Idioms and Phrases Flashcards
Rank and File
Ordinary People
By fits and starts
In short periods, not regularly
A wee bit
A little
Out of the wood
Free from all difficulties and dangers
Under his thumb
Under his control
At one’s wits end
In a state where one does not know what to do
In the nick of time
Just at the last moment
Between the devil and the deep sea
Between two dangers
Burn the midnight oil
Work or study hard
Call a spade a spade
Speak frankly and directly
Come off with flying colours
Be highly successful
Hoping against hope
Without hope
Hit the nail on the head
Do or say the exact thing
An axe to grind
A personal interest in the matter
To get rid of
Dispose of
At daggars drawn
Bitterly hostile
To play ducks and drakes
To act foolishly or inconsistently
To take the bull by the horns
To tackle a problem in a bold and direct fashion
Rain cats and dogs
Rain heavily
To move heaven and earth
To make a supreme effort
No avail
Without any result
Bark up the wrong tree
Acccuse or denounce the wrong person
Keep one at bay
Keep one at a distance
Make a clean breast of it
Confess - especially when a person has done a wrong thing
Have a card up one’s sleeve
Have a secret plan in reserve
Like a car on hot bricks
Very nervous
Cat and dog life
Life full of quarrels
Cock and bull story
Made up story that one should not believe
Cry for the moon
Ask for the impossible
The pros and cons
The various aspects of a matter in detail
Be in a tight corner
In a very difficult situation
Cross one’s t’s and dots
Be precise, to pay close attention
At arm’s length
To keep at a distance
Out of the question
Impossible
Out of the way
Strange
Show a clean pair of heals
Run away
Keep one’s fingers crossed
The anxiety in which you hope that nothing will upset your plans
Sitting on the fence
Hesitate between two decisions
Spread like wild fire
Spread quickly
The gift of the gab
Talent for speaking
By hook or by crook
By fair or foul means
Feather one’s own nest
Make money unfairly
Throw out of gear
Disturb the work
Take to one’s heels
Run away
Tooth and nail
With all one’s power
Die in harness
Die while in service
Take a leaf out of one’s book
Imitate one
Leave no stone unturned
Use all available means
A man of straw
A man of no substance
Read between the lines
Understand the hidden meaning
In cold blood
Deliberately and without emotion
A thorn in the flesh
A constant source of annoyance
Smell a rat
Suspect something foul
Harp on the same string
Dwell on the same subject
Bury the hatchet
End the quarrel and make peace
Leave one in the lurch
Desert one in difficulties; leave one in a helpless condition
Like a fish out of water
In a strange situation
