Idioms and Phrases Meaning

1. Sweeping statement Thoughtless statement

2. Enough rope Enough freedom for action

3. No love lost between Not on good terms/ mutual

dislike
4. On the cuff On credit

5. Green Thumb To have a natural interest

6. Going places Talented and successful

7. To keep up To stay equal with someone

8. Make a clean breast Confess without reserve

9. Heads will roll Transfers will take place

10.To stave off Prevent from happening/To

postpone
11.Draw on fancy Use imagination

12.Give the game away Give out the secret

13.Talking through hat Talking non-sense

14.Put up with To tolerate

15.Reading between the lines Understanding the hidden

meaning
16.To be always at one’s beck Ready to serve one’s master/
and call at one’s disposal
17.At one’s wits end Confused/perplexed

18.Set the record straight Give a correct account

19.Bad blood Angry feeling

20.To go to the whole hog To do it completely

By JP Saikia
 21.Lay out
22.Went to the winds
23.Sharp practices
24.Shake in shoes
25.A white elephant
26.Take with a grain of salt
27.To eat a humble pie
28.An axe to grind
29.Stand-offish
30.A sore point
31.To keep under wraps
32.Cut no ice
33.Cannot hold a candle to
34.Blue-Eyed boys
35.Blow over
36.Bone to pick
37.Turn up one’s nose at
38.Turn one’s head
39.High and dry
40.Mince matters
41.Currying favour with
By JP Saikia
expend
Dissipated/ to be utterly lost
Unfair means
Tremble with fear
Costly but useless possession
To listen to something with
considerable doubt
To apologize
A private interest to serve
Indifferent; unfriendly
Something which hurts
Secret/ conceal
Have no influence or effect
Cannot be compared to/ to
be not as good as someone
Favourites
Pass off; fade away
Cause of quarrel/Bone of
contention
To reject with disdain
To feel proud in a way that
other people find it annoying
Neglected/ To leave someone
helpless
Use polite expressions to
show disapproval
Ingratiating/Trying too hard
to please somebody
 42.Storm in a tea cup
43.Putting one’s foot down
44.Throw down the gauntlet
45.Let the cat out of the bag
46.Cut one off, without a
shilling
47. Fall through
48.To Blaze a trail
49.To beat a retreat
50. To get one’s own back
51.A dark horse
52.Make ducks and drakes of
53. On the level
54.Done for
55.To run one down
56.To take someone to task
57.Play to the gallery
58.Sitting on the fence
59.Come out of one’s shell
60.To have not a leg to stand
on
61. Face the music
By JP Saikia
Lot of unnecessary anger
over a trivial matter
Take a firm stand/ Asserting
one’s authority
To offer a challenge
To reveal a secret carelessly
or by mistake
Disinheriting/ To expel from
fraternal property
To fail
To lead the way/ to find a
new path
To run away in fear from a
dangerous or unpleasant
situation
To get one’s revenge
An unforeseen competitor
Squander
Honest and sincere/ truthful
Ruined
To disparage/ criticize
someone unfairly
To scold someone
To act in an exaggerated way
to attract people’s attention
Hesitating which side to take
To become more friendly
Unable to prove or explain
why something is reasonable
reprimand
 62. Look down upon
63. Alarums and excursions
64. Off and on
65. In a tight corner
66.Bear With
67.Over Head And Ears
68.To Call It A Day
69.Yeoman's Service
70.To Take Someone For A
Ride
71.A Damp Squib
72.To Bite The Dust
73.Cold Comfort
74.To Feather one's Nest
75.To keep The Wolf From The
Door
76.Soft Option
77.To Lose Ground
78.Hand In Glove
79.Go A Long Way Towards
Doing Something
80.Pore Over something
81.Make Both Ends Meet
82.Run Down
By JP Saikia
Hate intensely
Noisy and confused activity
Occasionally
In a difficult situation
Support/To be patient with
some body or something
Completely
To conclude proceedings
Efficient to useful help in
need/ social work
To deceive (cheat) someone
A disappointing result/ not
impressive as expected
To die/ To end in failure
Poor or limited consolation
or sympathy
To make oneself rich
Escape starvation
Easy and agreeable option
Fail to hold one’s position
In close relationship
To be helpful
To study carefully
Earn just enough money to
live on
Decline in numbers or quality
 83.Go Down The Drain Lose forever; be totally
wasted
84.Wear Hearts On Sleeves Express feeling openly

