*** IDIOMS & PHRASES***

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1. Once in a blue moon:
Meaning-Something that happens very rarely
Sentence- Once in a blue moon, the blue jay can be seen in these parts of the
forest.

2. Beating around the bush:

Meaning-Avoiding the main topic
Sentence-The President was beating around the bush when the citizens demanded a
reason for the forgery of legal documents.

3. Chip on your shoulder:

Meaning-When someone is upset about something that happened a while ago
Sentence-He has a chip on his shoulder for being abandoned by his parents in his
childhood.

4. Cry over spilt milk:

Meaning-Complaining about a loss or failure from the past
Sentence-He was mad because he couldn�t clear the cut off due to a silly mistake.
But, then he realized there was no use crying over spilt milk and decided to become
more careful.

5. Spill the beans:

Meaning-To disclose a secret
Sentence-The little one spilled the beans about the surprise vacation we had
planned.

6. Piece of cake:
Meaning-Something that is easy to understand or do
Sentence-I thought that the problem would be tough, but it turned out to be a piece
of cake!

7. Blessing in disguise:
Meaning-Something good and useful that did not initially seem that way
Sentence-His accident was a blessing in disguise because it gave him a lot of time
to think about his life while he was recovering, and as a result, he made some
important decisions that improved his life.

8. Come hell or high water:

Meaning-Possible obstacles in your path (will not stop you)
Sentence-I have decided that come hell or high water I will become an engineer.

9. Taste of your own medicine:

Meaning-When someone receives the same treatment, usually negative, that he/she
gives to others
Sentence-She is always taunting others and hurting their sentiments. I just wish
someone would give her a taste of her own medicine.

10. Golden handshake:

Meaning-A big sum of money given to a person when he/she leaves a company or
retires
Sentence-The management of the company wanted to decrease their workforce. They
offered a golden handshake to their aged employees.

11. Mean business:

Meaning-Being serious/dedicated
Sentence-The border is sealed by troops who mean business.
12. Apple of one�s eye:
Meaning-Being cherished more than others are
Sentence-Sam is adored by his teacher for his childlike nature. He is the apple of
her eye.

13. The best of both worlds:

Meaning-The benefits of widely differing situations, enjoyed at the same time.
Sentence-I had the best of both worlds since I worked as an ordinary member of the
team but got to learn from the leaders.

14. Feeling a bit under the weather:

Meaning-Feeling slightly ill
Sentence-I may not be able to jog today, as I am feeling a bit under the weather.

15. Icing on the cake:

Meaning-Something that turns good into great
Sentence-India�s victory over England on India�s Independence Day was like icing on
the cake.

16. Cost an arm and a leg:

Meaning-Be very expensive
Sentence-His laziness made him miss his flight to Chandigarh. The next ticket cost
him an arm and a leg.

17. Jump the bandwagon:

Meaning-To join a popular activity or trend
Sentence-When he was detected with diabetes, he quickly jumped on the bandwagon and
joined the Zumba dance class.

18. Ball is in your court:

Meaning-When it is up to you to make the next decision or step.
Sentence-Now the ball is in your court; decide whether you want to reply or not.

19. Bite off more than you can chew:

Meaning-To take up a task which you may not be able to accomplish due to lack of
ability.
Sentence-I bit off more than I could chew when I decided to take up the 300-page
research project.

20. Can�t judge a book by its cover:

Meaning-Cannot judge something primarily on appearance.
Sentence-The house looked impressive in the advertisement. Still I made a trip to
the house to check everything. It is wise not to judge a book by its cover.

21. Hear it on grapevine:

Meaning-To hear rumors about something or someone
Sentence-I heard it on grapevine that he had stiffed an old man asking for his
pension

22. It takes two to tango:

Meaning-Actions or communications need more than one person
Sentence-Even though I thought I would be fired after the altercation with my
manager, thankfully upper management realized that it takes two to tango.

23. Last straw:

Meaning-The final problem in a series of problems
Sentence-My body was already in bad shape. The accident was the last straw. I am
now on complete bed rest.
24. To be in the doldrums:
Meaning-To be in low spirits
Sentence-Sam was in the doldrums after he was insulted by the boss in front of his
colleagues.

25. To sit on the fence:

Meaning-To remain neutral
Sentence-Since I wasn�t aware of the details, I decided to sit on the fence during
the argument between my cousins.

