Idioms & Phrases

Question 1

Pell-mell

Answer 1

in hurried disorder

in a confused, rushed, or disorderly manner.
“they rushed pell-mell up the hill”

Question 2

To have one’s heart in one’s boots

Answer 2

To be deeply depressed

Question 3

to give one’ ears

Answer 3

to make almost any sacrifice

Question 4

To play second fiddle

Answer 4

to support the role and view of another person

have a subordinate role to someone or something; be treated as less important than someone or something.

“the storyline plays second fiddle to the action”

Question 5

Go out on a limb

Answer 5

PUt oneself in an isolated or disadvantageous position

Question 6

Alpha & Omega

Answer 6

the beginning and the end

Question 7

Ante-diluvium

Answer 7

old time

Question 8

To play truant

Answer 8

to run away from work without permission

Question 9

To see red

Answer 9

to be very angry

Question 10

to flog a dead horse

Answer 10

to do thing in vain

Question 11

To make a clean breast of

Answer 11

to tell truth about something

Confess fully

This expression, first recorded in 1752, uses clean breasts in the sense of baring of one’s heart, the breast long considered the seat of private or secret feelings.

Question 12

A man of straw

Answer 12

a man of no or little substance

Question 13

To meet someone halfway

Answer 13

to compromise with someone

Question 14

sang froid

Answer 14

composure or coolness was shown in danger or under trying circumstances.

She exhibited remarkably sang froid during the crisis.

Question 15

To mince words

Answer 15

to talk in an indirect way

Question 16

To die in harness

Answer 16

die while in penury

Question 17

a bread and butter letter is

Answer 17

a letter to thank a host

Question 18

as the crow flies

Answer 18

in a straight line

“Easingwold was 22 miles away as the crow flies”

Question 19

Cool as cucumber

Answer 19

Not nervous or emotional

She walked in as cool as a cucumber as if nothing had happened.

Question 20

Ran in the same groove

Answer 20

moved in harmony

Question 21

to blaze a trail

Answer 21

to be hopeful

Find a new path or method; begin a new undertaking.

For example, His research blazed a trail for new kinds of gene therapy

Question 22

a snake in the grass

Answer 22

a secret or hidden enemy

Question 23

have too many irons in the fire

Answer 23

to be engaged in too many activities:

“Gomez turned down the consulting job; he felt that he already had too many irons in the fire.”

Question 24

feathering his own nest

Answer 24

To look after one’s own interests, especially material ones:

“The director was supposed to distribute the money to various charities; instead, he used it to feather his own nest.”

Question 25

in the blues

Answer 25

depressed

Question 26

ride the high horse

Answer 26

To feel proud.

Usage: She is riding the high horse because of her father’s recent success in the business

Question 27

gall and wormwood

Answer 27

Strong feelings of bitterness and resentment.

(“Gall” is bile and “wormwood” is a bitter plant.)

“Ever since I lost the election for school president, I only feel gall and wormwood when I think of my unworthy opponent.”

Question 28

Mayhem

Answer 28

mayhem refers to the gruesome crime of deliberately causing an injury that permanently disfigures another.

The name derives via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb Manheimer (“to maim”) and is probably of Germanic origin;

our own verb “to maim” comes from the same ancestor.

Question 29

hit it off right away

Answer 29

get along very well

Question 30

to hold something in leash

Answer 30

to restrain

Question 31

John Doe refers to

Answer 31

an unidentified male

Question 32

to be tight-fisted

Answer 32

to be frugal and not spend money

Question 33

He is sticking out for better terms

Answer 33

he persists in demanding

Question 34

to be led by the nose

Answer 34

to follow submissively

Question 35

up to the eye

Answer 35

completely

Question 36

for loaves and fishes

Answer 36

for material benefits

Question 37

had to pay through nose

Answer 37

pay an extremely high price

Question 38

to give the game away

Answer 38

to reveal the secret

Question 39

to cool one’s heel

Answer 39

to wait and rest for some time

Question 40

gift of gab

Answer 40

gift of being a good conversationalist

Question 41

to smell a rat

Answer 41

to suspect a trick

Question 42

pandora’s box

Answer 42

it contains all gifts

Question 43

to beat the air

Answer 43

to act foolishly

Question 44

to show the white feathers

Answer 44

behave in a cowardly fashion.

“he showed the white feather and ordered a general retreat”

Question 45

to wangle over an ass’s shadow

Answer 45

to quarrel over trifles

Question 46

to set people by ears

Answer 46

to fight with people

to cause (someone, generally a group of two or more people) to engage in a squabble, dispute, or altercation.

