Important Idioms & Phrases

S.No. Idioms & Phrases Meaning

1. Rank and File Ordinary People

2. By fits and starts In short periods, not regularly

3. A wee bit A little

4. Out of the wood Free from difficulties and dangers

5. Under his thumb Under his control

In a state where one does not know what

6. At one’s wits end
to do

7. Between the devil and the deep sea Between two dangers

8. Burn the midnight oil Work or study hard

9. Call a spade a spade Speak frankly and directly

10. Come off with flying colors Be highly successful

11. Hoping against hope Without hope

12. Hit the nail on the head Do or say the exact thing
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13. An axe to grind A personal interest in the matter

14. To get rid of Dispose of

15. At daggers drawn Bitterly hostile

16. To play ducks and drakes To act foolishly or inconsistently

To tackle a problem in a bold and direct

17. To take the bull by the horns
fashion

18. Rain cats and dogs Rain heavily

19. To move heaven and earth To make a supreme effort

20. No avail Without any result

21. Bark up the wrong tree Accuse or denounce the wrong person

22. Keep one at bay Keep one at a distance

Confess – especially when a person has

23. Make a clean breast of it
done a wrong thing

24. Have a card up one’s sleeve Have a secret plan in reserve

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25. Like a cat on hot bricks Very nervous

26. Cat and dog life Life full of quarrels

Made up story that one should not

27. Cock and bull story
believe

28. Cry for the moon Ask for the impossible

29. The pros and cons The various aspects of a matter in detail

30. Be in a tight corner In a very difficult situation

31. Cross one’s t’s and dot Be precise, careful and one’s i’s exact

32. At arm’s length To keep at a distance

33. Out of the question Impossible

34. Out of the way Strange

35. Show a clean pair of heals Run away

The anxiety in which you hope that

36. Keep one’s fingers crossed
nothing will upset your plans
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37. In the nick of time Just at the last moment

38. Sitting on the fence Hesitate between two decisions

39. Spread like wild fire Spread quickly

40. The gift of the gab Talent for speaking

41. By hook or by crook By fair or foul means

42. Feather one’s own nest Make money unfairly

43. Throw out of gear Disturb the work

44. Take to one’s heels Run away

45. Tooth and nail With all one’s power

46. Die in harness Die while in service

47. Take a leaf out of one’s book Imitate one

48. Leave no stone unturned Use all available means

49. A man of straw A man of no substance

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50. Read between the lines Understand the hidden meaning

51. In cold blood Deliberately and without emotion

52. A thorn in the flesh A constant source of annoyance

53. Smell a rat Suspect something foul

54. Harp on the same string Dwell on the same subject

55. Bury the hatchet End the quarrel and make peace

Desert one in difficulties; leave one in a

56. Leave one in the lurch
helpless condition

57. Like a fish out of water In a strange situation

58. At one’s beck and call Under his control

59. To make both ends meet To live within one’s income

60. In hot water In trouble

61. Nip in the bud Destroy in the early stage

62. Stick to one’s guns Remain faithful to the cause

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To apologize humbly and to yield under
63. To eat humble pie
humiliating circumstances

64. In high spirits Very happy

65. Put the cart before the horse Put or do things in the wrong order

66. To all names To abuse

67. On tenterhooks In a state of suspense and anxiety

Discuss unpleasant in public-private

68. Wash one’s dirty linen
matters before strangers

69. To bell the cat To face the risk

70. A hard nut to crack A difficult problem

71. Let the cat out of the bag Reveal a secret

72. A big gun An important person

73. Kill two birds with one stone To achieve two results with one effort

74. Take one to task Rebuke

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75. Gain ground Become Popular

