IDIOMS Amp PHRASES
IDIOMS Amp PHRASES
IDIOMS Amp PHRASES
142
apartfrom l . exceptfor 1. Apart from the ending,
2 . in additionto the film is reallygood.
2. Apart from grammar,
vocabularywill also be
tested.
as a matterof fact in reality,actually(usedto Technologyhas affected
add detailsto something our way of living.As a
just said,especially when matter of fact, many of
theseare surprisingor us have becomeslavesof
unexpected) technology.
at a stretch in continuity I can work twelvehoursaf
a stretch.
at anyrate in any case,whatever At any rate, I want to go
happens abroad.
at daggersdrawn in great hostility fndia and Pakistanareat
daggers drawn.
at one'swit's end quitepuzzled,at a He was at his wit's end
completelosshowto act regardingthe solutionof
the problem.
at stake risked We need this contract-
hundredsof jobs are at
stake.
back and forth to and fro Many parentshave to
travel back and forth the
children'sschoolevery
day.
backup support The workers backed up
their leader.
bankon relyon You can bank on me for
relatedphrase:count money matters.
on
be a great hand at be an expertat He is a great hand at
makinqspeech.
be/getcarriedaway lose self-control(be He is mentallyvery
guidedby emotionsor strong;he will not gef
feelings,not reason) carried away with any
negativity.
be in the good books havea good impression Brilliantstudentsare
of on always in the good
books of theirteachers.
bearwith toleratepatiently You need to bear with the
inconvenience for some
time.
behindbars In pnson All the criminalsshouldbe
behind bars.
143
job
blue-collar job involvingmanualwork Many studentshaveto
(as of a factoryworker) surviveon hlue-collar
lobs abroad beforethey
qet a deqree.
bornwith a silver born in wealthand luxury It is difficultfor people
spoonin mouth born with a silver spoon
in mouth to face real
hardshipsof life.
breadand butter one'slivelihood Poor peoplestruggle
reallyhardto earntheir
bread and butter.
breakdown stopfunctioning My vehicle hroke down
halfwav.
breakout beginsuddenly Malariaepidemichroke
out in the citv.
breakthe ice removethe reserue Hisfrankbehaviour broke
amongpeople the icewiththe iuniors.
bringabout cause They discussedthe
factors that bro ught
about the recentfloods.
bringto light reveal I was the first to bring to
Iight the insidestory of
this forqerycase.
bringin f . introduce 1. He brought in
2. ask someonewith many new faces in
specialknowledge, the governing
skillsetc.to do a body.
particular job 2. CBI was brought
in lo solvethe
case.
bringout 1 . makesomething 1. The spiceshring
easierto notice ouf the flavourof
2. make available to the meat.
publicfor selling 2. We are bringing
out a new bookon
Enqlishessays.
bringup look afterchildrenuntil to
It is a big responsibility
thev are adults brinq up childrenwell.
burningquestion/issue a veryimportant Drugabuseis a hurning
question/issue
thatmust issue.
be dealtwith
burnone'sfingers get oneselfintotrouble He burnt his fingers by
interferingin his
neighbour'smatter.
144
burstout start all of a sudden The crisisbeganwhen the
war hurst out.
butterup flatterwithan intention Manyof my colleagues
are huttering up the
managerfor promotion.
by fits andstarts irregularly,
unsteadily I do notexpectyouto
workon yourprojectby
fits and sfarts.
by hookor by crook by anymeans,fairor foul By hook or by crook, I
want to be rich.
by leapsand bounds very swiftly Our companyis making
progresshy leaps and
bounds.
callfor require Your success calls for a
celebration.
carryon continue
doingsomething You shouldcarry on with
the project.
carryout do somethingthat has India carried out a
been plannedor nucleartest recently.
discussed,or that
someonehas told you to
do
carryweight havegreatinfluence His opinionalways
carries weight.
cash in on take advantageof He cashed in on his
father'spopularityand got
elected.
cat and dog life life of dispute It is betterto get
separatedthan livinga
cat and dog life in a joint
family.
cat'spaw a personused as a tool by He is just a cat'spaw in
another the handsof hisboss.
character bringa bad nameto an Ch ara cter assass i n ati on
assassination importantpublicman of the rivalsis very
commonin politics.
child'splay an easythingto do Do you think it is a child's
play to climb Everest?
closeone's eyes rgnore Many old peoplec/ose
their eyes to family
matters.
coin money make muchmoneyquickly He is coining money
throughhisexport
business.