85.Measure Up To be as good as something/

reach the level
86.Doctor The Accounts To manipulate the accounts

87.In The Red Losing money/To owe

money/ in debt
88.Pull Up Reprimand

89.Lose Head Panic

90.Sit In Judgement on/ over To pass judgement when you

somebody have no right to do so
91.To Cut Teeth To gain experience of
something for the first time
92.Cut No Ice Have no influence or effect

93.Close The Book Stop working on something

94.Bird's Eye View An overview

95.Run In The Same Groove To move or Advance in

harmony
96.Pull String Use personal influence

97.Pot Luck Dinner Dinner where somebody

brings something to eat
98.To Have Something Up To have a secret plan
One's Sleeve
99.To Burn Candle At Both To be extravagant/spend
Ends without any worry
100. To Call Spade A Spade To be frank

101. Take Exception To object over something

102. High Handed Using authority or power

without considering the
feelings of others

By JP Saikia
103. Give The Game Away Give out the secret
(unintentionally)
104. Take Cue From To copy what someone
already did in past in order to
be successful
105. Call for To ask

106. Out Of The Question Undesirable/Not worth

discussing
107. Dropping Like Flies Collapsing in large numbers

108. See Eye to Eye To think in the same way

109. Put Across To communicate your ideas,

feelings, etc. successfully
110. Not My cup Of Tea Not what somebody likes or
interested in
111. To Eat A Humble Pie To say or show sorry for a
mistake that one made
112. To Feel Like A Fish Uncomfortable Situation
Out Of Water
113. To Foam At One's To be very angry
Mouth
114. Take To Heart To be very upset by
something that somebody
says or does
115. Had Better Used for telling somebody
what you think he should do.
You’d better leave now.
116. Kicking Heels To be relaxed and
enjoy/waste time
117. Send Packing To tell somebody firmly or
rudely to go away
118. Kick Up A Row Make a great fuss/To
complain loudly about
something
119. Wet Behind The Ears Young and without
experience/naive
120. Bury The Hatchet To make peace

By JP Saikia
121. Come To Grief To suffer

122. Eat Anyone's Salt To be anyone's guest

123. Live From Hand To Miserably/ in poverty

Mouth
124. Take Exception To object

125. Hold One's Tongue To be silent

126. Die Hard Unwilling to change

127. Carry Weight Be important/important

influence
128. Fall Flat Fail To amuse people/fail to
produce intended effect
129. Under The Thumb Of Under the control of

130. To Get Wind of Come to know about

something something secret or private
131. Water Under The Something that happened in
Bridge the past and is now forgotten
or no longer important
132. Stick To Guns Hold on to original decisions

133. The Salt Of The Earth Very good and honest/kind

134. Taking Through Hat Talking nonsense

135. Slip Off Leave quietly

136. In A Pickle In an embarrassing or

awkward situation
137. As Hard As Nail Emotionless / to show no
sympathy, kindness or fear
138. Weal And Woe Ups and downs

139. Rides The High Horse Feel superior

140. Have A Bee In One's To be preoccupied or

Bonnet obsessed with something

By JP Saikia
141. See Through Detect/ To realize the truth
about someone or somebody
142. Bull In A China Shop An awkward person

143. Change Colours To turn pale

144. Wide Off The Mark Irrelevant/ Not

accurate/Inadequate
145. To Toe The Line To follow the lead/ to follow
orders/ conform
146. Take Hat Off Encourage/To admire
somebody very much for
something he has done
147. Fish In Troubled To make profit out of a
Water troubled situation
148. Jumping Down One's To react very angrily to
Throat somebody
149. Egg someone On To encourage somebody to
do something
150. For Good Permanently

151. Not to look a gift Not to find fault with the gift
horse in the mouth received
152. A Closed Book A mystery

153. Wet One's Whistle To have a drink

154. Cool One's Heel To keep waiting

155. Feel Blue In trouble/depressed or sad

156. Above Board Legal and honest

157. Rule The Roost Exercise authority/to be the

most powerful member in
the group
158. Chicken Out Withdraw /to decide not to
do something because you
are afraid
159. Take Exception To object at something

