“ omaPTER 8 Idioms 15 Idioms An idiom is an expression or phrase whose meaning does not relate to the literal meaning of its words. In other words, “Idioms mean something different than the individual words. Only when they are used correctly and in the appropriate contexts, idioms can be an effective language tool. Sr. Idiom Meaning Example No. 1 | Above board | without doubt | Hazrat Muhammad’s ( passin) honesty is above board. 2 | Alland ‘everyone He invited all and sundry to the party. sundry 3. | Apple of cause of quarrel | Kashmir is an apple of discord between India discord and Pakistan. 4 | Apple of very dear ‘My son is an apple of my eye. one’s eye 3 | Apple pie in perfect order | Keep everything in apple pie order. order 6 | Bad blood bitter feelings We have no bad blood among ourselves. 7 | Bad debt unlikely to be | You cannot get anything from him as it is a paid bad debt. 8 | Bag and with all things | She threw him out of the house bag and baggage baggage. 9 | Tobear fruits | getting reward _| Your efforts will bear fruits if you are honest. 10 | To beat the futile effort ‘Trying to pass the exam without preparation air is like to beat the 11 | Beneath one’s | below one’s It is below my dignity to cheat others. dignit worth 12 [A bird’seye | seen from He got a bird’s eye view of the city from the view above plane. 13 | A bolt from | an expected His only son’s death was a bolt from the blue. the blue eventwe ES 14 | To burn the work very You will fall ill if you keep burning the candle at both | hard candle at both ends. ends 15 | By heart verbally/ Thave learnt this poem by heart. attentively 16 | Aclose-fisted | a miserly man | He spends nothing on himself as he is a close- man fisted man. 17_| Consist of comprises Our class consists of 40 boys. 18 | Die in to die while still| The Quaid-e-Azam died in harness. harness working, before retirement 19 | A fair selfish A fair weather friend leaves others in the weather lurch. friend 20 | To find fault | criticise Do not find fault with others. with 21 | To give up to die My dear friend gave up the ghost before my the ghost eyes. 22 | Heart and completely Tlove you heart and soul. soul 23_| In addition to_| besides He earns much in addition to this business. 24 | Keep at arm’s | at some Keep selfish friends at arm’s length. length distance 25 | Leaveinthe | in crisis Do not leave anyone in the lurch. lurch 26 | Make amends | to compensate | You will have to make amends for the loss. for 27_| Make fun of _| mock at Never make fun of others/anyone. 28 | Null and void | invalid This law is now null and void 29 | Offhand extempore We have done so offhand. 30 | Out-and-out _| completely He is an out-and-out fraud. 31 | Pay through | suffer a great loss| You will have to pay through the nose ifyou the nose disobey me. 32 | Beat about/ | avoiding Do not beat about/ around the bush but around the talking about come to the point. bush 33_| Play truant | running away __| Being a vagabond, he often plays truant. 34 | To poison to backbite He poisoned the ears of his friend against one’s ears me. e\— ed 35 | Pokeone’s | interfere in Do not poke your nose into anyone’s nose matter. 36_| Cats and dogs | heavily Nobody can go out if it rains cats and dogs. 37 | Runshort of | to lose We have run short of money these days. something 38 | Show white show cowardice | The brave never show white feather in the feather battle field. 39 | Stand on tobehaveina | Eat everything and do not stand on ceremony formal way ceremony. 40 | Steal a march | gain advantage | Don’t let your enemy steal a march on you. on someone 41 | Totakea to begin loving | She has taken a fancy to Chinese food. fancy to. 42_| Tide over get over Help me in tiding over my difficulties. 43 | Turnadeaf | to ignore He turned a deaf ear to my advice and failed ear to thus. 44 | Turn the to reverse Sometimes tables are turned on us and we tables have to lose something. 