1 | Important Idioms Sets TousiF RehmaN

1
(All) at sea Confused; unable to decide I’m all at sea solving this problem.
Take a bird’s eye view on these points for
Bird’s eye view A general, overall view
the exam.
I failed my MDCAT test. However, this
An apparent misfortune that
Blessing in disguise proved to be a blessing in disguise for
eventually has good results
me for I opted for English.
A sudden and unexpected The news of her father’s death was a bolt
Bolt from the blue
event or piece of news from the blue.
A subject or issue of Kashmir is the bone of contention
Bone of contention
continuing disagreement between Pakistan and India.
Aslam is a busy bee. He works the whole
A busy bee An industrious person
day.
An incredible story told as What he is asserting is a cock-and-bull
Cock-and-bull story
true story.
A cry in the An unheeded advocate of
wilderness reform
She was thought to be dull, but she
A person about whom little is
A dark horse proved to be a dark horse when she
known, but who triumph
passed her test.
A completely different matter Practicing shooting is easy; but shooting
Different kettle of fish
or type of person during war is a different kettle of fish.

2
A drop in the ocean Something negligible
A feather in one’s A mark of distinction
cap
A fight to the finish
A fish in troubled
waters
A fish out of water In an uncomfortable A student in the examination hall is a fish out
situation of water.
A fly in the ointment A detracting factor or
element
A fly on the wall
A fly on the wheel
French leave An informal, hasty, or Boss didn’t accede to my leave; so I decided to
secret departure take French leave.
A hair’s breadth

3
Hard-and-fast rule Strict and fixed rule There are many hard-and-fast rules in Grammar.
A hard nut to crack
A hard pill to swallow
A heartbeat away
Horse of different color
A leap in the dark
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A nail in the coffin
A needle in the haystack
A nine day’s wonder
A piece of cake

4
A red rag to a bull
A red-letter day
Catch wind with net To do fruitless activity
A shot in the dark
A snake in the grass
A square deal
A thorn in the flesh
A walk in the park
A white elephant
Wild goose chase Lengthy and fruitless pursuit

5
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
Achilles’ heel
Add fuel to fire/flames
Add insult to injury
Against a rainy day
Against the grain
Against the stream
All and sundry
Alpha and omega
An apple of discord

6
An arrow in the quiver
An itching palm
An oily tongue
Another pair of shoes
As thick as thieves
At a stone’s throw
At a stretch
At the drop of a hat
At the eleventh hour
Back to square one

7
Born with a silver spoon in mouth
Be Greek to one
Be poles apart
Be second to none
Bear the brunt of
 3 | Important Idioms Sets TousiF RehmaN
Beaten at the post
Beside the mark/question/point
Between a rock and a hard place
Between the devil and the deep sea
Between two fires

8
Blow a hole in
Blow one’s own horn/trumpet
Build castles in the air
Built on sands
Burn one’s fingers
Burn the midnight oil
By fits and starts
By hook or by crook
By leaps and bounds
By the sweat of one’s brow

9
Carved in stone
Cast to the winds
Chase one’s own tail
Chase rainbows
Catch at a straw
Come hell or high waters
Crocodile tears
Cut loose
Cut no ice
Cut the crap

10
Cut to the bone
Cut to the chase
Dead and buried
Dot the i’s and cross the t’s
Down and out
Drop a brick
Eat dirt
Eat one’s heart out
End/Go up in smoke
Every cloud has a silver lining

11
Fall on deaf ears
Fall on stony grounds
Fan the flames
Far and near
 4 | Important Idioms Sets TousiF RehmaN
Far and wide
Float someone’s boat
Fly off the handle
From cradle to the grave
From pillar to post
From scratch

12
From soup to nuts
Get one’s feet under the table
Get under someone’s skin
Gird one’s lines
Go to seed
Grease/oil someone’s palm
Harp on the same string
Have other fish to fry Other concerns or interests to pursue
Have your cross to bear
Hide one’s light under a bushel

13
Hit someone below the belt
Hit the nail on the head
Hitch horses together
Hold the line
Hush money
In a nutshell
Follow a rut
In deep waters
In seventh heaven
In the heat of the moment

