Idiom Flashcards
A figment of your imagination
something imagined or created by your mind
To my dismay
means being mildly shocked by someone or some event in a negative way
sys: to my surprise
Laugh my head off
to laugh a lot, loudly
Be all the rage
to be very popular or
fashionable.
Go back to the drawing board
to start planning something again because the first plan failed
Love-hate relationship
strong feeling mixture of love and hate
More money than sense
saying that you think someone is wasting their money
Ex: My father thinks that earbud it’s more money than sense
Give someone the benefit of the doubt
decide that you will believe someone, even though you are not sure that what the person is saying is true
Ex: he seems doubtful when he said he was in a car accident, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt
Speak volumes
it makes an opinion, characteristic, or situation very clear without the use of words
Ex: his face speaks volume
Door-to-door
+from the beginning of a trip to the end
Ex: the trip took 3 days and 2 nights door-to-door
+going from one house or building to the next in order to sell or ask something
Ex: he was a door-to-door salesman for a small company/ a door-to-door campaign will underlie for our big moves in future
-go/sell/campaign door-to-door
Rough edges(also be “rough around the edges”)
-work or performance has rough edges, some parts of it could be improved
Ex; such a gift player, but his game lately has rough edges
-A person does not always behave well and politely
Ex: experiences and times have mitigated his rough edges
eaves drop
tolistento someone’sprivateconversationwithout themknowing
Ex: I was eavesdropping on what my parents argued about
Pull your weight
toworkas hard as otherpeoplein agroup
Ex: During the semester, I’ve seen you weren’t pulling your weight at all
Goof around
tospendtimedoing nothingimportantorbehavingin asillyway
Ex: He just spend a whole day Goofing around
Clear as mud
Very difficult to understand
Ex: the explanation was as clear as mud
Tough nut to crack
a problem that is very difficult to solve or a person who is very difficult to understand
Ex: the problem is a hard nut to crack/ he’s a tough nut
Be in sb’s shoes
to be in the situation, usually a bad or difficult situation, that another person is in
Ex: I don’t want to be in his shoes
Shedding light
To reveal information or details about something
Ex: the truth about his sexual harassment will shed light
Take its toll
it causes suffering, deaths, or damage
Ex: the recession has taken its toll
In denial
an unwillingness to accept that something unpleasant is true
Ex: To be frank, he is still in denial after an affair with his wife
Crunch time
A point at which sth difficult must be done
Ex: His performance quite of rough edges, I’m worried he still produces in a crunch time
Be out of the questions
That area is off-limits, even the president is out of the question also
Max out
-Do sth too much
Ex: I was maxed out due to workload/ Open too much tab could make RAM maxed out
-Spend too much money
Ex: Don’t try to max out all the resources right away, cake up, and then use them effectively
Ex:
Mind-boggling
difficult to understand or imagine
Ex: When it comes to math, we used to think of a mind-boggling logic in its complexity/ The complexity of politics totally boggle the mind
A (whole) host of sth
A very large number of people or things
Ex: A host of sneakers has been allocated around the world
At short notice
With little time for preparation
Ex: There’s no way you can accomplish IELTS at short notice
Bottom out
-stops getting worse or lower, usually before improving again
Ex: the crisis started to bottom out/ There was no bottom out after his lost
+knock the bottom out: make sth fail suddenly(market, industry)
Ex: A turnover in a clutch moment has knocked the bottom of the team
Dole out
Distribute sth(money, food,etc) Ex: programmed itself to dole out fatigue symptoms accordingly.
On this/that account
Say sthsaythat somethinghappensfor thereasonyou have justmentioned.
Her father’s dead, and on this account her kids turned depressed
Reinvent the wheel
Waste time create sth that already exists
Ex: ip13 just reinventing the wheel things that its on previous versions
Come into play
Start to happen or have an effect
Ex: When the new rules come into play, most students have to conform to it
Worked up
excite, arouse
Ex: Why is he so worked up today/ He got worked up of getting a high score
String someone along
To deceive someone that you will help them
Ex: Be careful of his words, maybe he just stringing young along
Rule out
Exclude, make sth impossible
Ex: Rain ruled out the picnic/ It easy to be ruled out of the event
In place of
Instead of
Ex: Toeic can be used in place of IELTS as a certificate
Stumble upon/across
Find or learn sth unexpectedly
Ex: I have to stumble upon in learning to code
not be cut out for sth
to not be the right type of person for something
Ex: I’m not cut out for a venture job
Double down sth
to continue to do something in an even more determined way than before
Ex: Instead of reviewing the mistakes, he just keep doubling down/ The adrenaline rush is doubled us down, especially during deadline
Wear off
If a feeling or the effect of something wears off, it gradually disappears
Ex: After a couple of hours, the affection started to wear off/ A taste in honeybee never wears off
Gut-wrenching(adj)
extremely unpleasant or upsetting.
Ex: The movie depicts gut-wrenching moments based on real-life events/ What really gut-wrenching is how he’s fighting cancer
