Idioms 1-135 PDF

# IDIOMS | Idiom | Meaning in English | Sentence | |---|---|---| | A black sheep | A disgrace | Uncle Sam was the black sheep of the family. | | A red-letter day | Happy occasion | The 14th of August is a red-letter day for me. | | A bed of thorns | Full of difficulties | Life of an ill person is...

# IDIOMS | Idiom | Meaning in English | Sentence | |---|---|---| | A black sheep | A disgrace | Uncle Sam was the black sheep of the family. | | A red-letter day | Happy occasion | The 14th of August is a red-letter day for me. | | A bed of thorns | Full of difficulties | Life of an ill person is a bed of thorns. | | A bee in bonnet | Obsessed with | I got a bee in my bonnet about swimming. | | A bird's eye view | An overview | We had a bird's eye view of the room. | | A blessing in disguise | A hidden favour | Heavy rains proved a blessing in disguise for the crops | | A blind alley | to be unproductive | All the clues led the police into a blind alley. | | A bolt from the blue | Complete surprise, shock| The news of his failure was a bolt from the blue. | | A bone of contention | Disagreement | The house is a bone of contention between them. | | A cat's paw | Agent | A cat's paw works only for his boss. | | A child's play | easy task | Operating computer is a child's play. | | A close-fisted man | penny-pinching | The manager is very closefisted with expenditures. | | A dark horse | previously unknown | The dull student proved himself a dark horse by winning the first position | | A dead letter | ineffective | This contract is a dead letter. Forget it! | | A dead end | a situation offers no progress | Their relationship had reached a dead end. | | A dog in the manger | mean | Stop being a dog in the manger and let me in the house. | | A drawn game | undecided | A drawn match produces no result. | | A fair play | upright conduct | The coach insists on fair play. | | A fish out of water | in uncomfortable situation | The villager was a fish out of water in the city. | | A fishy story | doubtful story | No one believes her fishy story. | | A French leave | unannounced absence | Taking French leave, he evaded his creditors. | | A gala day | a day of happiness | Success makes every day a gala day. | | A man of iron | determined person | Tariq Bin zayad was a man of iron will. | | A man of letters | a male scholar or author | He wants to make his identity as a man of letters. | | A man of parts| a talented man | Ali is a man of parts. | | A narrow escape | escape | We had a narrow escape in the accident. | | A near miss | near success | My success was a near miss but I lost confidence in the end. | | A rainy day | a troubled time | Wise men always put some money by for a rainy day. | | A rolling stone | wandering person | She has lived in ten cities in ten years, so she is a rolling stone. | | A rotten egg | a stinker | She surely has turned out to be a rotten egg. | | A royal road | easy way | There is no royal road to success. | | A slip of tongue | misspeaking | Pardon me, it was just a slip of tongue. | | A wet blanket | killjoy | Do not be a wet blanket in the party. | | A white elephant | costly thing | Car is a white elephant for a poor man. | | A wild goose chase | a foolish search | Finding true love is a wild goose chase | | Above board | undoubted | Dog's loving loyalty is above board. | | Add fuel to fire | worsen | Her shouting added fuel to fire. | | Add insult to injury | worsen | His abuse added insult to injury. | | All and sundry | one and all | The salesman gave samples to all and sundry. | | All at sea | completely confused | I am all at sea with this device. | | All in all | on the whole | All in all, it was a very good party. | | Alpha and omega | the first and the last | In Islam, Allah is alpha and omega. | | An apple of discard | cause of dispute | This property is an apple of discord between them. | | An axe to grind | have a personal benefit | He has always an axe to grind. | | An eyewash | nonsense | What you have said is just an eye wash. | | An oily tongue | flattering words | Nobody likes him because of his oily tongue. | | Apple pie order | perfect order | She keeps her house in an apple-pie order. | | Apple of one's eyes | very dear | His youngest son was the apple of his eye. | | As cool as a cucumber | calm | Despite danger, she remained as cool as a cucumber. | | At a stone's throw | very close | Come and visit us. We just live at a stone's throw away. | | At dagger's drawn | to be enemies | The two countries are at daggers drawn over Kashmir. | | At eleventh hour | in the nick of time | Negotiators reached an agreement at the eleventh hour. | | At home in | proficient | Chris is really at home in French. | | At large | free | There is a murderer at large in the city. | | At one's wits end | upset | He was at his wits end when he saw the snake. | | At a loss | filled with confusion | Students works at loss to see the difficult paper. | | At a stretch | continuously or without any interruptions | The child wept at a stretch. | | At any cost | at any rate | Mary decided to improve her progress in academics at any cost. | | At cross-purposes| to be at different ends | Enemies are always at cross purposes. | | At hand | quite near | With the winter holidays at hand, everyone is very excited) | | At length | for a long time | The opponents agreed at length | | At (someone's) beck and call | on one's demand / request / order | There were servants at our beck and call. | | At stake | at risk | Don't put your life at stake. | | All ears | attentive | Please tell me about the party; I am all ears. | | All of a sudden | abruptly | All of a sudden, it became cloudy and began to rain. | | Around the clock | all the time | She worked around the clock to accomplish her first project. | | At sixes and sevens | disorderly | Everything is at sixes and sevens here. | | Bad blood | enmity | There has been bad blood between the two families for years. | | Bag and baggage | possessions | The landlady threw them out bag and baggage. | | Bear away the palm | to be the winner | He always bears the palm in school competition. | | Bear fruit | to yield results | I hope your new plan bears fruit. | | Beat about the bush | to dodge | There is no point in beating about the bush. | | Bed of roses | an easy life | Who said life would be a bed of roses? | | Bell the cat | to perform a difficult task | Chief has the courage to bell the cat.