14
In the long run/term
In the twinkling of an eye
Join up the dots
Keep (hold) someone at bay
Keep one’s powder dry
Keep something under wraps
Keep the wolf from the door
Kith and kin
Lend an ear
Let bygones be bygones

15
Make ends meet
Make bricks without straw
Mind one’s p’s and q’s
 5 | Important Idioms Sets TousiF RehmaN
Not one’s cup of tea
Not worth a dime
Not worth the candle
Now and again
Now or never
Oil and water
On cloud nine

16
On pins and needles
On the ropes
On the spur of the moment
On the wane
Once in a blue moon
Out and out
Out of the blue
Out of the clear blue sky
Over the moon
Part and parcel

17
Play ducks and drakes with
Play fast and loose
Come what may
Play second fiddle to
Pomp and show
Pour oil on troubled waters
Reap the fruits/harvest
Reinvent the wheel
Rise from the ashes
Root and branch

18
Run into sands
Set the wheels in motion
Show one’s teeth
Sit on one’s hands
Skate on thin ice
Smell of the lamp
Spill the beans
Spin one’s wheel
Square the circle
Steal someone’s thunder

19
Sting in the tail
Strike at the root of
 6 | Important Idioms Sets TousiF RehmaN
Strike oil
Strike while the iron is hot
Sum and substance
Sweat blood
The apple of someone’s eye
The cut of someone’s jib
The gift of the gab
The ins and outs

20
The last/final straw
The length and breadth of
The long and the short of
The pick of the basket
The pot calling the cattle black
The pros and cons
The rank and file
The small hours
The sword of Damocles
Through and through

21
Through thick and thin
Throw caution to the wind
Thus and thus
Tip/turn the scales
To back the wrong horse
To bark up the wrong tree
To be armed to the teeth
To be at daggers drawn
To be at one’s wit’s end
To be at the end of one’s tether

22
To be in hot water
To be in someone’s bad books
To beard the lion in his own den
To beat about the bush
To bite the bullet
To bite the dust
To break the ice
To burn one’s boats
To burn the candle at both ends
To bury the hatchet

23
To call a spade a spade
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To carry coals to new castles
To carry the day
To catch someone red-handed
To cleanse the Augean stables
To cry for the moon
To cut a sorry figure
To cut short
To eat humble pie
To face the music

24
To feather one’s own nest
To flog a dead horse
To have a bee in one’s bonnet
To have a bone to pick
To have an axe to grind
To have ants in one’s pockets
To have deep pockets
To have one’s heart in one’s mouth
To hit the mark
To hold water

25
To keep both oars in the water
To know one’s onions
To leave in the lurch
To leave no stone unturned
To live from hand to mouth
To look/speak daggers
To make a mountain out of a moll-hill
To make a pile
To make hay while the sun shines
To move heaven and earth

26
To paddle one’s own canoe
To pay back in the same coin
To pay off old scores
To pick up the threads
To plough the sand
To pocket insult
To put a spoke in someone’s wheel
To read between the lines
To rip up old sores
To scatter to the winds
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27
To set the Thames on fire
To sit on the rail/fence
To smell a rat
To sow one’s wild oats
To stem the tide
To strain every nerve
To strike the key-note of something
To throw dust into someone’s eyes
To turn a blind eye
Toe the line

28
Tread water
Turn a deaf ear
Turn the tables
Under the carpet
Under the cloud
Under the hatches
Under the rose
Under the weather
Up to the hilt
Ups and downs

29
Use a sledgehammer to crack a nut
Warp someone in cotton wool
Water under the bridge
Wear and tear
Wet behind the ears
Whistle in the dark
With a grain of salt
With flying colours
With one’s tail between one’s legs
Within an ace of

30
Within striking difference
A bad egg
A bed of roses
A bird’s eye view
A blind alley
A cock and bull story
A dead letter
A dog with two tails
A fair weathered friend
A false dawn
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31
A green hand
A hornet’s nest
A hot potato
A jack of all trades
A labour of Hercules
A lion’s share
A man of letters
A narrow escape
A pious fraud
A rope of sand

