set the record straight - To provide a correct account of something, often to correct a misunderstanding
Good Samaritan - A helpful and compassionate person who assists those in need
Bad blood - Angry feelings or resentment between people
To go to the whole hog - To do something completely or thoroughly, without hesitation
Lay out - To spend money
Laying off - Dismissal from jobs
Leaps and bounds - At a rapid pace
Brought up - Introduced for discussion
Cannot hold a candle to - Cannot be compared to, as the first subject is not of as good quality as the second
Burn one’s boat - To leave no means of return, to make a decision with no chance of going back
Make one’s flesh creep - To horrify or scare someone
Pros and cons - For and against, analysis of all the given facts
To take into account - To consider or factor something in when making a decision
Blow over - To pass off, to subside or die down
Run into - To incur or experience difficulties
Blue-eyed boys - Favorites, people who are treated with special favor by someone in authority
Dropping names - Hinting at high connections, To mention famous people you know or have met in order to impress others
A Red letter day - An important or memorable day
Bone to pick - Cause of quarrel, bone of contention, something to argue about
At stone’s throw - Very near or close to something
Struck a chill to the heart - To arouse fear or make someone afraid
End in a fiasco - A total or utter failure
Fall back - To turn or move back, to retreat
Turn up one’s nose at - To reject or despise something
Turn one’s head - To become arrogant or conceited, often due to success or praise
High and dry - Negleted, to leave someone helpless or in a difficult situation without support
Take for granted - To accept readily or to presuppose as certainly true; to fail to show appreciation
Mince matters - To confuse issues or mix facts by being vague or unclear intentionally
Currying favour with - Ingratiating, trying too hard to please somebody for personal gain
Set one’s face against - Oppose strongly or firmly
Strom in a tea cup - Commotion, angry or worry over a trivial matter, a fuss about nothing
Putting one’s foot down - Asserting one's authority, taking a firm stand and refusing to yield
The man in the street - An ordinary man, a common man, representing the average person
Catch up with - To compete with, to reach the same level as someone else
Fight to the bitter end - To fight a losing battle or to continue a struggle despite knowing it is hopeless
Throw down a glove - To challenge someone to a contest or fight
Birds of same feather - Persons of the same character, people who are similar in their behavior or beliefs
Take exception - To object to something, to disagree or be offended
High handed - Using authority in an unreasonable or overbearing way
Too fond of one’s own voice - To like talking without wanting to listen to other people, very selfish
By leaps and bounds -. Rapidly, at a swift speed, with great improvements
An open book - Straightforward and honest dealings, someone whose thoughts and intentions are easy to understand
Fall short - Fail to meet expectations or have no effect
Heart to heart talk - A frank and honest conversation about personal feelings
Give the game away - Give out the secret unintentionally
Take cue from - To copy what someone did in the past in order to be successful
Call for - To ask or request something
Out of the question - Undesirable or not worth discussing
Run into - To meet someone accidentally
End up in something - Come to nothing or be useless, to end up in a bad situation
Spread like fire - Spread rapidly, to quickly become widespread
Ins and outs - Full details or intimate knowledge of something
Dropping like flies - Collapsing in large numbers, dying or failing rapidly
Rat race - Fierce competition for power or success, often in a demanding and stressful environment
Hard nut to crack - A difficult task or problem
See eye to eye - To think in the same way, to agree with someone
Put across - To communicate your ideas or feelings successfully, to make something clear and understandable to others
To have second thoughts - To reconsider a decision or plan
Not my cup of tea - Not what somebody likes or is interested in, something that is not appealing
To break the ice - To start a conversation, to make people feel more at ease in a social situation
To eat a humble pie - To say or show sorry for a mistake that one made, to admit fault and express regret
To add fuel to fire - To worsen a situation, to incite or make something worse
To burn one’s fingers - To get physically hurt, to make a mistake that has unpleasant consequences
At the eleventh hour - At the last moment, just before it is too late
To feel like a fish out of water - To be in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar situation, not at ease
To foam at one’s mouth - To be very angry or enraged
Send packing - To tell somebody firmly or rudely to go away, to terminate their service
Kick up a row - Make great fuss, to complain loudly about something
Wet behind the ears - Young and without experience, naïve
To talk someone over - To convince someone to agree, to persuade