145
l'-
146
do without managewithout I can't do without a cup
of tea in the mornino.
148
greasethe palm bribe Greasing the palm has
becomevery commonin
many governmentoffices
now.
haveto do with have relevanceto The happiness in lifehas
a lot to do with one's
values.
149
in the longrun (or finallY
eventually, Ourprofitsaregoingto
term) increasetremendouslY in
the long run.
in vogue in fashion Loose shirts are in
voque.
ins and outs all the details He knows ,ns and oufs of
that affair.
in spiteof notwithstanding ln spiteof puttingbest
effotts,he couldnot
achievehistarget.
insteadof in placeof lnstead of wastingtime,
we shoulddo some useful
work.
jack of all trades multi-skilled
Person It is good to be iack of all
trades these days.
join hands combinein an action All the partiesioined
hands to bring peacein
the riot-hitarea.
keep an eye on watch We should keePan eye
on the activitiesof our
children.
keep away avoid It is difficultfor him to
keep away from liquor.
keepin touch 1 " be informed 1. He keeps tn
2 . maintaincontact touch with the
latest
developments in
automobiles.
2. Keep in touch
with me through
mails.
keep on continue,do continually Pleasedo not keePon
savingthe samething.
keepone'seyesopen be alert Keep your eyes oqen,
the robberis hiding
somewherehere.
keeptrack of followthe courseof We should keePtrack of
the technological
development takingPlace
in our country.
keepup maintain You shouldkeeP uP the
qood work.
keep up with proceedwith an equal The countrywillhaveto
pace progressfast if it wantsto
keepup with the world.
killtime wastetime He has nothingto do; he
is iust kiiling time.
150
kill two birds with one securetwopurposes
at By acceptingnightdttyJ
stone thesametime killed two birds with one
sfone. Now, I can earn
moneyand attendthe
collegein daytime.
kithand kin friendsand relations His kith and kin had
cometo the airportto
receivehim.
knockdown demolish The buildingwas
knocked down as it was
illegal.
laughingstock an objectof fun That fat girl is the
Iaughing stock of the
wholecollege.
leapin the dark daringstep or enterprise He openeda medical
storedespitestiff
competition. I mustsayit
was a /eap in the dark.
leavein the lurch abandonone when he is When I neededmaximum
in difficulties supportfrom my friends,
they all left me in the
lurch.
lenda hand,give a help ff you lend me a hancl)
helpinghand
can finishthe work today
itself.
let down lower I respectyoua lot,soJ
woufdneverlet you
down.
lick one's boots serye like a slave
151
look fonarardto await an expectedevent I am looking forward to
with pleasureor get a favorableresponse
eaqerness from vou.
look into investigate The CBI was askedto
look into the matter.
look up to respector admire I look up to himas mY
mentorandwell-wisher.
loseground becomeless Powerfulor The beliefin witchcraftis
acceptable;retreat Iosing ground.
make both ends meet livewithinone'sincome The cost of livinghas
increasedso muchthat
many peoplefind it
difficultto make hoth
ends meet.
makefun of ridicule,tease All the studentsmake fun
of him.
make hay whilethe seizeopportunities In this competitiveworld,it
sun shines is necessaryto make hay
while the sun shines or
we will laq behind.
makehistory do somethinghighlY The teamhasmade
remarkable history by winningthis
tournament for the first
time.
makeone'smark be prominentlysuccessful He made his mark in
in something poetrywhen he was onlY
17 yearsold.
makeone'smouth temptto eat Her continental dishes
water make mv mouth water.
makeout discern,understand Try to make ouf the
meaningsof the wordsbY
lookingat the context.
makethe best of make use of somethingt n We mustmake the best
the best way ofthis oppoftunity.
makethe most of getthe maximum The companyis trYingto
advantage from make the mosf of the
liberalpolicies.
makeup for compensate It is difficultto make uP
for the lossesthis time.
makeup one'smind decide Now, I have made uP mY
mind to learn French.
messup spoil,muddle He has messed uP the
whole business.