45 | Withaview | withintention | He came here with a view to meeting me. to 46 | To bum boats | no returning ‘You will have to burn your boats to get your aim. 47 | Break doing This government is breaking new ground in new/fresh something new | many fields. ground 48 | Selllike hot | quickly Solar energy plates are selling like hot cakes. cakes 49 | On cloud nine | very happy He was on cloud nine after winning the match 50 | Blow hot and | between two You cannot succeed anywhere blowing hot cold moods and cold. 51 | Eat like a eating too much | She eats like a horse but even then she is so horse slim. 52. | Straight from | direct You will have to believe me as I have got it the horse’s straight from the horse’s mouth. mouth 53 | Withagrain | doubtful ‘We take whatever she says with a grain of of salt salt. @,ee 54 | Bite offmore | take ona We will have to bite off more than you chew than you difficult work to get it done. chew 55 | Atthe the last moment | He changed his programme at the eleventh eleventh hour hour. 56 | Toburythe | ending quarrels | Let’s bury the hatchet and become friends hatchet again. 57 To bell the to face a risk We will have to bell the cat as none will do cat so. 58__| Atsea confused 1am at sea and cannot decide it now. 59 | Stab one in to betray His own servant stabbed him in the back to the back get money. 60 Face the to confront the | You will have to face the music as you have music consequences of | done so. ‘one’s actions 61 | Wearone’s | expressing ‘Akram always wears his heart on his heart on openly sleeves. sleeves 62 | Through thick | at good and bad | T will stand by you through thick and thin. and thin times 63 | Cry forthe | asking for Do not ery for the moon if you cannot do so. moon something difficult 64 | Read between | following the She will come to know his evil designs if she lines teal message _| reads between lines 65 To black out _| to faint The patient blacked out on the road. 66__| Incold blood_| violently She was killed in cold blood. 67 | Tosowwild | to avail oneself | Good people never sow wild oats. oats of immoral chances 68 | Spick and neat and clean | She keeps herself spick and span. span 69 | Splithairs | to criticize Tt is mostly women who split hairs. unduly 70 | Givea false | misinterpret Do not give a false colouring to what I have colouring said. 71 | Anarrow avoid danger She had a narrow escape in the roadside escape accident. 72_| High time right time It is high time that we went abroad, (6),— a 73 | A house of likely to fall This world itself is a house of cards. cards 74__| Ins and outs __| all details I know all the ins and outs of this problem. 75 | Keep the to survive It is very difficult to keep the body and soul body and soul together these days. together 76 |Keepone’s | not showing Keep your temper and do not do so instantly. temper anger 71 | Lock stock completely He shifted to a new house lock stock and and barrel barrel. 78__| Tolose heart_| disappointed Do not lose heart. 79 | Of one’s own | with own She married a cripple of her own accord. accord intention 80 | Tobetaken | surprised/ She was taken aback seeing me before aback shocked herself. 81 Without fail__| certainly Lwill help you without fail. 82 | Upto the standard His assignment was quite up to the mark. mark 83__| Up-to-date _| latest He published an up-to-date book. 84 Vain of proud She is vain of her beauty. 85 With an iron | sternly ‘You will have to finish this evil with an iron hand hand. 86 | Withopen | ina friendly He received me with open arms. arms way 87 | Work ina surprising | He worked wonders and won the game. wonders way 88_| Allinall on the whole All in all the party was praiseworthy. 89 | To the completely He is honest to the backbone. backbone 90__| By dint of by means of He succeeded by dint of hard work. 91 |Toandfro | backwards & | He kept walking to and fro waiting for me. forward 92 | Tooth and with full force | We will fight tooth and nail to defend nail Pakistan. 93__| A turncoat traitor Do not trust him as he is a turncoat. 94 | Tum turtle turn upside The boat turned turtle into the river. down (ey, aae =~ 95 | Lose one’s show anger He lost his temper and slapped him. temper 96 _| At length after a long time | At length, we won the match. 97__| Inhigh spirits | excited We started our journey in high spirits. 98 | Keep one’s to remain calm | He could not keep his temper and abused her. temper 99 | Play ducks spend lavishly | He played ducks and drakes with the money and drakes his father had left. 100 | Chip off the old| @ person who is | When grandmother saw her grandson block similar in collecting coins like her son used to do, she behaviour or knew he wasa chip off the old block. actions to his parents