·
A Babel (a
confused noise)
·
A bad egg
(a worthless person)
·
A blue stocking
(a learned woman)
·
A bolt from the blue
(a sudden)
·
A bone of contention
(a cause of dispute)
·
A Book-worm
(a person always poring over books)
·
A breach of faith
(to act contrary to what one had professed)
·
A burnt child dreads the fire (one who has had a previous unpleasant experience is always
scared of situations where such experience are likely to be repeated)
·
A chip of the old block
(a son resembling his father in face disposition, habits etc.)
·
A close shave
(a narrow escape)
·
A cock and bull story (a foolishly incredible story)
·
A dare-devil
(a fearless, reckless man)
·
A fidus Achates
(a faithful friend)
·
A fish out of water
(anyone in an awkward)
·
A good for nothing
(a worth less person)
·
A good Samaritan
(a friend in need)
·
A laconic speech
(a concise)
·
A Lilliputian
(a pygmy)
·
A Martinet
(a very strict disciplinarian)
·
A miss is as good as a mile (comes nowhere near it)
·
A nine days'wonder
(an event which relates a sensation for a time but is soon forgotten)
·
A rolling stone gathers no moss (unstable people never achieve anything worthwhile)
·
A skeleton in the cupboard/the family skeleton (a dreadful domestic secret)
·
A snake in the grass
(an enemy who strikes under cover)
·
A Spartan life
(a life of extreme self discipline)
·
A stitch in time saves nine (If we give our attention to the little details of life)
·
A wet Blanket
(a person who is a discourage)
·
A white elephant
(a useless possession which is extremely expensive to keep)
·
A wild goose chase
(a vain attempt)
·
Above all
(chiefly, mainly)
·
Above board
(honest, beyond reproach)
·
All that glitters is not gold (things are not always as attractive as they appears)
·
An admirable Crichton
(a very talented person)
·
An Adonis
(a very handsome man)
·
An Amazon
(a warlike masculine woman)
·
An Ananias
(a liar)
·
An Apollo
(a man with perfect physique)
·
An eye for an eye
(tit for tat to return evil for evil; retaliate)
·
An old bird is not to be caught with chaff (experienced people are not easily fooled or deceived)
·
Apple pie order
(in perfect order)
·
Arcadian life
(a blissful, happy, rural and simple life)
·
As the crow flies
(in a direct line)
·
As you make your bed, so must lie on it (you will have to bear the consequences of your crimes or
your own mistakes or misdeeds)
·
At first Blush (at
first sight)
·
At the eleventh hour
(at the last moment)
·
Back in harness
(to resume work after a holiday)
·
Bad faith
(dishonest intentions)
·
Bag and baggage
(with all one's belongings)
·
Baptism of fire
(a soldier's first experience of actual war)
·
Barmecide's feast
(imaginary benefits)
·
Bed and board
(lodging and food)
·
Bee-line (the
shortest distance between two places)
·
Behind one's back
(without one's Knowledge)
·
Behind the scenes
(in private, out of sight)
·
Birds of a feather flock together (people of similar tastes and dis-positions crave each
other's company)
·
Blood is thicker than water (One usually takes the side of ones relation against
another who is not one's own blood)
·
Blue ribbon
(the highest prize in any sport competition)
·
Breach of promise
(failure to keep a promise to marry one of whom you are betrothed)
·
By fits and starts
(spasmodically)
·
By hook or by crook
(by fair or foul means)
·
By leaps and bounds
(with remarkable speed)
·
By the skin of the teeth
(very narrowly)
·
Capitan punishment
(the death sentence or penalty)
·
Care killed the cat
(don't fret and worry yourself to death)
·
Chicken hearted
(weak, timid)
·
Close fisted
(mean)
·
Crocodile tears (hypocritical
tears)
·
Cut and dried
(ready made)
·
Cut your cloth according to your cloth (live within your income)
·
Devil's bones
(dice)
·
Devil's playthings
(playing cards)
·
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched (don't calculate your gains before they are realized)
·
Don't put your eggs in one basket (Don't stake all your money on a single industry)
·
Dutch courage
(bravery induced by alcoholic liquors)
·
Eagle eye
(quick to discover; very discerning)
·
Empty vessels make the most noise (those who know or have little knowledge often shout the
loudest)
·
Every cloud has a silver lining (adverse conditions do not last for ever)
·
Every dog has his day
(sooner or later, every one has his share of good fortune)
·
Evil days
(a period of misfortune)
·
Foul play
(cheating)
·
From hand to hand