152
move heavenand makeextraordinary
efforts He moved heaven and
earth earth to stabilisehis
business.
next door in the next houseor room My best friend lives next
door to me.
nip in the bud stop in the beginningitself Badhabitsin children
shouldbe nippedin the
bud.
nulland void invalid,havingno legal The courtdeclared the
authority contractto be null and
void.
off and on intermittently It is rainingoff and on
nowadays.
off the rails disorganised, out of order Thingsare going off the
rails after the unexpected
strikeof some employees
of our company.
of late recently Of late,she has openeda
cosmeticshop in the
town.
on one'slast legs closeto deathor the end My grandfathergave me
of usefulness some lessonswhen he
was on his last /eqs.
on the contrary usedto emphasise that It was not a good
the oppositeof whatisjust decision.On the
statedis actuallytrue contrary, it was a
mistake.
on the spur of the at once,without I cannotgive you a
moment deliberation definitereply on the spur
of the moment.
on top of the world extremely happy When I was selectedfor
the job, I felt on top of
the world.
on the whole considering everything On the whole, the
schemeis qood.
once and for all definitelyand finally Let'ssettlethisissue
once and for all.
once in a bluemoon veryrarely We go for a movie once
in a blue moon.
once in a while occasionally They visit us once in a
while.
one'scupof tea fleldof one'sskill Gettingadmission in llM is
not everybody's cup of
tea.
153
outof date not in use. obsolete This fashionis out of
date.
outof order 1 . not working 1. Halfof the
2 . unacceptable machinesin the
factory are out of
order.
2. His behaviour
todaywas quite
out of order.
out of the question not worthdiscussing, not Forgivinghim is out of
possible the question now.
out of stock not available(forsaleetc.) This brandof rice is ouf
of stock.
paintthe town red enjoyin a showymanner They painted the town
red when their son
returned.
part and parcel an essential part Musicis a paft and
parcel of mv life.
passaway die, expire My father passed away al
the aqe of 85.
passout becomeunconscious She passed ouf due to
extremeweakness.
passthrough undergo He is passrng through a
crisis.
financial
pavethe way facilitatesomething,make His hard labour paved the
way for change way for his future
proqress.
payfor sufferor be punishedfor We have to pay for our
(a faultetc.) misdeeds.
pileup heapup
accumulate, We piled up all the
newspapersin the room.
playingintothe hands act in sucha waythat He is playing into the
of someone takesyour hands of his clever
advantage andfulfilhis friends.
intentions
playtncks cheat You can't play fricks with
me.
playwith fire take risk,indulgeinto You are playing with Tire
somethingwhichwill by investingsuch a large
causetroubleor suffering amountof monev"
play safe notto takeanyrisk Let's play safe and not go
therewithouta map.
pokeone'snose into pryor intrudeinto He has a bad habitof
poking his nose into
others'affairs.
154
presenceof mind quick,sensible The boss is impressedby
action/behaviourin an your presence of mind.
awkwardsituation
prosand cons reasonsor considerations Checkthe pros and cons
for and against beforeproceedinqfurther.
pullout depart,withdrawfrom an The army was pulled out
undedaking of the war front.
pullthrough recoverfrom He pulled through all his
difficultiesand became
successful.
put an end to stop,abolish We mustput an end to
allthe wrongpractices.
put forward suggestor propose I put my suggestion
forward, and it was
accepted.
put on gainweight You haveput on
substantially.
puttwo andtwo draw conclusion
from I put two and two
together known facts together and found that
they were in fact tryingto
h e l ph i m .
