A dark horse Saleem is a dark horse; I did not know By fits and starts You cannot pass the

You cannot pass the examination if

that he had written a novel. you work by fits and starts.

A rainy day We should save our money for a rainy By leap and bounds Yameen is improving his English by
days. leaps and bounds.

A man of letters Our teacher is a man of letters. To be taken aback I was taken aback to know that such
an able boy failed in the examination.
A burning question Unemployment is a burning question of
today. Burn the candle at both ends You will fall ill if you keep on
burning your candle at both ends.
The lion,s share She got the lion's share from her
husband's property. Call Off The students called off the strike.

A bed of roses Life is not a bed of roses. Call Names It is shameful to call other names.

Call a spade a spade It is hard to call a spade a spade before a

A bone of contention Kashmir is a bone of contention cruel master.
between India and Pakistan.
Call in question His honesty cannot be called into question.
A fair weather friend Fair weather friends leave in difficulties.
Come to grief Their plan came to grief in the end.
A hard nut to crack To check Terrorism has proved to be a
hard nut to crack for the government. Carry out I will not carry out his orders.

Above board All his dealings are above board. Carry weight Saleem's opinion carries weight with the principle.

Abide by You should abide by your promise. Carry the day Saleem carried the day in local election.

At arm,s length Keep him at arm's length because he is Cut a sorry figure She cut a sorry figure when she could not speak
a gambler. on stage.

A black sheep As his brother is a gambler, he is Deal with I am sure that I can deal with Ali.
considered the black sheep of the famliy.
End in smoke When he crashed his car, all his travel planes ended
Apple of discord This piece of land is an apple of discord in smoke.
between Saleem and Ali.
From hand to mouth Many people in this country live from hand
A snake in the grass Beware of him,he is a real snake in the to month.
grass.
Go through Saleem is my true friend and will go through fire and
A fool,s paradise Those who believe that India and water for me.
Pakistan will be friends,are living in a fool Paradise.
Give Up My car gave up the ghost last night.
A child,s play It is not a child's play to write a good
book in a month. Give In The indians were forced to give in.

At the eleventh hour He called of his plan at the eleventh Give oneself airs She is too humble to give herself airs.
hour.
Get wind of How did she get wind of our plans ?
At large The two robbers are still at large.
Hard and fast We will have to follow the hard and fast rules of his
A drawn match A cricket test match usually proves to office.
be a drawn match.
Hit below the belt He hit akram below the belt as a result he
Break the ice All were silent;Saleem broke the ice by sustained injury.
suggesting that they should play card.
In the Long run Continue your struggle.In the long run,you will
Break down Because of over-work my health broke succeed.
down.
Keep an eye on Please keep an eye on things here until I get back.
Blow ones own trumpet Great men do not blow their own
trumpet. Keep up appearances Though he earns a little,he wears costly
clothes to keep up appearances.
Back out An honest man never tries to back out
of his promise. Look down upon Do not look down upon the poor.

A man of straw In our society,no one respects a man of Look sharp Bring me a glass of water and look sharp.
straw.
Leave in the lurch Do not leave your friends in the lurch.
A maiden speech She impressed us with her maiden
speech. Make both ends meet It is very difficult for the poor to make both
ends meet.
Beat about the bush Stop beating about the bush and get
to the point. Make a clean breast of First he denied his crime but finally,he
decided to make a clean breast of it.
Bring up The mother brought up the child with
care. To nip in the bud Nip every evil in the bud.

Bring to book He brought the servent to book for his Over head and ears He is over head and ears in love with Salma.
carelessness.
Off and on It rained on and off all day.
Bring to light New facts about the war have been
brought to light. Pocket an insult He had to pocket an insult when he failed in the
examination.
Bag and baggage He threw out of the house,bag and
baggage. Put off The meeting was put off till tomorrow.
Put up with I cannot put up with his insult.
Read between the lines Reading between the lines,I think Ali
wants to borrow money.
Set Off We will set off tomorrow.
Set up He has set up a shop in the town.
See through
Take after Children take after their parents.
Take a fancy to He has taken a fancy to that beautiful girl.
Take to heart He took the death of his mother to heart.
Turn over a new leaf After his failure,he turned over a new leaf
and began to work hard.
Up to the mark This book is really up to the mark.
Broken reed I cannot trust him as he is a broken reed.
A bird,s eye view We got a bird's eye view of the city from the top
of the tower.
A hair breath escape Adeel had a narrow escape from drowning.
A red letter day The day I was awarded the medal is a red-letter
day for me.
A turn coat Do not trust him as he is a turn coat.
A wet blanket As he is wet blanket ,he is not invited to the parties.
A white elephant Telephone costs much, it is just a white elephant
for common people.
All and sundry He invited all and sundry to his party.
All in all All in all,the party had been a great success.
Kith and kin We should love our kith and kin.
To flog a dead horse To try pass the examination without hard
work is like to flog a dead horse.
From a scratch She learned English from scratch in six months.
Beard the lion in his den Do not disagree with your boss;it is like
to beard the lion in his den.
An iron will You need an iron will to pass CSS examination.
A hay day August 14 a hay day for every pakistani.
Part and parcel To work in the field is part and parcel of a farmer's
life.
To make headway They have made headway towards finding the
solution to the problem.
In full swing When Mr.Ali reached there,the match was in full
swing.
Under a cloud After fraud, he had to leave the office under a
cloud.
To catch red handed The Police caught him red-handed when he
was trying to steal a car.
Burn midnight oil He burnt the midnight oil to pass the
examination.
Check by jowl Saleem sat check by jowl with me in the classroom.
Bear away the palm Pakistan bore away the palm in international
hockey match.
A dog in the manger Hassan ever proved to be a dog in the
manger.
French leave He ever enjoyed freacch leave.
By hook or by crook He wants to pass the exam by hook or by
crook.
Hold over
A fish out of water I felt like a fish out of water in my new school.
On the horns of dilemma He could save only one of two drowing
sons.
Bread and butter Teaching is his bread and butter
At home in He is quite home in English.
Writing on the wall We should learn a lesson from writing on the
wall.
A laughing stock This fat man is a laughing stock of the village.
All in all All in all,the party had been a great success.
At daggers drawn She is at daggers drawn with her husband.
Bad blood There no bad blood between the two brother.
A man of parts Saleem is a man of parts an able teacher,a terriffic
writer,to name a few.
To come off When will your convocation come off ?
To kick up a row
To get into hot water You may get into hot water if you disobey
your boss.
Look into Please look into this matter carefully.
Turn tables He will turn the table on you one day, and he will be
the boss.
Better Half His better half is a good house keeper.
To smell a rat The thief smell a rat and ran away.
Square meal Children should have three square meals a day
Bad Blood There is no bad blood between the two brothers.
To play truant He often plays truant from school.
Off hand They decided off hand to take a trip.
Null and void This contract is null and void.
Red tape He could not get his new passport in time because of red
tape.
Bring about The incident brought about a change in him.
To fall a prey The innocent boy fell prey to smoking.
For good It looks as if Saleem has left D.g.Khan for good.
Finishing touches
To curry favour Big tax cuts are often proposed to curry favour
with voters.
To bury the hatchet The two enemies buried their hatchet and
became friends.
Blue blood Though Ali is poor, he has blue blood in his family.
To be taken aback
At the beck and call He killed a dog at the beck and call of his
master.
At cross purposes I think we are talking at cross purposes.
An eye-wash Do not talk such eyewash!
All at sea I am all at sea with this