Idioms Worksheet | Answers

Directions: Read each idiom and determine the meaning.

 

Idiom: A common expression understood figuratively, as the literal definition makes no sense.
 

 1.
Unlike most of the kids in this school, Jade did all of her homework and turned it in on time.
Her teachers thought that she was a diamond in the rough.

Answer Explanation

A diamond in the rough is a person or thing of rare quality found in an unexpected place. This
phrase may refer to finding a diamond hidden amongst many rocks of little value.

2. After seeing his progress report grades, Jack knew that he had to hit the books or he'd be off
the football team.

Answer Explanation

To hit the books means to study or to focus intensely on one's academics. It does not mean to
fall asleep while studying.

 3. Mom sighed, "No, Janie, your hamster is not a zombie. Your brother is just pulling your leg."

 Answer Explanation

To pull one's leg is to misinform or mislead a person for amusement.

 4. The record executive decided to break up the band because he knew that musicians were a
dime a dozen and that a front man like Kyle was the real find.

 Answer Explanation

If something is a dime a dozen that means that it is cheap and easily available. This phrase
probably comes to us from a time when many things were available at this rate literally.

 5. After Alvin slipped the note into Candace's locker asking her to the dance, he sighed because
the ball was in her court now.
 Answer Explanation

When the ball is in one's court, he or she is responsible for the outcome of a decision.

 6. All I did was ask her if she studied and she yelled at me. I guess that she woke up on the
wrong side of the bed.

Answer Explanation

To wake up on the wrong side of the bed is to be grumpy or irritable for seemingly no reason.

7. Robert had never seen a carpenter use a mobile phone application to perform a calculation, but
when he saw the new guy do it, he knew that it would be a real game changer.

Answer Explanation

Something that is game changing renders prior methods obsolete or has a powerful, long-lasting
effect.

8. The GameBox 6000 is hands down the best home gaming experience available to today's
consumer.

Answer Explanation

The phrase hands down means conclusively, without doubt, or with absolute certainty. It refers
to horse racing, in which if a jockey finishes the race far in the lead, he may do so with his hands
down or in a relaxed manner.

  9. Kelly wasn't sure that she knew the answer to the question, but when Mr. Richards began
nodding excitedly as she was talking, she knew that she was right on the money.

Answer Explanation

To be right on the money is to conjecture or speculate in a way that proves to be absolutely

correct.

 10. Gilbert did not like his new homeroom class because there were a few too many bad apples
in the bunch.

 Answer Explanation

A bad apple is a person who is disruptive or harmful to an otherwise positive environment.

 11. When Bob activated the multi-ball mode on the pinball machine that he was playing, he lost
focus because the action was bananas.
 Answer Explanation

Something or someone that is bananas or is going bananas is either a little bit crazy or very
angry.

 12. When Lyle was on the phone with the window repair man, he just wanted a ballpark
estimate on the work, but the guy refused to quote any price until he was at the job and could see
the damage.

 Answer Explanation

A ballpark estimate is a guess that is expected to have a large range of inaccuracy but gives a
general idea as to the scope or magnitude of something.

 13. Val's science partner Lance was always combing his hair and admiring his own clothing
while she was working busily on the project. She tried to have a constructive relationship with
him but he was just so full of himself that Val now refused to work with him.

 Answer Explanation

To be full of oneself is to be vain and self-absorbed, to show little concern for others.

 14. Should we get the extra point and bring this game into overtime, or should we attempt the
two point conversion and go for the whole ball of wax?

 Answer Explanation

To go for the whole ball of wax is to attempt to gain a total victory or to completely acquire
something when a lesser victory or acquisition is more easily and surely available.

 15. Mr. Schwartz was surprised to see so many students in his summer school class. "Normally,
when it gets this hot, they start dropping like flies," he remarked to the aide.

 Answer Explanation

Dropping like flies is when a large proportion of participants withdraw from a program or
become sick. This expression refers to houseflies, which may die in great numbers under certain
conditions.