rack one's brain make a great mentaleffor1 We racked our brainsto
findoutthe reasonof his
distress.
rakeup recallunnecessaryfrom Why are you raking up
the past the issueafterso long?
ratseone's votce protest The peopleof the town
raised their voice against
the municipaldepartment
regardingcleanliness.
raw deal badtreatment Old peopleoftenget a
raw dealfrom the societv.
razor'sedge criticalsituation The companyis passing
through a razor's edge
and may soon be
declaredbankrupt.
read betweenthe lines lookfor or find hidden You have to read
meaning between the lines to
understandthis letter.
red-letterday day that is pleasantly Marriageis a red-letter
noteworthyor memorable day in everyone'slife.
rollingstone personnot stickingto As he is a rolling stone,
anvthinq thereis no credibilitv.
155
ruleout exclude The doctorsrule d out the
possibilityof heartattack
as the cause of death.
runa risk exposeoneselfto danger Peopleexposedto
or loss etc. harmfulUV raysfor a long
time run a risk of
developinqcancer.
runafter pursuewithattraction Everyoneis running after
monevthesedays.
run for one'smoney vigorousor close They are givingone
competition another a run for their
moneY.
runout be shott of ln the middleof the
highway,he found that he
had run out of fuel.
run the show controlauthoritatively In this office, I run the
show.
sail in the same boat be in the same condition It is hard time for both of
us; we are sailing in the
same boat.
seeto it ensure I will see fo if that you get
what vou deserve.
sell (or go) likehot be sold (or go) quickly The new book of the
cakes BookerPrizewinner
author is se/ltng like hot
cakes.
senseof humour abilityto perceive
or I alwayslike peoplewith
expresshumour qood sense of humour.
set up establish He has just sef up a new
factorv.
shiftone'sground take up a new position(in When he realisedthat his
an argumentetc.) argumentswere failing,he
shifted his ground.
show off displayostentatiously He hasthrownan
partyjustto
inauguration
show off.
showone'strue revealone'strue character Finaffy, he showed his
colours or intentions true colours by admitting
that he was involvedin
the forgery.
shutdown stopfromoperating (a We had to shuf down the
factoryetc.) factory as the raw
materialswere not
suppliedttmely.
sixthsense abilityto perceivebY My srxfh sense tells that
intuitions we shouldnot trusthim.
156
sooneror later eventually Sooner or later, we will i
find a solution. i
speakvolumes revealsomethingof great Hereyesspoke i
significance volumes. I
spickand span neatand clean Your room looks spick
and span.
spillthe beans disclose,reveal The traitorwent and
information spilled the beansto the
authorities.
spreadlikewild fire spreadrapidly The rumourspread like
wild fire.
squaredeal fair bargainor treatment I think it is a square deal,
and there is no injusticeto
vou.
stab in the back betrayal(noun),betray I had neverthoughtthat
(verb) my best friendwouldsfab
me in the back.
standa chance havea possibility
(of lf youdon'tpayattention,
successetc.) youdon'tstanda
chance.
stand by 1. support(a person) 1. My parentsalways
2. adhereto (a stand hy me.
promise etc.) 2. He sfood by his words
3. to be an observer and helpedme
financially.
3. can'tjust sfand by
I
and let vou suffer.
standon one's own be self-reliantor He had to strugglehardto
feet independent stand on his own feet.
standup for supportopenly I sfood up for the welfare
of the masses.
steala march get aheadof the He sfole a march over
opponents his rivalsand got the
contract.
stickto be persistent In spite of everybody's
opposition,he stuck to
his views.
strainevery nerve make utmostefforts He strained every nerve
to solvethe issue.
strikean attitude behaveto makean Striking an attitude does
impression not make you more
intelligent than you really
are.
sugarthe pill usesweetwordsto Don'ttry to sugar the pill,
convevharshness we knowyouwell.