32
A stab in the back
A stroke of luck
A thorn in one’s side
A turn coat
A wise after the event
Above par
Again and again
All hats and no cattle
All someone’s geese are swans
An eagle beaver

33
An eye for an eye
An iron will
As blind as a bat
As busy as a bee
As cunning as fox
As dry as bone/dust
As dumb as a statue
As easy as ABC
As hungry as a hawk
As mad as a March hare/hatter

34
As neat as a pin
As old as hills
At a loose end
At full pelt
At sixes and sevens
At someone’s beck and call
At stake
At stone’s throw
At the crossroads
Bad blood
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35
Bag and baggage
Be all ears
Be all fingers and thumbs
Beat someone hollow
Bed and breakfast
Belt and braces
Between wind and water
Beyond the pale
Birds of a feather
Black sheep

36
Bread and butter
Bring to book
By and large
By the skin of one’s teeth
Caught in the crossfire
Close/shut one’s eyes to
Come to terms
Come/bring to a head
Cross one’s fingers
Cross swords

37
Cut corners
Cut the cackle
Dog-and-pony show
Done and dusted
Down in the dumps
Down in the mouth
Dust and ashes
Fall into line
Fall to ground
Far and away

38
Few and far between
Fifth column
First and foremost
Fly in the face of
Full of oneself
Give the devil his due
Go with the flow
Go with the wind
Go with the tide
Grease/oil the wheels
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39
Grind to a halt
Hang by a thread
Heart and soul
Hit the spot
Hobson’s choice
Hold one’s horses
In black and white
In smooth waters
In the blink of an eye
In the hollow of one’s hand

40
In the nick of time
In the teeth of
Keep one’s nose to the grindstone
Keep somebody at arm’s length
Lead someone by the nose
Lead someone up the garden path
Leave someone to their own devices
Lock horns
Make head or tail of
Make silk purse out of a row’s ear

41
Many moons ago
Milk and honey
Now and then
Off and on
Off beam/Way off beam
Off the hook
On a collision course
On a par with
On an even keel
On ice

42
On one’s beam ends
On the crest of a wave
On the dot
On the nail
On the off chance
On the rocks
On the stocks
On thorns
Once and again
Once and for all
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43
Out and away
Out of joint
Out of key
Out of line
Out of one’s element
Out of sorts/elbows
Out of the question
Go against the tide
Out of the wood
Over and above

44
Over and over
Over head and ears
Put one’s shoulder to the wheel
Raise a dust
Ruffle someone’s feathers
Rush one’s fences
Separate the wheat from the chaff
Show the white feather
Someone’s dogs are barking
Spin a yard

45
Swallow/Take the bait
Take someone to task
Talk through one’s hat
The cat is out of the bag
The crack of dawn
The dirty end of the stick
The eye of the storm
Tied to someone’s apron-strings
Time and tide
To and fro

46
To be at a loss
To be in leading strings
To be in the heyday of
To be on nodding terms
To drop a dime To inform authorities She lay low, but her friend dropped the dime.
To beat blue and black
To blow hot and cold
To fall between two stools
At the drop of a hat Immediately She loses her temper at the drop of a hat.
To give false colour to
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47
To go hand in hand
To have an ace up one’s sleeve
To have two strings to one’s bow
To hold all the aces
To hold out the olive branch
To husband one’s sources
To keep the ball rolling
To kick the basket
To knock on the head
To learn by rote

48
To make a clean breast of
To make amends for
To make ducks and drakes of
To make light of
To pay through the nose
To poison ears
To pull a long face
To pull one’s leg
To pull strings
To pull the wires or strings

49
To show the cold shoulder
To take to heart
To take to heels
To tamper with
To tear to shreds
To the backbone
To the letter
To the point
To throw cold water upon
Throw down the gauntlet/glove

50
To throw up one’s
cards
Neither fish nor foul One belonging to I can’t decide whether the movie was a comedy
neither category or a tragedy; it’s neither fish nor foul.
Tooth and nail
Fish or cut bait A choice between You can’t have both mobiles. It’s fish or cut bait.
alternatives
Under the skin
Up to the mark
Wend one’s way
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With might and main
With open arms
Worth one’s salt