To praise one’s own trumpet

76. To blow one’s own
achievement

77. A bosom friend A very close friend

78. A brown study Dreaming

79. Turn a deaf ear Disregard / ignore what one says

80. A close shave Narrow escape

81. Turn over a new leaf Change for the better

82. Make up one’s mind Decide

83. In the long run Eventually; ultimately

84. Bring to light Disclose

85. Pay off old scores Take revenge

86. Hard and fast rules Strict rules

87. At the eleventh hour At the last moment

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88. A close shave Narrow escape

89. To cut a sorry figure To make a poor show

90. With a high hand Oppressively

Get into trouble by interfering in other’s

91. Burn one’s fingers
affairs

92. Laugh one’s head off Laugh heartily

93. Chew the cud Ponder over something

94. Play second fiddle Take an unimportant part

95. Above board Honest and open

96. Through thick and thin Under all conditions

97. Put a spoke in one’s wheel To upset one’s plans

In a disordered/disorganized manner,
98. At sixes and sevens
chaotic

99. At home Comfortable

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100. Alpha and omega The beginning and the end

101. At sea Confused and lost

102. A bosom friend A very close friend

103. At one’s beck and call At one’s service

104. By leaps and bounds Rapidly

105. To burn one’s boats Go back on a decision

106. To beat about the bush Talk irrelevantly

107. To burn candle at both ends To waste lavishly

108. Take one to task Rebuke

109. A bone of contention A source of quarrel

110. Add fuel to the fire To aggravate the situation

111. An acid test A critical test

112. At a snail’s pace Very slowly

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113. A bolt from the blue Something unexpected

114. To build castles in the air Make imaginary schemes

115. Once in a blue moon Something that happens very rarely

116. Beating around the bush Avoiding the main topic

Complaining about a loss or failure from

117. Cry over spilled milk
the past

When someone is upset about something

118. Chip on your shoulder
that happened a while ago

Something that is easy to understand or

119. Piece of cake
do

A big sum of money given to a person

120. Golden handshake
when he/she leaves a company or retires

121. Spill the beans To disclose a secret

Something good and useful that did not

122. Blessing in disguise
initially seem that way

123. Mean business Being Serious or Dedicated

124. Come hell or high water Possible obstacles in your path

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125. Apple of one’s eye Being cherished

Not able to complete a task due to lack of

126. Bite off more than you can chew
ability

The benefits of widely differing

127. The best of both worlds
situations, enjoyed at the same time

128. Feeling a bit under the weather Feeling slightly ill

129. Icing on the cake Something that turns good into great

130. Cost an arm and a leg Be very expensive

131. Jump the bandwagon To join a popular activity or trend

When it is up to you to make the next

132. Ball is in your court
decision or step

133. To be in the doldrums To be in low spirits

134. To sit on the fence To remain neutral

To initiate a social conversation or

135. Break the ice
interaction

To hear rumors about something or

136. Hear it on grapevine
someone
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Cannot judge something primarily on
137. Can’t judge a book by its cover
appearance

Actions or communications need more

138. It takes two to tango
than one person

To reveal the secret carelessly or by

139. Let the cat out of the bag
mistake

140. Black and blue Full of Bruises

141. Be on cloud nine Be very happy

142. Last straw The final problem in a series of problems

A view from a very high place that

143. A bird’s eye view
allows you to see a very large area

A method that helps to know if

144. A litmus Test
something is correct

145. At the drop of a hat Willingness to do something instantly

146. Afraid of one’s own shadow To become easily frightened

147. A house of cards A poor plan

148. Fool’s paradise False sense of happiness

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149. Get a raw deal To not be treated as well as other people

150. Give cold shoulder To ignore

151. Hand to mouth Live on only basic necessities

To show dislike or disappointment

152. Make a face
through facial expressions

153. It’s Greek to me Something that is not understandable

154. To pour oil on troubled waters To make peace

Do not put all your resources in one

155. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
basket (in one place or thing)

To say in a few words or to make

156. To put in a nutshell
something concise

157. Back out To withdraw from a promise or contract

158. Blow up To explode

159. Back Up To support and sustain

160. Back Upon To be relevant