Idioms & Phrases

A
1. ABC: primary knowledge.
2. Above board: beyond doubt
3. Achilles heel: week point
4. All in all: supreme
5. Abode of god: heaven
6. Apple of discord: matter of dispute
7. Apple of Sodom: good for nothing
8. A fools paradise:
9. A castle in the air: a day dream/ indulge in idle vision
10. A bolt from the blue: something quite unexpected.
11. A dead letter: Useless document
12. A fish out water: uncomfortable situation
13. A fair crack of the whip: a period of importance
14. A green horn: inexperienced person
15. A hard nut to crack: Difficult
16. A mammoth task: a herculean task/difficult task
17. A man of discretion: a personality with rational power
18. A pretty penny : very expensive
19. A red letter day: memorable day.
20. A round dozen: a full dozen
21. A slip of the pen: slight mistake in writing
22. A sitting duck: an easy target
23. A square peg in a round hole: Unsuitable
24. A utopian scheme: an unreal plan
25. At a low ebb: declining
26. At arms length: short distance.

27. At ones back and call: obedient

28. At bay: in a tight corner
29. At daggers drawn: at enmity/ point of fighting
30. At sixes and sevens: scattered/ chaotic condition
31. At stake: in danger
32. At a loss: puzzled.
33. At ones wits end: puzzled.
34. All at once: all on a Sudden
35. At a stretch: without break
36. At large: free
37. As usual: habitually
38. At fingers end: ready at hand.
39. At length: At last
40. At least: at the lowest.
41. At all cost: by all means
42. At the eleventh hour: at the last moment.
43. At ones own sweet will: according to his wishes.
44. All and sundry: everyone
45. At large: free
46. At random: without any aim.
47. A fresh beginning:
48. After all: in spite of everything

B
1. Bad blood: ill feeling
2. Bag and baggage: with all possessions
3. Bear out: carry through/ support
4. Beat the clock: finish the task
5. Bed of rose: Comfortable situation
6. Beggar description: cannot be described

7. Bell to the wall : in full force

8. Beat about the bush: talk irrelevantly
9. Behind closed doors: secretly
10. Between the lines: hidden meaning
11. Beyond question: out of disput
12. Bill of fare: a list of dishes at restaurant
13. Bid fair: show signs of prosperity
14. Big gun: a leading man/ important people
15. Birds-eye-view: rough idea/ overall picture
16. Bite the dust: fall to the ground
17. Black Sheep: person of bad character
18. Blue blood: aristocratic
19. Blue chips: a safe investment in industrial shares
20. Blame and criticize: Come heavily on
21. Bottom line: the essential point
22. Bolt from the blue: unexpected danger
23. Bone of contention: matter of dispute
24. Break the ice: break the silence
25. Bring about: to cause
26. Bring to light: make open/publish
27. Bring to book: punish/take to task/rebuke
28. Bring to pass: cause to happen
29. Burning question: important issue/matter of strong debate
30. Burning the candle at both ends: wasting
31. By and by: soon
32. By the by: in course of talking
33. By chance: by accident
34. By hook or by crook: by fair means or foul
35. By all means: in all possible ways

36. By fits and starts: irregularly

37. By no means: in no way
38. By leaps and bounds: very rapidly
39. By and large: mostly / everywhere
40. Break down: disconnected
41. Brown study: Absent minded

C
1. Call names: insult
2. Call to mind: remember
3. Call in question: doubt
4. Call a spade a spade: to speak plainly
5. Carry into effect: make into reality
6. Carry the day: win victory
7. Capital punishment: death penalty
8. Catch red handed: catch with the stolen articles
9. Chip of the old block: a worthy son of a worthy father
10. Close-fisted man: miser
11. Come to a head: reach the difficult stage
12. Come to an end: end/finish
13. Come round: well
14. Come to light: become known
15. Come into force:
16. Come heavily on: blame and criticize
17. Crocodile tears: pretended cry/false cry
18. Crying needs: dam important
19. Cut and dry: already decided
20. Cut a sorry figure: make bad results
21. Cut a good figure: make a good result