26. Break the ice:

Meaning-To initiate a social conversation or interaction
Sentence-At the start of the lecture, the new professor tried to break the ice by
telling a joke.

27. A bird�s eye view:

Meaning-A view from a very high place that allows you to see a very large area
Sentence-The Singapore Big Wheel offers a bird�s eye view of the city.

28. A litmus test:

Meaning-A method that helps to know if something is correct
Sentence-Taking up the job served as a litmus test for me to know how good I was at
applying my knowledge.

29. At the drop of a hat:

Meaning-Willingness to do something instantly
Sentence-She expects me to make dinner at the drop of a hat even if I am very busy
with office work.

30. Afraid of one�s own shadow:

Meaning-To become easily frightened
Sentence-Her creepy encounter with the supernatural had a devastating effect on
her. She is now afraid of her own shadow.

31. A house of cards:

Meaning-A poor plan
Sentence-The State�s new scheme was initially welcomed, but later turned out to be
a house of cards when it was discovered how easy it was to perpetrate a scam.

32. Black and blue:

Meaning-Full of bruises
Sentence-The young lad was all black and blue after a tiff with a raging senior.

33. Be on cloud nine:

Meaning-Be very happy
Sentence-I will be on cloud nine when my first article gets published.

34. Bone of contention:

Meaning-A subject or issue over which there is continuing disagreement
Sentence-The examination system has long been a serious bone of contention in the
HRD Ministry.

35. Eat humble pie:

Meaning-To apologize humbly
Sentence-He will have to eat humble pie for the disrespect shown to the Captain.

36. Fool�s paradise:

Meaning-False sense of happiness or success
Sentence-They were living in a fool�s paradise, refusing to accept that they were
facing poverty.

37. Give cold shoulder:

Meaning-To ignore
Sentence-I sent her a message to apologize for my misbehavior, but she gave me the
cold shoulder.

38. Get a raw deal:

Meaning-To not be treated as well as other people
Sentence-The fact is that students in government schools get a raw deal.

39. Hit the nail on the head:

Meaning-To do the correct thing
Sentence-She hit the nail on the head when she laid out a list of justifiable
grievances she had with the company.

40. Hand to mouth:

Meaning-live on only basic necessities
Sentence-The severe drought led the farmers to live hand to mouth.

41. Hit the bull�s eye:

Meaning-To be exactly right about something or achieve the best result possible.
Sentence-The detective hit the bull�s eye when he figured out that nobody but the
doctor could have had access to the poison.

42. Let the cat out of the bag:

Meaning-To reveal the secret carelessly or by mistake
Sentence-Now that she had let the cat out of the bag, she had no option but to
confess.

43. Make a face:

Meaning-To show dislike or disappointment through facial expressions
Sentence-Little Stella made a face at the sight of bitter gourd in her food.

44. Open Pandora�s Box:

Meaning-To find a source of great troubles and problems
Sentence-Finding the wallet on the road opened up a Pandora�s box. I was arrested
for stealing when I went to report it at the police station.

45. It�s Greek to me

Meaning-Something that is not understandable
Sentence-I failed my commerce test; it was all Greek to me!

46. Don�t put

all your eggs in one basket:

Meaning-Do not put all your resources in one basket.
Sentence-The boy put all his money into his dream startup that eventually failed. I
had told him not to put all his eggs in one basket.

47. To call a spade a spade:

Meaning-To be brutally frank, outspoken, blunt in speech.
Sentence- Let�s call a spade a spade � popular he may be, but that man is a liar.

48. To be a Good Samaritan:

Meaning-To be kind and compassionate to someone in distress
Sentence-I was sure I would be stuck on the highway till the morning, but a Good
Samaritan offered me a ride home.
49. To put in a nutshell:
Meaning-To say in a few words or to make something concise
Sentence-The Textbook Development Committee decided to put the 30-page chapter in a
nutshell to help save time for students during revision.

50. To pour oil on troubled waters:

Meaning-To make peace
Sentence-I am always stuck pouring oil on troubled waters when my mother and wife
start their bickering.

51. To move heaven and earth:

Meaning-To exert all efforts
Sentence-He moved heaven and earth to ensure that his family was taken care of in
the foreign land in his absence.