By JP Saikia
160. Keep An Open House Welcome all members

161. Wet Behind Ears Young and inexperienced/

naive
162. Teething problems Difficulties at the start

163. To Cut One Short To criticize

164. Husband One's To save/Economical

Resource
165. Foam At The Mouth Angry

166. Keep Wolf Away Keep away extreme poverty

From The Door
167. Pin money Additional money

168. Salt Of The Earth Good, honest and ideal

169. Bring The House Make the audience applaud

Down enthusiastically
170. Gerrymandering Way In a manipulative and unfair
way
171. Turn Up One's Nose To not accept something
At because you do not think it is
good enough for you
172. Dot One's I's And Be detailed and exact
cross One’s t's
173. All Moonshine Superficial/ all lies

174. Swan Song Last Prayer (at funeral or

farewell)
175. By The Skin Of Teeth By the narrowest margin

176. Flies Off At A Tangent Start discussing something

irrelevant
177. Batten Down The Prepare for difficult situation
Hatches
178. Nail One's Colours To Refuse to climb down
The Mast
179. Red Herrings Intended to distract or
mislead /an unimportant
fact, idea, event, etc. that

By JP Saikia
 takes people attention from
the important ones
180. Look Sharp Pay attention

181. Big Draw Huge attraction

182. Bear Down To move quickly towards

something/someone in a
determined or threatening
way
183. Know Beans About Well informed and intelligent
Something
184. Know The Ropes Learn the procedures

185. In The Swim Well informed and up-to-

date
186. In The Loop Informed regularly

187. Hold One's Horses To keep waiting

188. Cut And Dry Method Clear and definite

189. Back To The Drawing Plan something all over

Board again
190. IN The Air To feel that something is
happening or about to
happen
191. Pull No Punch Speaks frankly

192. Put Your Feet Down Take a firm stand /to be very
strict in opposing what
somebody wishes to do
193. To The Letter Paying attention to every
detail
194. In Dutch In trouble

195. See Eye To Eye To have the same opinion/ to

be in agreement
196. Balloon Goes Up The situation turns
unpleasant or serious
197. Nine Day's Wonder A dazzling short-lived
spectacle of no real value

By JP Saikia
198. Salad Day Adolescence

199. Other Fish To Fry Some important work to

attend to
200. To gather roses only To seek all enjoyments of life

201. Eat like a horse Eat a lot

202. Pay on the nail Pay promptly/Payment

without delay
203. Penelope’s web An endless job

204. To carve out a niche To develop a special position

for oneself
205. Average out Balance

206. Floored To surprise or confuse

207. Tall Tales Boasting

208. Backseat Driver A person who gives

unwanted advice
209. Above Board Honest and open

210. Follow One’s nose To go straight ahead/to

follow one’s instinct
211. To Latch onto To become closely involved
or to understand something
212. Fight Shy of To avoid
someone/something
213. Cock and bull story Absurd or unbelievable story

214. Hold water Seem logical

215. Seamy side Unpleasant and immoral

216. A dog’s breakfast A total mess/ A thing that has

been done badly
217. To be in a quandary In a confusing situation

218. Take French Leave Absenting oneself without

permission

By JP Saikia
 219. The genomes of A slang term for Swiss
Zurich bankers
220. Put something by To save money for a
particular purpose
221. The jury is out No decision has been reached

222. To tell on someone To give information about

someone’s secrets
223. Take Fancy To attract or please
somebody
224. Snake in the Grass A hidden enemy

225. Leave High and dry In a difficult situation

without help or money/Leave
alone to work
226. Make believe To pretend that something is
true
227. Go for the Jugular Attack all out/To attack
somebody’s weaker point
during a discussion
228. Keep a level Head To remain calm and sensible
in a difficult situation
229. Under the Weather Sick, ill, unwell

230. Go Dutch Divide the cost

231. As daft as a brush Very silly

232. Rise with the Lark Get up early

233. Make a Beeline Rush/ To go straight towards

something as quick as you
can
234. Horse sense Basic common sense

235. Shot in the Arm Something that gives

encouragement
236. Catch time by the Seize opportunity
forelock
237. Get on Nerves Annoying

By JP Saikia
 238. A golden mean Middle course between two
extremes
239. Vexed question Controversial issue