22. Cut to the quick: be hurt

23. Curry favor: be favorite through flattery
24. Culpable homicide: murder

D
1. Day dream: reverie
2. Dark horse: unknown person
3. Dead against: bitterly against/strongly opponent
4. Dead language: a language no longer in use
5. Dead of night: mid night
6. Dead letter: law that is not in force
7. Deep water: in trouble
8. Die in harness: die while in service
9. Donkey work: a difficult task
10. Dog days: hot weather
11. Double game: double edge policy

E
1. End in smoke: fail
2. Ended in fiasco: complete failure
3. Every now and then: occasionally/often/frequent

F
1. From hand to mouth: live by hard labor
2. From cradle to grave: from birth to death
3. Fall flat: have no effect/ become failure
4. Far and wide: everywhere
5. Far cry: long distance
6. Fair and square: honest
7. Few and far between: rarely
8. Fight shy of: avoid
9. Fish out of water: in an uneasy situation
10. For good: for ever
11. Forty winks: short sleep
12. Flesh and blood: human body
13. Flying colors: win
14. From time to time:
15. French leave: leave without permission
16. Full fledged: full

G
1. Gala day: a day of festivity
2. Get rid of: to get free
3. Gift of the gab: power of delivering speech
4. Give a hand: help
5. Go through: read lightly
6. Greek to: unknown/intelligible

H
1. Hand in glove: close/intimate
2. Hang about: loiter about
3. Hard up: insolvent
4. Hard and first: rigid/fixed
5. Hard and ears: complete
6. Hard nut to crack: a difficult problem
7. Head in the cloud: day dream
8. Heart and soul: with all energy
9. Heart by heart: cordially
10. Herculean task: a very difficult task
11. Hole and corner: Secret
12. Hot water: Trouble /problem
13. Hold water: be effective/bear examination
14. Hold good: apply
15. Horns of a dilemma: danger in both side
16. Household word: familiar name
17. Hit the roof: be angry
18. Habeas corpus: fundamental rights of prisoners
19. Hue and cry: a noise
20. Hush money: bribe money

I
1. In a fix: puzzled/perplexed
2. In a nutshell: very briefly
3. In a brown study: absent-minded
4. In a hurry: very quickly
5. In abeyance: adjourn
6. In black and white: in writing

7. In lieu of: instead of.

8. In the nick of time: in right time
9. In the teeth of: in the face of
10. In the face of : against
11. In the long run: ultimately
12. In cold blood: without provocation/calmly
13. In the mean time: in the time between
14. In no time: soon
15. Ins and outs: full details
16. In vogue: in fashion
17. In high spirit: Cheerful
18. In force: in activity
19. In high spirit: cheerful
20. Irony of fate: by bad luck
21. In vogue: in fashion

J
1. Jaundiced eye: biased views

2. Keep Pace with: good relation

3. Keep body and soul together: to keep alive hardly
4. Kith and kin: relatives

L
1. Lame excuse: bad plea
2. Landslide victory: very substantial win
3. Lay waste: destroy
4. Laissez faire: planned
5. Let things slide: ignore
6. Leave no stone unturned: try all means
7. Look down upon: to hate
8. Loom large: important role
9. Loophole: flaws
10. Look before you leap: be wary
11. Lose the day: to become defeated
12. Lions share: major part
13. Live from hand to mouth: live in poor circumstance

M
1. Maiden speech: first speech
2. Make a clean breast of: to admit the fault with open mind
3. Make both ends meet: live within means
4. Make a mountain of: to make the small bigger unnecessarily
5. Make good: to compensate
6. Make out: to understand
7. Man of straw: worthless man
8. Man of letters: a scholar
9. Marvel at: be taken aback
10. Milk and water: lifeless
11. Moot point: an undecided matter

N
1. Nick of time: in right time
2. Nip in the bud: destroy in the initial
3. Now and then: occasionally
4. Not cricket: unfair
5. Null and void: invalid
6. Numb scull: stupid person

