Idioms & Phrases
🔒 Log in to trackIdioms for situations and types of people
🔒 Log in to trackThe biggest blocks describe situations (trouble, effort, suddenness) and people (types, loyalties, weaknesses).
Situations and events
| Idiom | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A blessing in disguise | a misfortune that turns out to be beneficial |
| Burn the midnight oil | work or study late into the night |
| At the drop of a hat | instantly and without any excuse or delay |
| In hot water | in serious trouble |
| Make both ends meet | live within a limited income |
| A bolt from the blue | a sudden, completely unexpected shock |
| Leave no stone unturned | try every possible means |
| Move heaven and earth | make the greatest possible effort |
| On cloud nine | extremely happy |
| Under the weather | slightly ill |
| Turn over a new leaf | begin a better way of living |
| A storm in a teacup | furious argument about a trivial thing |
| Carry the day | win, prevail |
| Play second fiddle | accept a subordinate position |
| Rest on one's laurels | be complacent with past achievements |
| Behind bars | in prison |
| In the pipeline | being planned or prepared |
| By leaps and bounds | very rapidly |
| On the spur of the moment | suddenly, without earlier planning |
| In cold blood | deliberately and without pity |
| Off and on | irregularly, now and then |
| Out of the frying pan into the fire | from a bad situation into a worse one |
| Cut a long story short | come directly to the point |
| Against all odds | despite every difficulty and discouragement |
| Face the music | accept the unpleasant consequences of one's acts |
| Throw in the towel | admit defeat and give up |
| Get the sack | be dismissed from employment |
| Pass the buck | shift blame or duty to someone else |
| Steal a march on | gain an advantage over someone secretly |
| Turn the tables | reverse one's position against an opponent |
| Take to one's heels | run away quickly |
| Feather one's nest | enrich oneself by misusing one's position |
| End in smoke | come to nothing after much effort |
| Play havoc with | cause great disorder or damage to |
| Bear the palm | win the first prize or highest honour |
People and character
| Idiom | Meaning |
|---|---|
| An Achilles' heel | one weak point in an otherwise strong person or system |
| A man of straw | a person of no substance or influence |
| A man of letters | a learned writer or scholar |
| A man of his word | one who always keeps his promises |
| A fair-weather friend | a friend who disappears in your bad days |
| A snake in the grass | a treacherous enemy hiding as a friend |
| A wolf in sheep's clothing | a dangerous person disguised as harmless |
| Odd man out | the one member unlike all the others |
| A cog in the machine | an insignificant worker in a vast system |
| A tower of strength | a person who gives firm support in crisis |
| A jack of all trades | one who does many kinds of work, master of none |
| Have a finger in every pie | meddle in everyone's business |
| Wear your heart on your sleeve | display your feelings openly |
| Keep your chin up | stay brave and cheerful in hardship |
| Keep the wolf from the door | earn just enough to avoid hunger |
| Keep body and soul together | barely manage to survive |
| Take someone to task | scold or criticise someone severely |
| Be all ears | listen with complete eagerness |
| Be in two minds | be unable to decide between options |
| Sit on the fence | avoid taking sides in a dispute |
| Keep your fingers crossed | hope anxiously that things will go well |
| Break the ice | start conversation among strangers |
| Hit the nail on the head | describe a situation with exact correctness |
| A foregone conclusion | a result obvious in advance |
| At daggers drawn | in open, bitter hostility |
| In the doldrums | low in spirits or activity |
| Not mince matters | speak plainly without softening words |
| Take to task | reprimand for a fault |
Situation families: trouble (in hot water, in a pickle, in the doldrums), effort (move heaven and earth, leave no stone unturned, burn the midnight oil), suddenness (a bolt from the blue, out of the blue, at the drop of a hat, on the spur of the moment, off and on is the exception — irregularity), defeat and quitting (throw in the towel, bite the dust, get the sack, end in smoke), improvement (turn over a new leaf, bury the hatchet), blame-shifting (pass the buck, steal a march, turn the tables).
People families: the weak (man of straw, cog in the machine), the treacherous (snake in the grass, wolf in sheep's clothing, fair-weather friend), the reliable (man of his word, tower of strength, salt of the earth), the mixed-ability (jack of all trades), the famous weak-spot (Achilles' heel).
Cluster-learning pays double here: when the stem says 'a sudden and unexpected event', the whole suddenness family surfaces, and the options — usually drawn one per family — separate instantly.
Two big groups
Most idioms in competitive exams fall into two groups:
- Situation idioms — they describe what is happening: trouble, hard work, sudden events, success, defeat.
- People idioms — they describe a type of person: loyal, false, weak, skilled, clever.
If you know which group and which family an idiom belongs to, the right option stands out.