(from one person to another)
·
Give a dog a bad name and hang him (once a person loses his reputation)
·
Go to the devil
(be off)
·
Good wine needs no bush (there
is no need to advertise something good)
·
Halcyon days
(A time when there is peace and happiness in the land)
·
Hard and fast rules
(strict rules)
·
Hard to hearing
(almost deaf)
·
He has no backbone
(he has no will of his own)
·
He is a cat's paw
(one used as a to something dangerous)
·
His bark was worse than his bite (he usually makes a lot of vain verbal threats)
·
His bread is well butter
(he is in fortunate circumstance)
·
Hobson's choice
(no alterative)
·
If the cap fits, wear it
(if you think the remarks refer to you)
·
If wishes were horses, beggars might ride (if all people's wishes came true every body would be rich)
·
In a nutshell
(Summed up in a few words)
·
In cold Blood
(deliberately)
·
In the same boat
(in the same misfortune or circumstances)
·
It is an broad as it is long (it is the same whichever way you view it)
·
John bull
(an Englishman)
·
Lock, stock and barrel
(the whole of everything)
·
Look before you leap
(think before action)
·
Make hay while the sun shines (take advantage of all opportunities)
·
More haste less speed
(work done hurriedly is apt to be badly done)
·
Never cross the Bridge until you come to it (don't anticipate difficulties)
·
Not to know a B from a bull's foot (to be ignorant of even the simplest things)
·
Off color
(not in the usual form)
·
On Account of
(due to, for the reason)
·
On no account
(not for any reason)
·
Once in a blue moon
(a very rare occurrence)
·
One swallow does not make a summer (it is unreliable to base one's conclusions on only a
single test or incident)
·
One's bread and butter
(one's means of livelihood)
·
Other fish to fry
(more important business to attend to)
·
Out of date
(obsolete)
·
Out of temper
(angry)
·
Pyrrhic victory
(a victory that is as costly as defeat)
·
Red flag (the
symbol of revolution)
·
Red letter-day (a
memorable day)
·
Red tape (a team
used to describe the delay in attending to matters in government department
because the official routine and formality)
·
Rome was not built in a day (it takes time to accomplish anything really worthwhile)
·
See which way the cat jumps (sit on fence)
·
She is no chicken
(she is older than she says)
·
The apple of discord
(cause of quarrel)
·
The biter bit
(to cheat the cheater)
·
The bread winner
(one who provides the means of livelihood for himself and his family)
·
The heel of Achilles
(a week point)
·
The lion's share
(the largest part)
·
The proof of the pudding is in eating (people are judged by their actions)
·
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones (people who do not live blameless lives should not find
fault with others)
·
To air one's opinions
(to give vent to one's feeling in public)
·
To assume airs
(to affect superiority)
·
To backbite a person
(to slander or speak ill of someone)
·
To be a dog in the manger
(to prevent others from using what one can't use oneself)
·
To be at daggers drawn
(to be deadly enemies)
·
To be between Scylla and Charybdis (to be faced with two dangerous alternatives)
·
To be between the devil and the deep sea (to be faced with two dangerous situations, each of which
is to be dreaded as much as the other)
·
To be caught red-handed
(to be caught in the very act of committing a crime)
·
To be cock sure
(to be absolutely certain)
·
To be dead beat
(worn out by fatigue)
·
To be in hot water
(to be in trouble or difficulty)
·
To be in the doldrums
(to be in low spirits, to be out of spirits)
·
To be like a drowned rat
(to be soaking wet)
·
To be on the horns of dilemma (to in such a position that it is difficult to decide what
to do)
·
To beat about the bush
(to approach a matter in an indirect and round about manner)
·
To bell the cat
(to undertake a dangerous task and the enemy is common)
·
To bite the dust
(to be defeated in battle)
·
To blow hot and cold
(to do one think at one time and the opposite soon after)
·
To breadth freely again
(to be no longer in a fear or anxiety)
·
To breadth one's last
(to die)
·
To Break in (to tame, to control in a gentle
manner)
·
To break the back of any thing (to perform the most difficult part of it)
·
To break the ice
(to be the first to begin)
·
To break the news
(to reveal something pleasant in a gentle manner)
·
To bring to light (to
reveal)
·
To brow beat
(to bully)
·
To build castles in the air (To day dream)
