Idioms (Part One)

Arup Roy, Lecturer in English Language & Literature, Kanchkura University College

                                                                           A

An apple of discord (A cause of dispute): 

• Kashmir is an apple of discord between India and Pakistan.

The apple of the eye (Someone very precious): 

• His son was the apple of his eye.

With open arms (With great love and enthusiasm):

• His friends welcomed him with open arms.

All and sundry (Everybody without discrimination): 

• We do not share our secrets with all and sundry.

To keep someone at arm's length (Avoid being too friendly):

• He kept him at arm's length because of his dubious character. 

To come of age (To attain twenty-one years of age): 

• He shall come of age this month.

To have an axe to grind (To have a personal favor to obtain):

• The political parties have an axe to grind in keeping this contentious issue alive. 

Much ado about nothing (A lot of fuss over some insignificant matter):

• The opposition parties are raising much ado about nothing on this issue.

All agog (Thrilled, excited):

• He was all agog on hearing the good news. 

                                                              B

With one's back to the walls (In a difficult situation):

• They were fighting the battle with their back to the wall.

To make a clean breast of (To confess one's mistakes): 

• The thief made a clean breast of his crime in court.

To burn one's fingers (To get into trouble): 

• He burnt his fingers by meddling in his friend's family matter. 

To breed bad blood (To create hatred among people): 

• The communal leaders breed bad blood among the people in the name of religion.

To bring to book (To bring to Justice):

• All corrupt officials should be brought to book.

To be in the good books of (In favor with): 

• Ram is in the good books of his teacher.

To burn the midnight oil (To study hard late into the night): 

• A student should burn the midnight oil if he has to succeed in life.

A bolt from the blue (A complete surprise):

• The unexpected news came as a bolt from the blue. 

To nip in the bud (To stop something in the very beginning):

• the habit should be nipped in the bud. 

To bury the hatchet (To forget the past quarrel):

• They agreed to bury the hatchet and work together in the future.

To bear the burnt of (To face the difficulty):

• The manager had to bear the bunt of the union's wrath. 

Not to bat an eyelid  (Not to show any sign of embarrassment): 

• He was so shameless, that he did not bat an eye eyelid on being caught lying.

To back the wrong horse (To support the wrong person):

• He was bound to fail, for he had backed the wrong horse. 

To let the cat out of the bag (To tell a secret):

• He decided it was time to let the cat out of the bag. 

Out of the bandbox (Neat, spick, and span):

• His suit appeared out of the bandbox. 

Lock stock and barrel (Completely).

• They decided to shift their office lock stock and barrel.

To have all one's eggs in our basket (to rise everything on one source):

• We must not put all our eggs in one basket in the present environment.

To bread the lion in his own den (To confront one's enemy on his own home ground):

• The army decided to bread the lion in his own den by attacking militant hideouts. 

To blow hot and cold

• The religious leaders blow hot and cold on the achievements of the government.

To know on which side one's bread is buttered (To know what course to follow to benefit one):

• He is a shrewd person who knows which side his bread is buttered.

Like a bull in a China shop (Extremely clumsy):

• Taking him to the exhibition is like taking a bull in a china shop.

Break the back of something (Finish the hardest part of the work): 

• Their defeat at Kargil broke the back of the militants.

Take a bull by the horn (Face a difficulty or danger boldly):

• If you want to solve the problem you must take the bull by the horn. 

Get too big for one's boot (Become very self-important or conceited):

• After being promoted he is getting too big for his boots. 

                                                                    C

To cook accounts (To prepare false accounts): 

• The tax authorities caught him for cooking up accounts.

a cat and dog's life (A life full of quarrel):

• The husband and wife are leading a cat and dog's life.

To rain cats and dogs (To rain heavily):

• It rained cats and dogs last night. 

To call a spade a spade (To be frank): 

• He did not hesitate in calling a spade a spade.

A cat on hot bricks (uneasy): 

• He behaved like a cat on hot bricks at the party.

Cheek by jowl (Side by side): 

• Politicians and criminals work cheek by jowl.

A nail in one's coffin (Something that will ruin one's plan):

• the massacre was a nail in the coffin of the British Empire in India.

To take up the cudgels for (To defend enthusiastically):.

• He took up the cudgels for his subordinate at the meeting. 

A skeleton in a cupboard (A source of shame): 

• The political party has several skeletons in their cupboard. 

Keep one's chin up (Remain cheerful in difficult circumstances: 

• His parents advised him to keep his chin up and face the problem as it comes. 

Let the cat out of the bag (Reveal a secret by mistake): 

• My friend let the cat out of the bag by mentioning to my father about the lottery ticket I had purchased. 

                                                                    D

Day in and day out (every day):

• We are day in and day out taught good manners in school. 

To through dust in someone's eye (To mislead someone): 

• Tall claims made by companies in their advertisements are like throwing dust in customers' eyes. 

Between the devil and the deep sea (Between two equally dangerous situations): 

• Aladin found himself between the devil and the deep sea. 

In the doldrums (Miserable): 

• The economy is in a state of doldrums.

The sword of Damocles (Imminent danger): 

• His impeachment by the Senate hung like the sword of Damocles on his head.

Go to the dogs (Be ruined):

• His business has gone to the dogs. 

Lead a dog's life (A life of misery:

• He is leading a dog's life as he has lost his job. 

                                                           E

To keep an eye on (To keep a watch on): 

• The policeman kept an eye on the suspicious man. 

To see eye to eye (To agree with): 

• The two friends could not see eye to eye on this matter. 

To turn a deaf ear to (To refuse to listen): 

• To turn a deaf ear to his parents' advice. 

To elbow one's way through (To push forward):

• I elbowed my way to get on the bus.

To eat one's word (To apologize): 

• The proud king had to eat his words on being defeated.

To move heaven and earth (To make every possible effort): 

• He moved heaven and earth to get justice.

To eyewash (To deceive):

• It was an eyewash to convince the party. 

Ill at ease (Uncomfortable, Uneasy):

• He was ill at ease throughout the party.  

Turn a deaf ear to ( To refuse to listen): 

• He turned a deaf ear to our warning and hence is in trouble.                                                  

                                                                   Part Two

    References

Singh, M., & Singh, O. P. (2002). Art of Effective English Writing (New Edition, pp. 197–200). S. Chand & Company Limited.