Idioms - 1 Flashcards
Rub salt in the wounds
To make worse, exacerbate, ameliorate
Out of the question
Unacceptable/Not worth discussing
Synonyms: absurd, preposterous, outrageous, ludicrous
Hard nut to crack
Difficult task, A ponderous task
Not my cup of tea
Not interested in
To break the ice
To start a conversation
To eat a humble pie
To say or show sorry for a mistake that one has done
To feel like a fish out of water
Uncomfortable situation
Eat anyone’s salt
To be someone’s guest
Give a hand with
To help with
Hold your tongue
To be silent
No hard and fast rules
Easy regulation
Live from hand to mouth
Miserably
Turn a deaf ear
Refuse to obey
Take exception
To object
To hail from
To come from
To put an end to
Stop
Under the thumb of
Under the control of
To get wind
Come to know about something secret or private
To stand by
To support someone, even in difficult times
In black and white
In writing
From the bottom of one’s heart
To speak frankly/sincerely
A shot in the dark
An attempt to guess something
Out of hand
Out of control, at once, immediately
The salt of the earth
To be very good, honest, kind
Like a bull in a china shop
Awkward in movement or in handling things; clumsy
Synonyms: gawky, gauche, gangling
To make a clean breast of
To be truthful and honest
Talking through hat
Talking nonsense
Looking forward to
To expect something/someone
Slip off
Leave quickly/quietly
Get on well/Get along with
Having a friendly relationship
In a pickle
In an embarrassing or awkward situation
Allow a free hand
Complete liberty
Lays out
To spend money
Break down
To lose control of your feelings and start crying/could not proceed
Cut coat according to one’s cloth
Live within your means
Weal and woe
Ups and downs
Iron will
Strong determination
To take to task
Punish, Scold
Rack and Ruin
Ransacked
Rides the high horse
Feel superior
Take after
To follow/to take care
Break Up
The breaking of a relationship
Out of the world
Extraordinary
Sweep under the carpet
Keep hidden
To toe the line
To follow the lead/to follow boss’ order
Stick to guns
To stick to the original decision/maintain opinion
Man of straw
A man of no substance
Born with silver spoon
Born in rich family
Let sleeping dogs lie
Not to bring up an old controversial issue/an old polemic conversation
A month of sundays
A long time
A closed book
A mystery
In dutch
In trouble
See eye to eye
To have the same opinion
Come to light
Been revealed/to become known to the people
Balloon goes up
The situation turns unpleasant or serious
Beyond the pale
Outside commonly accepted standards
Took after
Similar to
Throw dust into one’s eye
To deceive
Cool about working
Not tense about working
Salad days
Adolescence
All ears
Attentive
Maiden speech
First speech
Hold water
With logical backing/to stand up with critical reason
Other fish to fry
Some important work to attend to
A close shave
A narrow escape from danger
To tell in a nut shell
In a brief manner/summarise
A black sheep
A person with a bad reputation
To grease the palm
To bribe
For good
Forever/Permanently
An about turn
Complete change of opinion
Make a mockery
To make something seem ridiculous or useless
Eat like a horse
Eat a lot
Go to the dogs
To be ruined
Pay on the nail
Pay promptly
Penelope’s web
An endless job
At daggers drawn
Enmity
Bury the hatchet
Make peace
Null and void
Not binding/Having a legal force
Break in
To enter by force
Stir up a nest
To create a lot of trouble
Second thoughts
Reconsidering the original idea
Floored
To surprise or confuse
Average out
Balance
Give way
Collapse
Feather in one’s cap
An achievement
To face the music
Get reprimanded
No love lost between
Not on good terms
Fair and square
Honest
A white elephant
Costly
Does not hold water
Cannot be believed
A wild goose chase
A futile search
Going places
Talented and successful
In cold blood
A murder done without intention
Around the clock
Day and night
Watching grass grow
Very boring
Nine day’s wonder
A dazzling short lived spectacle of no value