| | Better half | wife, husband | His better half doesn't care much for him. | | Between the devil and the deep blue sea | between two troubles | Love and wisdom put a man between the devil and the deep blue sea | | Between two fires | in a difficult situation | He is between two fires and does not know what to do. | | Blow hot and cold | unpredictable | She blows hot and cold about working abroad. | | Bread and butter | livelihood | The waiter's bread and butter depends on tips. | | Break the ice | start talking | We should break the ice and start talking. | | Break the news | to tell | It is hoped that the doctor break the news gently. | | Bring to light | disclose, reveal | He brought to light new facts. | | Broken reed | distrustful | Don't rely upon him; he is a broken reed. | | Burn the midnight oil | work hard | He burnt the midnight oil and succeeded. | | Burning question | crucial issue | Oil prices are a burning question for public. | | Bury the hatchet | to stop quarrelling | They buried the hatchet and became friends again | | By and by | shortly | You will get used to it by and by. | | By and large | on the whole | By and large, the play was a success. | | By dint of | depressed | This news cast her down. | | By fits and starts | at irregular intervals | He can't succeed because he works by fits and starts. | | By hook or by crook | by all means | She decided to get that job by hook or by crook. | | To bank on (someone or something) | depend on something happening | I have no one to bank on. | | To bear the brunt of (something) | to receive the main part of something bad | Yemen bore the brunt of the missile attack | | Before long | in the near future | She will be with us before long. | | Beside oneself (with something ) | to be overwhelmed | On my success, I was beside myself with something | | Bitter pill to swallow | to accept bad situation | For them, it was a bitter pill to swallow. | | To blow one's own horn/trumpet | To praise one's own merits | Ali always blows his own trumpet. | | Blue blood | to come of a noble family | She has blue blood in her veins. | | Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth | born in good circumstances | He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth | | Bring (something) into question | to ask the credibility | Don't bring my honesty into question. | | To build castles in the air/in Spain | to make inapplicable plans | The idle men always build castles in the air | | To burn the midnight oil | to spend resources extravagantly | We burned the midnight oil for the exam | | To burst into tears | to weep abruptly | On his failure, she burst into tears. | | To butter (someone) up | to show flattery | He always tries to butter up his boss. | | By all means | to all possible ways | By all means, he is a good teacher. | | By virtue of (something) | with respect to/through/with the help of | She succeeded by virtue of her hard work.| | To burn one's fingers | to harm one self | I am sure he will soon burn his fingers. | | By leaps and bounds | rapidly | His project is progressing by leaps and bounds. | | Call into question | to doubt | His honesty cannot be called into question. | | Capital punishment | Death sentence | Capital punishment was abolished last year. | | Carry the day | to be successful | By winning the debate, she carried the day. | | Carry weight | to be influential | Your argument does not carry a lot of weight with me. | | Cheek by jowl | side by side | The two families lived cheek by jowl in one house. | | Close shave | To avoid a danger narrowly | I had a close shave this morning. | | Cold blood | A state of mercilessness | The terrorists shot the children in cold blood. | | Come of age | to become an adult | Your son's children have now come of age. | | Crocodile tears | superficial sympathy | Nadia shed crocodile tears on my loss! | | Cry for the moon | want the impossible | Don't ask for the moon. Be reasonable! | | Cut a sorry figure | to be ashamed | He cut a sorry figure at his maiden speech | | A casting vote | a decisive support | The matter was decided by the casting vote. | | To cast pearls before swine | to waste precious things | It is useless to cast pearls before swine. | | To catch (someone) red-handed | to find someone in the act of doing something illegal | The police arrested the killer red-handed. | | Cock-and-bull story | an unreasonable story | You cannot cheat him with your cock and bull story. | | Cold comfort | discouraging | His remarks are only cold comfort. | | To come down hard on (someone) | to show strict behaviour | The rangers have come down hard on M.Q.M. | | To come to blows | start fighting | The two men arguing came to blows. | | To come to grief | to feel sorry | You will come to grief because of your carelessness. | | To come to terms with (someone or something) | to agree | We finally came to terms with the bank and bought the house. | | Crux of the matter | central point/idea | The crux of the matter lay in the lack of funds. | | To cry wolf | To give a false alarm | India always cries wolf. | | Deliver the goods | provide which is promised | It is difficult to deliver the goods everyone. | | Die in harness | Die on duty | Rashid Minhas died in harness. | | Dawn on (someone) | to realize | Truth finally dawned on me. | | Down and out | to be in a difficult situation | I am down and out nowadays. | | Down to earth | Humble | Ali is a down-to-earth sort of man. |