157
take a back seat give lessimportance Academically brilliant
students often take a
back seaf in
extracurriculars.
take a stand supporta view firmly You have to take a stand
now and favouronly one
of us.
takeafter resemble(a parentor She fakes affer her
ancestor) motherin nature.
takeby storm be extremely popularor Withhertalent,shehas
successfulin doing takenthe wholefilm
somethinq industrvbv storm"
takefor granted 1. failto appreciate 1. Parentsare often
through taken for granted.
over-familiarity 2" I take it for
2. assumethat granted that he is
something is true absentbecauseof
his friend's
weddins.
take into account consider We should take
experience into account
for selection.
takeit believe.assume Fromyour behaviour,I
take if that you are not
interestedin the job
anvmore.
take on undertake I will take on this work.
take one'slife in one's put oneselfinto Adventurouspeopleoften
hands lifethreateningdanger take their lives in their
hands.
take over take controlof or I have taken oyer the
responsibilitv
for manaqer'sduties.
take pains takegreatcareor trouble I needto takeparnsto
improveyour
performance.
take place occur His death took place
suddenlv.
takethe bul!by the face a difficultsituation I knew the boss was quite
horns squarelyand boldly upsetwith me, but I
decidedto take the bull
hv the horns.
take the law into one's punishin one'sown way lf all start taking the law
own hands withoutusinglegal into their own hands,
procedure therewill onlv be chaos.
taketo task rebuke,scold The teacher took him to
task for tellinslies.
158
takeup engagein I have taken up the job of
a reporter.
tamperwith changesomethingwithout Someone had tampered
permission(oftencausing with the switches.
damage)
the long and the short the matterin brief The long and the short
of it of it is that the case is
hopeless.
the orderof the day thatwhichis currentor Corruptionin government
commonnow,usual offices is fhe order of the
happening day.
throughthickandthin underallconditions Some of my friendsare
alwayswith me through
thick and thin.
throwa party give a party They arethrowing a
party on target
achievement.
throwoutof gear disturbthe workingof The strikershave thrown
the factory out of gear.
tightcorner(orspot) difficultsituation I am in a tight corner due
to lack of funds.
time and again manytimes Time and again I have
told you to improveyour
handwriting.
tit for tat doingsomething Our neighbourskept
unpleasantto someone harassing,so we took this
becausehe has done step. lt is a tit for tat"
somethingunpleasantto
you
try one'shand attempt,testone'sability He has tried his hand on
manyjobs.
tug of war strugglebetweentwo A tug of war is going on
parties betweenthe two
companiesfor this
contract.
turn a deaf ear disregard He turned a deaf ear to
my advice.
turn one'sback upon abandon Her parents turned their
back upon her when she
marriedagainsttheirwish.
turn over a new leaf changeforthe Now, one year afterthe
better/beg
in something shutdownof his company,
newfor betterment he has turned over a
new treaf.
159
turntail turnroundandrunaway The notorious students
turned fafl whentheYsaw
the principalcoming.
turnthe corner pass the criticalPart The doctorsays the
patient has turned the
corner.
turnthe scales decidea result His arrivalturned the
scales,andourteamwon
the match.
turningpoint somethingthatbringsa The war of KalingaProved
radicalchange to be a turning Point in
the life of Ashoka.
up to the mark satisfactory Your pedormanceis uP to
the mark.
upto-date modern,latest We use up-to-date
teachinqmethods.
uphilltask very difficulttask Preparingfor IAS was
really an uphill fask for
me.
ups and downs good and bad times My life has gone through
lots of ups and downs.
ways and means the methodsand You have to discoverthe
resourcesfor achieving ways and means to raise
somethinq vour income.
wear off lose effectivenessor Your communication skills
intensitv are wearing off.
wearout useor be useduntil Thisdresshas worn out.
useless
job
white-collar officejob Everygraduatewantsto
do a white-collariob.
with open arms cordially The guestswere received
with open arms.
wordof mouth information conveYed We got a lot of PublicitY
throughspoken through word of mouth.
communication
workout 1 . solve 1. Work ouf this sum
2 . developin a good till I come.
or specifiedway 2. We need to work
ouf this plan.
160