O
1. Of late: recently
2. Of no avail: in vain
3. Of the first water: of high value or class
4. Off and on: occasionally
5. On principle: according to principle
6. On the eve of: just before
7. Once in a blue moon: very rarely
8. Official misconduct: Malfeasance
9. Out and out: Thoroughly
10. Out of sight: Out of sight, Out of mind.
11. Out of date: out of fashion
12. Out of the wood: free from danger
13. Out of sorts: not well
14. Out of order: defective
15. Out of temper: angry
16. On the whole: generally speaking
17. On and on: continuous
18. Over head and ears: deeply

P
1. Palmy days: day of prosperity
2. Part and parcel: an integral part
3. Past master: expert
4. Pick holes in: find fault with
5. Pin money: sundry expense
6. Plough sands: do useless work
7. Point blank: directly
8. Pros and cons: details
9. Prima Facie: At first view
10. Put up with: tolerance
11. Put an end to : Stopped
12. Pull well with: to be friendly with

R
1. Rank and file: common person
2. Red tape: official formalities
3. Read between the line: understand the significance
4. Riding for a fall: to act recklessly
5. Right and left: indiscriminately
6. Round the clock: twenty-four hours
7. Root and branch: completely
8. Run riot: behave in a lawless way
9. Run short: to finish

S
1. Salt of life: valuable things
2. Scape goat: blame to others
3. Set free: liberate
4. Set by the ear: to provoke to quarrel
5. Silver lining: hope
6. Sit on the fence: remain neutral in a dispute
7. Sine die: adjourned indefinitely
8. Slip of the pen: a slight mistake in writing
9. Slip of the tongue: a slight mistake in speaking
10. Slow coach: lazy
11. Smell a rat: doubt /impugn
12. Snake in the grass: a secret foe/a hidden enemy
13. Soft soap: flattery for self motives
14. Steer clear of: avoid
15. Square meal: full meal
16. Stones throw: with in very short distance
17. Straw vote: unofficial poll of public opinion
18. Swan song: last work

T
1. Take into account: to consider
2. Take to ones heels: to run away
3. Take ones to task: rebuke
4. Take to heart: cut to the quick
5. Tall talk: falsehood.
6. Tell upon: to affect
7. Three Rs: elementary education
8. Through and through: completely
9. Through thick and thin: under all conditions/ Through all difficulties
10. Through cold water: discourage
11. The birds and the bees: the basic facts about sex
12. Tittle-tattle: gossip
13. To do away with: To get rid of
14. To the backbone: to the core
15. To get along with: to adjust
16. To keep ones head: to keep calm
17. To read between the line: to grasp the hidden meaning
18. To take into account: consider
19. To and fro: hither and thither
20. To kick the bucket: die
21. To have full hands: to be fully occupied
22. To take somebody for a cruising: to keep company
23. To play on a fiddle: to waste time
24. To put ones foot down: Not to yield
25. To put the cart before the horse: to reserve the natural order of things
26. To put raise ones eye-brow: show surprise or disapproval
27. To be partial to something: like it
28. To meet trouble half way: to be puzzled

29. To look quickly through: Skim

30. Tooth and nail: strongly
31. Tumble down: stumble
32. Turn over a new leaf: begin a new phase of life.
33. Turn down: refuse
34. Turn a deaf ear to: pay no attention..

U
1. Ups and downs: rise and fall
2. Ups and doing: active
3. Up to the mark: Your hard working is not up to the mark.
4. Vexed question: difficult problem

W
1. Weal and woe: joy and sorrow
2. Well off: solvent
3. Well to do: solvent/rich
4. Without fail: We must come without fail.
5. White Elephant: a costly unprofitable undertaking
6. White color job: a job without manual labor
7. White lie: harmless lie
8. Widows mite: small contribution of a poor.
9. Wild goose chase: useless pursuit

Y
1. Yeomans service: valuable service