Collection of IDIOMS

At sixes and sevens


Home ruler, who were all at sixes and sevens among themselves agreed only upon the one thing and that was the freedom of India.


All in all


The Head clerk is all in all in this office.


All the same


It is all the same to me whether the pull over is home-made or bazaar-made.


At large


The culprits are still at large.


By fits and starts


He works by fits and starts and does not apply him steadily.


Black sheep


We should be aware of the black sheep in our society.


A bone of contention


This property is a bone of contention between the two brothers.


To break the ice


We all wanted to talk on this subject by no one willing to break the ice.


A burning question


Kashmir is a burning question of the day.


To back out


He promised to help me but backed out at the eleventh hour.


To beat about the bush


Stop beating about the bush; say exactly what you mean.


Bed of roses


A military life is not bed of roses.


In cold blood


He murdered the merchant in cold blood.


To fall to the ground


The theory has fallen to the ground.


Go hand in hand


Diligence and prosperity go hand in hand.


Leave no stone unturned


Shah Faisal left no stone unturned to bring about unity in the Islamic world.


Live from hand to mouth


Our middle class people live generally from hand to mouth.


Look down upon


He is so proud of his promotion that he looks down upon all his former friends.


At a loss


He is never at a loss for an appropriate word.


To pay back in the same coin


If a person rude towards you, it does not mean that you should pay him in the same coin.


To keep pace with


Agriculture in the states has kept pace with manufacture, but it has far out stepped commerce.


Red tape


Flourence Nightingale was a sworn enemy of red tape.


To speak volumes


The murders spoke volumes about political conditions before Indian elections.


Up to the mark


You don’t look quite up to the mark today.


To get into hot water


Do not quarrel with your officers or you will soon get into hot water.


Time and again


Time and again proverbs come to be true.


Cut off


The supplies were cut off from the soldier due to snow fall.


Run against


Zuhair Akram Nadeem was running against Dr. Farooq Sattar in the elections 89.


To turn over a new leaf


The teacher pardoned the boy on the condition that he promised to turn over a new leaf in future.


To nip in the bud


The plot to overthrow the Government was detected and nipped in the bud.


To feel like a fish out of water


Being the only educated person in that village, I felt like a fish out of water.


To shed crocodile terars


Don’t be deceived by the beggar’s crying. They are only crocodile’s tears.


Lion share


The stronger person generally gets the lions share of the property.


To cry over spilt milk


The damage has been done but instead of crying over spilt milk do something to repair it.


It is high time


The exams begin next month so it is high time to study seriously.


To save something for the rainy day


He wasted his savings and has kept nothing for the rainy day.


With a high hand


He is the most unpopular because he decides matters with a high hand.


Day in and day out


I have been warning you day in and day out.


To make the most of


He let me use his bicycle for a week and I am going to make the most of it.


To make the fun of


We should not make fun of handicaps.


To make room for


They made room for more guests as all seats were full.


To go through


He went through the whole book within a week.


In all


He got 782 marks in all.


All alone


Yesterday night she was all alone in her house.


To put into practice


The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) put into practice what he preaches.


A wild goose chase


The robbers fled away and the police gave them a wild goose chase.


To end in smoke


All his efforts ended in smoke because they were not made sincerely.


With flying colours


If you work hard you will pass your examination with flying colours.


Odds and ends


The shopkeeper does not sell any particular article, but deals in odds and ends.


Under one’s nose


The police were on the look out for the culprit who was hiding under their nose.


To poke one’s nose into


One should not poke one’s nose into others affairs.


To kick up a row


It is useless kicking up a row when the matters can be decided peacefully.


To wind up


He is winding up his business in the city, as he going abroad.


In black and white


I want your statement in black and white.


A red letter day


14th August is a red letter day in the history of Pakistan.


To run into


Last night my friend ran into a cheat who deprived him of his brief case by changing it with an empty one.