The entire town was set by the ears when it was announced that a giant megastore would be replacing many of its local shops and grocery marts.

Question 47

to give up the ghost

Answer 47

to expire or die,

or in the case of a mechanical object,

to stop working.

The phrase give up the ghost may be traced back to the King James Bible, printed in the early 1600s.

Question 48

to blow the shield

Answer 48

divulge a secret

Question 49

not to care a hoot

Answer 49

free minded

To not care in the slightest (about something or someone); to attach no importance to someone or something.

I don’t care a hoot about making money, I just want to do something with my life that makes life better for others.

Question 50

to cool one’s heel

Answer 50

Wait or be kept waiting,

as in

I’ve been cooling my heels in the doctor’s waiting room for at least an hour.

This term originally meant to cool one’s feet when they become hot from walking and began to be used ironically for being forced to rest (or wait) in the early 1600s.

Question 51

to bite one’s lips

Answer 51

to be angry
repress an emotion; stifle laughter or repress a retort.

“she bit her lip to stop the rush of bitter words”

Question 52

to knuckle under

Answer 52

submit to someone else’s authority.

Question 53

to mince words

Answer 53

to talk in an indirect way

Question 54

to give the devil his due

Answer 54

to acknowledge the merit of even a notorious person

Question 55

to die in harness

Answer 55

die before retirement.

Question 56

to blow the gaff

Answer 56

divulge a secret

Question 57

to drink like a fish

Answer 57

to be a drunkard

Question 58

A nail in someone’s coffin

Answer 58

something bad that contributes towards failures

Question 59

by hook or by crook

Answer 59

in whatever way one can

Question 60

a fair crack of the whip

Answer 60

to get a fair chance

They might have succeeded if they’d been given a fair crack of the whip.

Question 61

a feather in one’s cap

Answer 61

an achievement to be proud of.

“beating him would be a feather in my cap”

Question 62

take up the cudgels

Answer 62

to support somebody

start to defend or support someone or something strongly.

“there was no one else to take up the cudgels on their behalf”

Question 63

Pie in the sky

Answer 63

event unlikely to happen

used to describe or refer to something that is pleasant to contemplate but is very unlikely to be realized.

“don’t throw away a decent offer in pursuit of pie in the sky”

Question 64

pack like sardine

Answer 64

to squeeze in as many people or things as possible

if a group of people is packed like sardines, they are standing very close together because there is not enough room in an enclosed space.

We were packed like sardines in the ship and could barely move.

Note: Other words such as crammed, jammed or squashed are sometimes used instead of packed.

Question 65

to hold a heavy heart

Answer 65

to be weighed down with sorrow

Question 66

my heart goes out to you

Answer 66

I feel sympathy for you

Question 67

keep one’s fingers crossed

Answer 67

put one finger across another as a sign of hoping for good luck.

“we will be keeping our fingers crossed that a quick thaw is on its way”

Question 68

to face the music

Answer 68

to bear the consequences

Question 69

red-letter day

Answer 69

an important day

Question 70

at one’s wit’s end

Answer 70

to be puzzled

Question 71

to cross swords with each other

Answer 71

To quarrel or argue with someone; to have a dispute with someone.

Question 72

to let the cat out of the bag

Answer 72

reveal a secret carelessly or by mistake.

“now that Viola had let the cat out of the bag, she had no option but to confess”

Question 73

gift of gab

Answer 73

ability to speak impressively

Question 74

set the bait

Answer 74

laid the trap

Question 75

to talk through the back of one’s end

Answer 75

to talk completely absurd

Question 76

to put paid to something

Answer 76

to stop or destroy something

Question 77

to have a brush with

Answer 77

to have a slight encounter with

Question 78

catch-22 situation

Answer 78

A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations. The term was coined by Joseph Heller, who used it in his 1961 novel Catch-22.

Question 79

rank and file

Answer 79

the ordinary members of an organization as opposed to its leaders.

“the rank and file of the Labour Party”

Question 80

a storm in a teacup

Answer 80

Big fuss over the small matter

mean people are very upset or annoyed about something that is not at all important and will soon be forgotten.

Question 81

throw in towel

Answer 81

acknowledge the defeat

Question 82

cloak-and-dagger

Answer 82

an activity or operation that involves espionage, mystery or secrecy.

Question 83

make one’s mark

Answer 83

distinguish oneself

Question 84

live cheek by jowl

Answer 84

very close to each other.

If you say that people or things are cheek by jowl with each other, you are indicating that they are very close to each other.

“She and her family have to live cheek by jowl with these people.”