Situation families
| Family | Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Trouble | in hot water, in a fix, in deep waters | in serious difficulty |
| Hard effort | burn the midnight oil, leave no stone unturned, move heaven and earth | work very hard / try every way |
| Sudden | at the drop of a hat, on the spur of the moment | at once / without planning |
| Money | make both ends meet, keep the wolf from the door | manage with little income |
| Change | turn over a new leaf, turn the tables | start behaving better / reverse the position |
| Winning | carry the day, bear the palm | win |
| Losing, quitting | throw in the towel, bite the dust, take to one's heels | give up / be defeated / run away |
| Health, mood | under the weather, on cloud nine | slightly ill / extremely happy |
Worked use: The police left no stone unturned to find the child. Effort family → tried every possible way.
People families
| Type | Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| False friend | a snake in the grass, a fair-weather friend, a wolf in sheep's clothing | hidden enemy / friend only in good times / harmful person who looks harmless |
| Weak or unimportant | a man of straw, a cog in the machine | person of no real power |
| Reliable | a man of his word, a tower of strength | keeps promises / gives strong support |
| Many skills | a jack of all trades | does many jobs, masters none |
| Second place | play second fiddle | take a less important role |
Idioms from stories (allusions)
Some idioms come from old stories. One line of the story fixes the meaning for ever.
- Achilles' heel — a Greek hero could be hurt only at his heel → a weak point.
- Bell the cat — the mice wanted a bell on the cat, but none dared tie it → to take a big risk for everyone.
- Pandora's box — opening a forbidden box let out all troubles → a source of many new problems.
- A Herculean task — Hercules did twelve very hard labours → a task needing huge effort.
- Midas touch — whatever King Midas touched became gold → the ability to make money from anything.
- A Trojan horse — soldiers hid inside a wooden horse gifted to Troy → something harmless-looking that harms from inside.
Fill-in-the-blank type
Read the sentence and name the family it needs. Seeing the police, the thief ___. The thief wants to escape → running away → took to his heels. Then read the sentence again with your choice.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Meaning of a situation idiom
The idiom describes an event or condition: trouble, effort, suddenness, winning, losing, health.
Place the idiom in its family (effort, trouble, sudden...).
Reject options from other families and literal options.
Pick the option that states the family meaning exactly.
Why it works: distractors are usually taken from other families.
Meaning of By leaps and bounds: (a) very rapidly (b) by jumping (c) with great fear (d) slowly and steadily
Show solutionHide solution
Leaps = big fast jumps → speed. Answer: (a) very rapidly.
Meaning of a people (character) idiom
The idiom names a type of person: 'a ___ friend', 'a man of ___', 'a ___ in the grass'.
Decide whether the idiom praises or criticises the person.
Recall the type: false, weak, reliable, many-skilled.
Choose the option with that type.
Why it works: people idioms are labels; the label's tone removes half the options.
Meaning of A jack of all trades: (a) a skilled mechanic (b) one who does many kinds of work but masters none (c) a rich trader (d) a lazy worker
Show solutionHide solution
The full saying ends 'master of none'. Answer: (b).
Fill the blank with the right situation idiom
A sentence with a blank and four idioms as options.
Read the sentence and name what is needed (run away? lower role? try harder?).
Match the family.
Re-read with the chosen idiom; check tense and grammar.
Why it works: the context supports only one meaning.
Having won one medal, the athlete did not ___; she trained even harder. (a) rest on her laurels (b) burn her boats (c) play to the gallery (d) break the ice
Show solutionHide solution
She kept working instead of relaxing after success → (a) rest on her laurels (be satisfied with past success).
Idioms from stories and legends
A proper noun or story object appears: Achilles, Pandora, Hercules, Midas, Trojan, a cat with a bell.
Recall the one-line story.
Turn the story's key point into a general meaning.
Reject literal options about the story's objects.
Why it works: the story is the meaning; options that retell it literally are wrong.
Meaning of The Midas touch: (a) a gentle touch (b) the ability to make money from anything one does (c) a royal order (d) a golden ornament
Show solutionHide solution
Everything Midas touched turned to gold. Answer: (b).
Shortcuts that save time
Classify the stem's demand: sudden? trouble? effort? defeat? person-type? Recall the family's four members; the right one is usually among the options, and the wrong options are from other families.
A few idioms hide a story: Achilles' heel (the hero's one weak spot), bell the cat (the mouse that dared), pass the buck (shifting the deal-marker). One-line stories fix meanings permanently.
For action idioms, ask what changes at the end: throw in the towel → the fight stops (give up); turn the tables → positions reverse; face the music → consequences arrive.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Reading 'steal a march' as theft — it means to gain a secret advantage.
Taking 'pass the buck' as giving money; the buck is the marker of responsibility.
Confusing 'in the doldrums' (depressed/inactive) with 'in the dumps' — same sense, but options plant 'a boring place'.
Reading 'against all odds' as 'very unfair odds' instead of 'despite difficulties'.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Name the family first: trouble, effort, sudden, money, change, win, lose, health.
People idioms: false (snake, fair-weather), weak (straw, cog), reliable (word, tower).
Story idioms: Achilles' heel, bell the cat, Pandora's box, Herculean, Midas touch, Trojan horse.
In blanks, match the family the sentence needs.
Practice: 17 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 4 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.