240. Out of sorts Ill or sick/Upset

241. To set the Thames on Do a heroic deed/ To do such

fire a work that needs a
strenuous effort.
242. Lay it on thick An exaggeration/To talk
about somebody or
something in a way than they
really are
243. Bird’s eye view An overview/ A general view
from above
244. In the Soup To be in trouble

245. Arm-chair Critic A person who give advice

based on theory not on
practice
246. A chip of the old Someone just like one of
block their parents
247. Throw up cards To give in/ to blow away the
plan
248. Vote with your feet Showing your disapproval

249. Dog in a manger A selfish person

250. Chapter and verse Providing minutes details

251. Bring down the house Amuse the audience greatly/

To make everyone cheer
252. Give a wide berth to To stay away from or avoid
someone
253. Beside the Mark Irrelevant/Not to be accurate

254. Show a clean pair of To run away fast/ to flee

heels swiftly
255. All moonshine Concocted/All lies

By JP Saikia
 256. Shake off Forget/To get away from
somebody who is chasing or
following you
257. Pull a long face Look dejected/An unhappy or
disappointed expression
258. To pull a long face Look sad

259. Gate Crasher Uninvited guest

260. For all intents and Practically

purposes
261. Go out of one’s way Do everything possible

262. In the running Has good prospects in

competition
263. Beggar description Cannot be described

264. Drag one’s feet Be reluctant to act

265. For keeps Forever

266. Paled into Seemed less important

insignificance
267. Make it light Treat lightly

268. Catch a Tartar A rough, violent,

troublesome person
269. To take to heart To be greatly affected

270. Call on Pay a visit

271. Fair-weather friend Supports only when easy and

convenient
272. Pull together Work harmoniously

273. To give oneself airs Behave arrogantly

274. To spill the beans To reveal a secret

275. Drive home Emphasise

By JP Saikia
 276. A left hand A ambiguous compliment
compliment
277. Cut a sorry figure Make a poor impression

278. To get cold feet Fear

279. On tenterhooks In suspense and anxiety

280. A cuckoo in the nest An unwelcomed intruder

281. A house of Cards An insecure scheme

282. Hard of Hearing To be deaf

283. Dressing down To give scolding

284. A dark Horse Unexpected winner

285. Throw cold water Discourage

286. Butt in Interrupt

287. Couch potato A person who prefers to

watch television
288. Carry the ball Be in charge

289. Cap in hand In a respectful manner

290. In the blues Cheerless and depressed

291. Cheek by jowl Very close together

292. Beyond the pale Unreasonable or

unacceptable
293. Straw in the wind An indication of what might
happen
294. Curry Favours Seek favourable attention

295. Weal and woe Good times and bad times

296. Call in question Challenge

By JP Saikia
 297. Make both ends meet Live within means

298. Put up the shutters G out of business

299. Draw a blank Find no favour

300. To be in fix In a difficult situation

301. Get the sack Be dismissed

302. Donkey’s year A long time

303. A man of letters Scholar

304. Hold up Delay

305. To play fast and loose To act in an unreliable way

306. Pull a fast one Play a tick

307. A gentleman at large A man without a job

308. Lose face Become embarrassed

309. Go to back and Ruin Get into a bad condition

310. Have a chip on one’s Nurse a grudge

shoulder
311. Too many chiefs and An inefficient situation (too
not enough Indians many managers and not
enough people to do the
work)
312. Throw in the towel Acknowledge defeat

313. Mare’s nest Worthless thing

314. A storm in a teacup Big fuss over a small matter

315. Blue-blooded Of noble birth

316. Do a roaring trade Highly successful

By JP Saikia
 317. Keep body and soul To have just enough to
together sustain
318. Will-o-the-wisp Unreal imagining

319. Cloak-and-dagger An activity that involves

mystery and secrecy
320. Palm off To dispose off with the intent
to deceive
321. From stem to stern All the way from the front of
a ship to the back
322. Over-egg the pudding Add unnecessary details to
make something seem better
or worse
323. Turn over a new leaf Change ones behaviour for
the better
324. Take up the hatchet Prepare for or go to war

325. At loose ends In an uncertain situation

326. Ruffle somebody’s Annoy somebody

feather
327. To put one foot down Not to yield/Asserting one’s
authority/Take a firm stand
328. Have a foot in the Be close to death
grave
329. To roll out the carpet To give a grand party