To bring to light


A number of facts were brought to light by the Prime Minister in the recent Press Conference.


At the eleventh hour


The president postponed his meeting with the journalists due to visit of the French delegation at the eleventh hour.


To come across


In the wedding party, she come across he two very close friends of the University life.


To give up


The doctor has strictly advised him to give up drinking and smoking for the sake of his life.


To call a spade, a spade


Islam teaches us to call a spade, a spade even before a cruel ruler.


To look after


All the parents have to look after their children during the early period of the school life.


To break up


The two partners have decided to break up the partnership and divide the assets equally.


To get rid of


Pakistan must get rid of that type of foreign aid, which puts on her, undue political pressure.


At a stretch


Saeed Anwer played an aggressive inning and continued to score runs at a stretch.


To give in


Imran Khan and Miandad were real fighters and they would never give in till the last ball.


To let down


The rich feel proud of their wealth and usually let down the poor.


Once in a blue moon


I am not so fond of movies and watch some fine art movie once in a blue moon.


To fall out


A short tempered football player fell out with his opponents and got wounded.


To call on


The winners of 1994 World Cup called on the President, with their captain.


To call off


The University students finally decided to call off the strike as their demands were accepted.


To bring home to


Rizwan brought home to her all the important aspects of the matter.


To get over


The Indian Government made all possible efforts to get over the epidemic of plague.


To get accorss


The news of Mr. Eddhi’s self-exile got across the country within no time.


To makek up for


The Government and people of Iraq are working day and night to make up the loss caused by the Gulf war.


To make off


The robbers made off through the back door just as the security guard started firing into air.


To bring out


The telephone Corporation has brought a decent Directory in three volumes.


To bring up


Abraham Lincoln was brought up by his parents in a state of very limited financial resources.


To take off


The Hajj flight will take off every morning during the next couple of weeks.


To take place


The wedding of my cousin will take place in the first week of November, next.


To keep up


Our cricket team must go through an extensive training and practice session to keep up their position in the next world cup.


To stir up


The statement given by Mr. Abdul Sattar Eddhi caused great stir up in the political circles.


To go off


While the police man was cleaning his rifle, it suddenly went off because it was loaded.


To let off


Finally, the defaulter was let off by the civil authorities in view of his undertaking to abide by the rules in future.


To beg for


The Quaid-e-Azam begged for peace and friendship with his former enemies, the Congress leaders.


To furnish with


The chief justice was furnished with all the documentary proofs against the accused.


To look for


After the panic had subsided, people started looking for their misplaced baggage.


To run after


According to Einstein, ordinary people run after ordinary objects such as property and luxury.


To turn down


The secretary was taking down the main points to prepare a summary of the Seminar on pollution.


To watch over


Sensible parents make it a point to watch over the outdoor activities of their growing up children.


To bank on


Never bank on a fair weather friend because he will certainly cheat you.


To blow hot and cold


It is part of his nature to blow hot and cold as he favours this political party today the other party tomorrow.


To break the news


It was really very hard to break the shocking news of her husband’s accidental death to her.


To call names


He is such loose tempered man that he often begins to call names to his neighbours.


To turn the tabels


The pace attack by Wasim Akram and Waqar turned the tables against India and our cricket team got victory.


To hold water


The judge will give a favourable verdict only when you lawyer’s arguments hold water.


To face the music


Those who are responsible for terrorism in the city must face the music and be dealt with.


To be under the cloud


These days, the opposition leaders are under a cloud and being tortured by the Government.


By hook or by crook


The corrupt politicians try to win in every general election by hook or by crook.


To run short of


These days most areas in Karachi are running short of water supply.


To keep an eye on


Wise and responsible parents always keep and eye on the outdoor activities of their children.


To build castles in the air


It is a favourite hobby of day dreamers and idealists to build castles in the air.


To take to heels


Just as the mobile of Rangers approached, the robbers jumped over the gate and took to their heels.