·
To burn the candle at both ends (to expend energy in two directions at the same time)
·
To burry the hatchet
(to forget past quarrels and be friends again)
·
To call a spade a spade
(to be brutally frank)
·
To call to the bar
(to admit as a barrister)
·
To came off with flying color (to succeed brilliantly)
·
To carry coals to New castle (to do any thing superfluous)
·
To Catch one's eye
(to attract attention)
·
To cause bad blood
(to cause enmity)
·
To commit to memory
(to learn by heart)
·
To curry favour
(to seek favour by flattery)
·
To cut a dash
(to make an impression)
·
To cut a Gordian knot (to
solve a difficult problem by adopting bold and drastic measures)
·
To die in harness
(to continue at one's occupation until death)
·
To eat an humble pie
(to submit oneself to humiliation and insult)
·
To fall out
(to quarrel)
·
To fall through
(fail)
·
To fight like cats and dog
(to be always quarrelling and fighting)
·
To gain ground
(to make progress in any undertaking)
·
To get one's back up (to
rouse one's anger)
·
To give a good account of oneself (to act with credit to oneself)
·
To give the devil his due
(give a person credit for his good qualities however worthless he may be)
·
To give the lie to
(to prove to be false)
·
To give up the ghost
(to die)
·
To go a begging
(to be sold very cheaply because no one cares to buy)
·
To have an axe to grind (to have some selfish objective in view)
·
To have one's head in the cloud (to live in dreamland)
·
To hit below the belt
(to act unfairly in a contest) His better half (a man's wife) A bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush (certainty is better then possibility)
·
To hit the nail on the head (to mention the true facts of a case)
·
To jump from a frying pan into fire (to come out of one trouble and get into a worse)
·
To keep a person at an arm's length (to avoid and keep distance from a person)
·
To keep the ball rolling
(to keep things going)
·
To kick the bucket
(to die)
·
To kill the goose that laid the golden egg (to lose a valuable source of income though greed)
·
To kiss the book
(to take an oath in a produce or commodities)
·
To kiss the dust (to
be defeated in battle)
·
To lead to the altar
(to marry)
·
To let the cat out of the bag (to expose the trick)
·
To look to one's laurels
(to take care not to lose one's place)
·
To make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (to attempt to accomplish great things with inferior
materials)
·
To make both ends meet
(to keep expenses within one's income)
·
To make bricks without straw (to attempt to do something without proper materials or due
preparations)
·
To move heaven and earth
(to exert all efforts)
·
To pick and choose
(to make a careful selection)
·
To pick to pieces
(to analyses critically)
·
To play to the gallery
(to endeavour to gain cheap popularity)
·
To put down a person
(to degrade or humiliate a person)
·
To put the cart before the horse (to do first what ought to be done afterwards)
·
To rain cats and dogs
(to rain incessantly)
·
To raise cain
(to rebuke severely)
·
To see daylight
(to begin to understand)
·
To send to Coventry
(to boycott)
·
To set the Thames on fire
(to do something sensational or remarkable)
·
To smell of the lamp
(to show signs of strenuous preparation for an examination or a speech etc)
·
To square the circle
(to attempt something impossible)
·
To stand aloof
(To keep to oneself and not mix with others)
·
To stand on one's own legs
(to depend entirely on one's own resources)
·
To step into dead man's shoes (to come into an inheritance)
·
To take the bit between one's teeth (to get out of control)
·
To take the cake
(to take the first prize)
·
To take the chair
(to preside a meeting)
·
To take to one's bed
(to have to be confined to bed as a result of sickness)
·
To take up arms
(to fight, to go to war)
·
To take up the cudgels
(to champion or flight for someone)
·
To throw cold water upon anything (to discourage effort)
·
To throw dust in one's eyes (to try to deceive some one)
·
To upset the apple cart
(to disturb the peace)
·
To win laurels
(to gain distinction or glory in s contest)
·
Too many cooks spoil the broth (when there are more worpkers than necessary)
·
Up to date
(recent, modern)
·
Ups and downs
(varying fortunes; changes and chances of life)
·
Yellow press (newspapers
which publish sensational and unscrupulous stories about crime, sex etc.)
No comments:
Post a Comment