Have a finger in every pie - To be meddlesome, to be involved in or have influence over many different activities
To take after - To resemble an older member of a family
Flying visit - A very short visit
Telling upon - Showing effectively, having a strong effect
Kith and kin - Relatives or close friends
Part and parcel - An important or essential part of something
Beat about the bush - Circumlocution, to avoid talking specifically about something
Carry out - To complete a task or plan
Take fancy - To attract or please somebody
Snake in the grass - A hidden enemy, a person who is secretly trying to cause harm
Make a mountain of a mole hill - To exaggerate a minor problem, to make something seem much more serious than it really is
Spill the beans - To reveal the secret information, to give away confidential information
Make amends for - To compensate the loss, to try to make up for something bad that you have done
Leave high and dry - To leave alone to work, to leave someone in a difficult situation without help or money
Make believe - To pretend that something is true, to feign something in order to deceive
Go for the jugular - Attack all out, to attack somebody’s weaker point during a discussion
Keep a level head - To remain calm and sensible in a difficult situation
Under the weather - Sick, not feeling well
At loggerheads - In strong disagreement, to be in a conflict or dispute
Go Dutch - To divide the cost of something equally, to pay for one's own share
Alma mater - Institution where one got education, the place of learning where one studied
A closefisted man - A miser, a person who is unwilling to spend money
As draft as a brush - Very silly, lacking intelligence or common sense
Rise with the lark - Get up early, to get out of bed very early in the morning
At one’s wit’s end - To be so worried by a problem that you don’t know what to do next
Make a beeline - Rush, to go straight towards something as quick as you can
Wild goose chase - A useless search, an attempt to find something that is impossible to find
A man of letters - A literary person
Horse sense - Basic common sense, practical intelligence and good judgement
Shot in the arm - Something that gives encouragement or a boost of confidence
Catch time by the forelock - Seize opportunity, to act quickly and decisively
Get on nerves - Annoying, irritating, causing someone to feel frustrated or stressed
Clean hands - Innocent, having done nothing wrong, free from guilt or fault
A golden mean - Middle course between two extremes, a moderate approach that avoids extremes
Vexed question - A controversial issue, a topic that causes debate and disagreement
Keep the wolf away from the door - To keep off starvation, to have enough money or food to survive
Out of sorts - Ill or sick, upset, not feeling well physically or emotionally
Gut feeling - A strong instinct, a feeling about something that is based on emotions rather than logic
Finish with something - To be through, to have something at the end, to stop doing something
Red-letter day - An important day, a day that is memorable for a special event
A close fisted man - Miser, a person who is unwilling to spend money
To set the Thames on fire - Do a heroic deed, perform a work that needs a strenuous effort
Eat humble pie - To say sorry for mistakes, to suffer humiliation, to admit fault
Play ducks and drakes - Spend lavishly, to waste or squander money
Be taken aback - Shocked or surprised, to be taken by surprise
Lay it on thick - An exaggeration, to talk about somebody or something in a way that is more impressive or important than they really are
Bird’s eye view - An overview, a general view from above, a perspective that is not detailed
To win laurels - To earn great prestige, to achieve great success and recognition
In the soup - To be in trouble
Draw the line - To set a limit, to refuse to go beyond a particular point
A bee hive - A busy place, a place of great activity
To cut the Gordian knot - To perform a difficult task, to solve a complex problem in a decisive way
Take a French leave - Being absent without permission, to leave a gathering or event without saying goodbye
Arm-chair critic - A person who gives advice based on theory not on practice, a person who criticizes from a distance without experiencing the situation
A chip of the old block - An experienced old man
Feather your nest - To make yourself richer, especially by spending money on yourself that should be spent on something else
Throw up cards - To give in, to blow away the plan
Vote with your feet - Showing your disapproval, to express your disagreement by leaving
Dog in a manger - A selfish person, someone who prevents others from enjoying something that they do not want themselves
Chapter and verse - Providing minute details, to give a complete and detailed account of something

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Test your knowledge on popular English idioms with this quiz. Explore the meanings behind phrases like 'give in' and 'setting the record straight'. Challenge yourself to understand the nuances of these expressions and expand your vocabulary.