Idioms & Phrases

1) To let the cat out of the bag to reveal a secret 2) To keep the wolf from the door to maintain oneself at a minimal level; to keep from starving, freezing, etc 3) To show the white feather to show cowardice 4) To beat black & blue to beat severely 5) To be in the pink to be in perfect health 6) A white paper a government report 7) To catch red handed to catch in the act of stealing/ committing the crime 8) A red carpet welcome a respectable welcome 9) A white elephant an expensive thing 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) Palmy days prosperous days The fair sex women A live wire dynamic, active Sharp tongue in the habit of using abusive language The sixth sense intuition A vicious circle a series of unwanted/unhappy/evil incidents The zero hour an important part of time for launching something A feather in ones cap a symbol of honour and achievement Pros & cons for and against To be in poor supply scarcity Hard words harsh language Dutch courage courage shown by a drunken person Hot news new or sensational news A rainy day a time of financial difficulty An open secret a secret known to all

25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49)

A bull in a china shop a clumsy person, someone who upsets other Bread and butter food for livelihood Kith and kin close relatives, family A big shot an important person A shortcut easier/shorter way Big words boasting Alpha and omega the beginning and the end An iron will a strong will High life aristocratic, rich life A rope of sand a promise easily broken The golden rule the best principle An apple of discord a cause of quarrel A dead language a language which is not spoken now To be dead against to oppose staunchly, strongly Come to a bad end to become a criminal A herculean task an extremely difficult task To pay homage to to pay respects to Plunge into to fall into Short and sweet brief and impressive The salt of the earth those of great worth and reliability Bag and baggage with all belongings Way and means methods To keep ones word - to keep ones promise By word of mouth orally Null and void legally invalid

people's plans

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Castles in the air daydreams, thinking or dreaming about something

unattainable 51)A storm in a teacup much discussion about some unimportant thing 52)To bring to book to punish 53)A cool head being calm, composed 54)A childs play something easy 55)Black and white simple, clear and understandable 56)To be well off to be rich 57)The fourth estate the press 58)A fools paradise an illusionary world

59) 60)

To break the ice to break the silence A yeomans service helping or serving

61) Between Scylla and charybdis to choose between 2 unattractive choices/perils 62) 63) 64) 65) To turn over a new leaf change for the better Hand and glove intimate At sixes and sevens in disorder At the eleventh hour at the last moment

66) To make a slip of the tongue an accidental and usually trivial mistake in speaking 67) 68) To smell a rat to suspect To pick holes to find fault with

69) To keep the ball rolling to cause something that is in progress to continue 70) 71) 72) 73) To fall a prey to become a victim to To break the news to announce Come off with flying colours win credit, being successful Cut coat according to cloth adapt expenditure to income

74) 75)

A cock and bull story fictious story Chicken hearted lacking courage

76) Dance to ones tunes follow blindly, to always do what someone tells you to do, whether you agree with it or not 77) 78) A dead letter a law no longer in use Rain cats and dogs to rain heavily

79) Not fit to hold candle to person much inferior to or not to be compared with another 80) Burn the midnight oil to study late in the night

81) Burn candle at both ends to regularly stay awake late and get up early 82) Burn ones fingers to get oneself into unexpected trouble due to rashness 83) 84) Miss the bus lose an opportunity Keep body and soul together remain alive

85) Blow hot and cold to be enthusiastic one moment and not interested the next 86) 87) Once in a blue moon very rarely Between the devil and deep sea in an inescapable position

88) To make the best of a bad bargain adapt as well as possible to a bad situation 89) 90) 91) 92) 93) 94) Apple of ones eyes the favourite object of ones love or affection Lead to the altar to marry Like hot cakes in much demand A cake walk an easy task Birds of a feather people of like character The afternoon of life beyond middle age

95) Achilles heel a weak spot, a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength, actually or potentially leading to downfall

96) 97) 98) 99) 100)

With all of ones heart sincerely Keep ones head above water to be free from debt Go out of ones head go mad, act unpredictably Throw ones hat in the ring to accept a challenge Jack of all trades one who knows something of everything

101) A snake in the grass a person who pretends to be friendly, a deceitful or treacherous person 102) 103) 104) A skeleton in the cupboard a dark or embarrassing secret of the past The life and soul essence, the most important part of By fair means or foul means by good or evil methods

105) A fly in the ointment a cause for trouble, a small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing 106) A wet blanket one who dampens the atmosphere, tries to spoil others fun 107) 108) 109) To have clean hands to be innocent To hold ones head high to be proud of An eye opener revealing, enlightening, informative

110) To be on the last legs at the end of one's strength or resources; ready to collapse, fail, or die 111) 112) 113) 114) 115) To pull the leg of to tease An utopian scheme excellent and ideal but impracticable The bill of fare the menu By hook or crook by any means, fair or unfair To turn a deaf ear to to ignore