330. God’s Acre A cemetery besides Church

331. Wrangle over an ass Quarrel over trifles

shadow
332. To put one’s hand to To take up a difficult task
plough
333. To pick holes To criticize someone

334. Swept under the rug Concealed from others

335. With A fine-tooth Carefully

comb
336. Barking up the wrong Misdirecting one’s efforts
tree

By JP Saikia
 337. Full of beans Energetic

338. Dog eat dog Ruthlessly competitive

339. Between horns of A difficult situation/choice

dilemma
340. To Eat one’s own Forced to retract one’s own
words statement
341. Steal someone’s To take credit of something
thunder someone else did
342. Going against the Doing things differently from
grain what one usually do
343. Pull a rabbit out of a To do something unexpected
hat
344. Let the chips fall Let something happen
wherever they may without bothering about
consequences
345. Whole bag of tricks Make us of all the

346. Pound the pavement Hunt for a job on the street

347. To stick to one’s Guns To be faithful to a cause

348. Whole nine yards Everything

349. To bite one’s lips To get angry

350. Variety is the spice of New experiences make like

life more interesting
351. Tongue in cheek In an insincere way

352. Wear your heart on Make one’s feelings apparent

your sleeve
353. A slap on the wrist A mild punishment

354. Against the clock To do a job fast to finish it

before a deadline
355. A dime a dozen Very common and of
particular value
356. Pull the plug Prevent something from
continuing

By JP Saikia
 357. A hot potato A controversial situation
which is difficult to deal with
358. Wag the dog To divert attention from
something of greater
importance to something of
lesser importance
359. Water under the Past events are no longer
bridge important
360. To bite the bullet To do or to accept something
difficult that one has been
361. Rise and shine An expression used when
waking someone up
362. Run out of steam To lose impetus or
enthusiasm
363. Saved by the bell Saved at the last moment

364. Rule of thumb A broadly accurate guide

based on practice
365. Up a blind alley Following a course of action
that is certain to lead to an
366. Familiarity breeds Close association with
contempt someone leads to a loss of
respect for them
367. Thumb one’s nose To express scorn

368. To put the cat among To do something that is likely

the pigeons to cause controversy
369. To shoot the breeze To have a casual
conversation
370. The best of both The benefits of widely
worlds differing situations, enjoyed
at the same time
371. To take the cake To degrade

372. To sleep with the To be dead

fishes
373. Shooting fish in a Ridiculously easy task
barrel
374. Chink in one’s armour An area of vulnerability

By JP Saikia
 375. By the seat of one’s To do it using only one’s own
pants experience and judgement
376. Discretion is the Caution is preferable to rash

377. Easy come, Easy go Something acquired without

effort may be lost without
regret
378. To spill the beans To reveal secret information
unintentionally
379. To spin one’s wheels To waste one’s time

380. To be pushing up To be dead and buried

daisies
381. To jump ship To leave an organization

382. To kick the bucket To die

383. X marks the spot The exact location

384. All good things must Even enjoyable experiences

come to an end cannot last forever
385. Back to the drawing An idea has been
board unsuccessful and that a new
one must be devised
386. Blood is thicker than Family relationship and
water loyalties are the strongest
and most important ones
387. A arm and a leg A large, possible exorbitant,
amount of money
388. At the drop of a hat Without hesitation or good

389. No man is an island No one is self-sufficient,

390. The squeaky wheel
gets the grease
391. To beat a dead horse
392. To bite your tongue
393. Under the weather
everyone relies on others
The most noticeable
problems are the ones most
likely to get attention
To revive interest in a
hopeless issue
To make a desperate effort to
avoid saying something
Slightly unwell

By JP Saikia
 394. To chew someone Reprimand someone severely
out
395. Feeding frenzy An episode of frantic
competition for something
396. Excuse my French To apologize for swearing

397. Dry run A rehearsal of a performance

before the real one
398. To cross your fingers To hope that things will
happen in the way that one
wants them to happen
399. To crack someone up To make someone laugh