By leaps and bounds


In the 21st century, Pakistan is expected to make progress by leaps and bound.


To turn deaf ear to


He turned a deaf ear to his father’s advice and as a result, fell into trouble.


At the nick of time


Medical aid was provided to the injured passengers at the nick of time and it proved effective.


To bell the cat


All the office workers are annoyed with the attitude of the M.D but no body dares to bell the cat.


To have an axe to grind


He certainly had an axe to grind behind his sympathetic attitude.


To burry the hatchet


At last the two combatant groups agreed to bury the hatchet and restore peace.


To bear with


During our lifetime we have to bear with many sorrows and sufferings.


To bear out


As a witness, he bore out in the court that the man was innocent.


To bear in mind


Always bear in the advice of your elders.


To break into


The Dakotas broke into the bank and took away a large sum of money.


To break off


Pakistan has broken off with Israil since the last two decades.


To break down


If my car had not broken down on the way, I would have reached in time.


To break the heart


Don’t break the heart by rejecting the offer.


To blow out


On the occasion of his birthday, he blow out the candle on cake.


To blow up


Four bombs blew up at different places simultaneously.


To blow one’s own trumpet.


I always try to avoid such people who keep on blowing their own trumpet.


To bring in


Imran Khan has brought in a large amount for setting up the cancer hospital.


To bring about


The fight between the two political parties can bring about another martial law.


To bring round


By presenting a very logical argument, he was able to bring round all the members of committee.


To bring to book


All those who kidnap people for ransom money should be brought to book.


To carry on


Let me carry on my work without any disturbance.


To carry through


If we work altogether like a lean, we can easily carry through our mission with any difficulty.


To call on


I shall call on your brother next week.


To call at


I shall call at your office tomorrow.


To call for


You careless and rude behavior call for an explanation.


To call it a day


As we are tired after a hard day but let it call it a day.


To call to mind


I can call to mind when I saw you last.


To come of


Although she comes of a rich family, she is not proud of her wealth.


To come off


The annual meeting of the Board of Directors will come off next month.


To come by


It is difficult to understand how did he come by all that money.


To come round


He comes round after I had presented my views in a logical way.


To come to light


Once the facts come to light, we will know who is responsible for creating such a situation.


To come to blows


Very often, student belonging to different groups come to blows on silly matters.


To come over


With faith in God and confidence in your self you can come over all you problems.


To do without


No living creature can do without air.


To do away with


It is the duty of the young people to do away with all the evil customs and traditions of the society.


To die off


In the under developed countries, a large number of people die off.


To die in harness


Once he had lost all his money at stakes he died in harness.


To deal with


He has the knack of dealing with all kinds of people and situation.


To deal in


As he deals in auto-parts, he has a good knowledge of different kind of car.


To deal out


He dealt out the card after shuffling the cards.


To fall short of


The performance of Indian Cricket team fell short of the expectations of the spectators.


To fall a prey to


The poor and the deprived always fall a prey to cruelty and injustice.


To give away


At the end of the function, the prizes were given way by the chief guest.


To keep in the dark


The patient was kept in the dark about the nature of his illness.


To keep body and soul together


With the price spiral, it is becoming difficult for the common man to keep body and soul together.


To look forward to


We are looking forward to this visit next month.


To make off with


The robber make off with a large amount from the super market.


To make for


The Birkenhead met with a disaster when it was making for South Africa.


To make both ends meet


With his limited income, it is really very difficult to make both ends meet.


To make up the mind


Once you make your mind then stick to your decision.


To put in a nut shell


At the end of his lecture, he put all his arguments in a nut shell.


To put down


The revolt against the king was put down by the royal forces.


To put off


The debate, which was put off last week, is scheduled for tomorrow.


To stand by


I shall stand by you whenever you are in trouble.


To take after


Children very often take after their parents


To take up


He has decided to take up the profession of teaching.

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