116) A fish out of water in strange circumstances, to feel out of place in a new place 117) 118) To jeer at to make fun of A man of letters someone who writes well

119)

To die before ones time to die young

120) To put two and two together to guess the truth about a situation from pieces of information 121) To be born with a silver spoon in ones mouth to be born rich

122) To have an axe to grind have a dispute to take up with someone or, to have an ulterior motive 123) To nip in the bud put an end to something at an early stage

124) Cry over spilt milk cry or complain about something that has already happened 125) 126) By leaps and bounds to grow larger very quickly, rapidly A turning point a crucial point

127) To read between the lines to perceive or detect an obscure or unexpressed meaning 128) 129) 130) To play with fire to engage in dangerous activities Spare the rod not beating a young child, student Gift of the gab ability to speak in a persuasive and interesting way

131) Out of the frying pan into the fire get out of a bad situation only to find oneself in a worse situation 132) 133) Own flesh and blood to be related One foot in grave almost dead

ANTONYMS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Believe x Incredible On the edge x In the middle of Float x Sink Earsplitting x gentle Taken over x given up Terrible x pleasant Conscious x unconscious Managed x failed Gathered x dispersed Shame x fame Thoughtful x senseless Courage x weakness, cowardice 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Awful x pleasant Remember x forget Get rid of x retain Plenty x shortage Accept x deny Hospitable x unfriendly Vanish x reappear Entertain x ignore Independence x dependence Amiable x unfriendly Bewildered x clear Grateful x ungrateful

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

Wriggled x straightened Strange x familiar Agree x disagree Difficult x easy Urgent x slow Pleaded x ordered, commanded Wonderful x tough Scared x unafraid Aware x unaware Admit x disagree Always x never Funny x serious Normal x abnormal Cover x unwrap Offensive x defensive Positive x negative Obeyed x disobeyed Precious x valueless Blessed x cursed Failure x success Persuade x dissuade Agony x relief Complete x partial Dissected x joined Obey x disobey Exit x entrance Excitement x dullness Standstill x move Prolong x limit Exhausted x stored up, refreshed Crucial x unimportant Familiar x uncommon Content x discontent Distant x nearby

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5 10 6 10 7 10 8 10 9 11 0 11 1 11 2 11 3 11 4

Enjoyed x suffered Resemble x differ Retreat x advance Arrive x depart Enormous x limited Mercy x unmerciful, pitiless Weaker x powerful Paradise x hell Conservation x destruction Attracted x repelled Fickle x constant, steady Fragile x strong Guilty x innocent Homogeneous x heterogeneous Haughty x meek Gloomy x bright, cheerful Idle x busy Imminent x transcendent Industrious x lazy Knowledge x ignorance Luxury x penury Lament x rejoice Latitude x longitude Liberate x enslave Material x spiritual Naive x sophisticated Epilogue x prologue Spendthrift x niggard Idealistic x pragmatic Succeed x precede Demote x promote Wholesale x retail Punish x reward Saint x sinner

69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 13 7 13 8

Brevity x long Bonafide x malafide Cautious x careless Compulsory x optional Barren x fertile Benediction x malediction Convex x concave Counterfeit x genuine Courtesy x rudeness Deficit x surplus Democracy x autocracy Diligent x lazy Delete x insert Demolish x construct Dynamic x static Elevation x depression Exaggeration x understatement Economical x extravagant Egoist/ egotist x modest, humble Excessive x deficient Emigrant x immigrant Fictious x real Humble x proud Comfort x discomfort

11 5 11 6 11 7 11 8 11 9 12 0 12 1 12 2 12 3 12 4 12 5 12 6 12 7 12 8 12 9 13 0 13 1 13 2 13 3 13 4 13 5 13 6

Sacred x secular Sympathy x antipathy Terrestrial x celestial Thesis x antithesis Triumph x defeat Variable x constant Reluctant x ready Urbane x rude Poignant x blunt Protected x jeopardized Praiseworthy x reprehensible Tranquil x agitated Active x passive Curious x uninquisitive Famous x notorious Ordinary x extraordinary Stirred x unstirred, calm Anxious x unconcerned Confidence x diffidence Profit x loss Dormant x active Gigantic x dwarfish

13 9 14 0 14 1 14 2 14 3 14 4 14 5 14 6 14 7 14 8 14 9 15 0 15 1 15 2 15 3 15 4 15 5 15 6 15 7 15 8 15 9 16 0 16 1 16 2

General x particular Trivial x significant Higher x lower Regular x irregular Modern x ancient Simple x complex Freedom x slavery Betterment x deterioration Expensive x cheap Optimistic x cheap Slimy x fat Normal x abnormal Abandon x keep Abolish x establish Adversity x prosperity Admonish x praise Abstract x concrete Affluence x poverty Assent x dissent Ascend x descend Alien x native Amuse x bore Appreciate x depreciate Ample x scanty