400. Down to the wire To denote a situation whose

outcome is not decided until
the very last minute
401. To drink like a fish To drink excessive amounts
of alcohol
402. To buy a lemon To purchase a vehicle that
constantly give problems
403. To cast iron stomach To be able to eat or drink
anything without any
problems
404. Dead ringer A candidate fraudulently
substituted for another in a
competition
405. Flea market A street market selling
second-hand goods
406. Flesh and blood A person’s physical body and
their needs and frailties
407. To go for broke To risk everything in an all-
out effort
408. Fixed in one’s ways Not wanting to change how
one does things
409. Flash in the pan A thing or person whose
sudden but brief success is
not repeated
410. Fuddy-duddy A person who is very old-
fashioned and pompous
411. To go down like a lad A speech, joke or proposal
balloon that is poorly received

By JP Saikia
 412. Graveyard shift A work shift that runs
through the early morning
hours
413. To get up on the To start the day in a bad
wrong side of the bed mood which continues all day
long
414. To bite the dust To get defeated

415. To lose one’s head To become confused or

overly emotional about
someone or something
416. Head over heels To be madly in love

417. At iron will A firm option

418. Get into soup To make things difficult

419. Haul over the coals To scold

420. To carry the day To succeed

421. Go over Review

422. Swelled head Pride

423. To sow the dragon’s To take some action

teeth
424. Get ground Avoid

425. To cudgel one’s brain To think hard

426. Broke priscian’s head To use bad grammer

427. Cry in the wilderness Unpopular opinion

428. At variance with In opposite

429. In the egg In an early stage

430. Cut in on Interrupt

431. Draw a blank To be unsuccessful

By JP Saikia
 432. Give up Ghost To die

433. Out of elbows Poor

434. A nignog A fool

435. To make a pile To make a lot of money

436. Throw over Reject

437. Down and out Without money

438. How and low Everywhere

439. God’s ape A born fool

440. Lion’s mouth A dangerous situation

441. A stiff-necked person An obstinate person

442. Cross out Eliminate

443. Make away with To remove

444. To put one out of To make one feel ashamed

countenance
445. In vogue Popular

446. In a fix In a puzzling stare

447. To hammer out To plan

448. Stand for Represent

449. Black ox Misfortune

450. Broke a lance with To argue against

451. Cry wolf To raise a false alarm

452. Broke reed Support that failed

By JP Saikia
 453. Bear up with Endure

454. Creature comforts Luxuries

455. To clear the decks To remove obstructions

456. To cut the crackle To stop talking and start

457. Pin money Allowance made to a lady for

her expenses
458. In the offing Appear soon

459. Wolf in sheep Hypocrite

460. Heads with roll Dismissed or forced to resign

461. A green horn An experienced person

462. To paddle one’s own Manage independently

canoe
463. To keep the pot To keep controversy alive

464. To beat the air To make the efforts that are

useless
465. Threw a sapper Sabotage

466. A rift in the lute Brought about disharmony

467. Weigh anchor Prepare to sail again

468. Seize the nettle Dealt firmly

469. Mealymouthed Softspoken

470. Spin one’s wheels Expel much effort for little or

no gain
471. Put one’s foot down Adopt a firm policy when
faced with opposition or
disobedience
472. Whistle in the dark Pretend to be unafraid

473. Throw up the sponge To surrender

By JP Saikia
 474. A moot point Disputed

475. To draw the longbow To exaggerate

476. Not to mince matters Speak out politely

477. Sow wilds oats To waste time by doing

foolish things in younger age
478. Live from hand to To have enough money to
mouth live on and nothing extra
479. Pillar to post One place to another

480. Adam’s ale Water

481. To steal a march To outshine

482. In a jiffy Something that is done very

quickly
483. The thin end of the Start of harmful development

484. To wrangle over an To quarrel over trifles

ass’s shadow
485. Damp squib Complete failure

486. Bear the palm To win

487. To hit the nail on the To find exactly the right

head answer
488. On thin ice In a precarious or risky
situation
489. To have something To be obsessed with
on the brain something
490. In bad taste Not suitable or offensive

491. It goes without saying Something which is implied

to be obvious
492. To let someone off To leave someone in his
present state
493. Call it a day To declare the end of a task

494. Give somebody a ring Call someone on the

telephone

By JP Saikia
 495. Get the message Understand what is implied
by a remark of action
496. Sum and substance Summary

497. Token strike Short strike held as warning

498. The green-eyed Used as a way of talking

about
499. Dropping names Hinting at high connections/
To mention famous people
you know or have met in
order to impress others
500. To die in harness To make oneself rich (in
position or in monetary
terms)

By JP Saikia