Idiom and phrases Meaning Sentence

 Above board The honest people do everything above

board.
 A bad debt A lot of companies go down because of bad
debt.
 Abide by We should abide by the traffic rules.
 All in all The principal is all in all in this college.
 All and sundry We should help sincerely all and sundry.
 Alpha and omega Allah is the alpha and omega of Islam.
 A rotten egg The principal has struck off the rotten eggs
of the class.
 An apple of discord New business has become an apple of
discord between them.
 Apple of one’s eye The youngest son was the apple of his
father's eye.
 An eyewash Government’s new scheme is just an
eyewash.
 An axe to grind Socialists have no political axe to grind; they
just want to save the society.
 Again and again He requested my help again and again.
 At a loss He was at a loss when he missed the last
train.
 At large The culprit of Ali’s murder is still at large.
 At home in He is at home in Physics.
 At arm’s length Keep bad friends at arm’s length.
 At the eleventh hour The match was cancelled at the eleventh
hour.
 At a stone’s throw The hospital is at stone’s throw from my
home.
 At the daggers drawn Local residents are at daggers drawn with the
council over rubbish collection.
 A narrow escape He had a narrow escape from the railway
accident.
 A jail bird His father is an escaped jailbird.
 A queer fish I cannot understand the ways of Mr. Arif. He
is a queer fish.
 A blessing in disguise Dad's illness was a blessing in disguise as it
brought the family together for the first time in years.
 A close fisted man Aslam is a close fisted man as he never
spends a penny on entertainment.
 A near miss I managed to brake just in time and the
accident was a near miss.
 As cool as a cucumber She was as cool as cucumber even when she
caught red handed.
 A wild goose chase To look for a good restaurant in this town is
a wild goose chase.
 A gala day Every Sunday is gala day for students.
 A fishy story The late comers always come with a fishy
story about the late arrival.
 A fair weather friend A fair-weather friend isn't much help in an
emergency.
 A blind alley The latest evolutionary theory may turn out
to be a blind alley.
 A laughing stock The nonsense talk will make you a laughing
stock among your friends.
 A rolling stone A rolling stone gathers no moss.
 A sugar daddy Mr. Akram is sort of a sugar daddy to the
whole team.
 Add fuel to fire Shouting at a crying child just adds fuel to
the fire.
 Back out We should not back out of our promises.
 Bag and baggage He left for another country bag and baggage.
 Bad blood There should be no bad blood among the
Muslims.
 Blue blood Although Hina’s family is poor, she has blue
blood in her veins.
 By and by You may think your heart is broken, but you'll
feel better by and by.
 By hook or by crook He wants to become rich by hook or by crook.
 By fits and starts The dull students are not regular, they work by
fits and starts.
 By leaps and bound Our country is making progress by leaps and
bounds.
 Bed of roses Life is a hard challenge, not a bed of roses.
 Beat about the bush Don’t beat about the bush, just come to the
point.
 Beat in the air If you want to make him a good boy, you are
beating the air.
 Bird’s eye view We had a bird's eye view of the old town from
the top of the hill.
 Broken reed You cannot rely on Usama’s support as he is a
broken reed.
 Black sheep One black sheep can spoil the whole class.
 Blow hot and cold Amina kept blowing hot and cold about the
idea of working abroad.
 Break the news I broke the news of his son’s excellent result in
exams.
 Bread and butter Teaching at the local college is his bread and
butter.
 Bring to book The umpire was brought to book for wrong
decision.
 Broad daylight The robbers robbed the bank in the broad
daylight.
 Better half His better half is an educated lady.
 Between two fires They decided to retreat lest they would be
between two fires.
 Bosom friends Ali is my bosom friend, and I trust him.
 Bone of contention Kashmir is a bone of contention between
Pakistan and India
 Break the ice There was complete silence in the class and the
teacher broke the ice.
 Burning question Kashmir is burning question between India
and Pakistan.
 Burn the mid night oil You have to burn midnight oil to pass the
exams.
 Burn the candle at both ends You'll wear out if you keep burning the candle
at both ends.
 Call a spade a spade The honest people always call a spade a
spade.
 Call in question Our religion forbids calling any one’s
character in question.
 Carry one’s point We can carry our point by dint of hard work.
 Carry the day Our team didn't play well at first, but we
carried the day in the end.
 Cast aside I knew you would cast me aside once you
became famous.
 Catch at straw A drowning man catches at a straw.
 Cat’s paw Aslam is not the mastermind of this plan; he
is just a cat’s paw.
 Close shave The shot missed him, but it a close shave.
 Call names Bad boys call names of others.
 Cold blooded murder I condemn the cold blooded murder of the
innocent child.
 Come to light a Four officers have faced charges since the
scandal came to light last month.
 Come to grief In the end, he came to grief because he did
not follow instructions.
 With flying colours Sidra qualified for the race with flying
colours.
 Crocodile tears He shed crocodile tears on the death of his
revolting wife.
 Cheek by jowl The two families lived cheek by jowl in one
house.
 Cut a sorry figure British high commissioner cut a sorry figure
on visa scandal.
 Dark horse A dark horse player can win if all the others
are creeps.
 Drawn game Neither of the teams could win the game; it
was a drawn game.
 Die in harness Quaid-e-Azam died in harness.
 Dead letter The ceasefire agreement is a dead letter
between India and Pakistan because neither side follows it.
 Every inch Nobody in politics is every inch a
gentleman.
 Eat one’s words Look before you leap otherwise you will
have to eat your words.
 Face the music You've been caught cheating now you must
face the music.
 Fair and square Fair and square elections are difficult in
Pakistan.
 Fall flat My advice fell flat on the naughty boy.
 Flesh and blood This cold weather is more than what flesh
and blood can stand.
 From hand to mouth After she lost her job she was living from
hand to mouth.
 French leave He has received a notice for taking a
French leave.
 Fall back on Ali fell back upon his old complaint.
 Few and far between He visits me few and far between.
 First and foremost The first and foremost duty of a student is
to work hard.
 Find fault with Man is apt to find fault with others.
 For good He had a quarrel with his wife and left the
house for good.
 Give vent Children give vent to their anger in various
ways.
 Get into hot water We'll get into hot water if the teacher hears
about this.
 Get rid off It is difficult to get rid of insects.
 Go back on He went back on me, and joined a rival
company in such a way.
 Go hand in hand Wealth and power go hand in hand in most
societies.
 Go to dogs/go to wall Owing to the corruption, the economy of
our county is going to walls/dogs.
 Go through fire and water Ahmad is always ready to go through fire
and water for the sake of his friends.
 Hand in glove with The two friends are hand in glove with each
other.
 Hair breadth escape She had a hair breadth escape in the bus
accident.
 Hard and fast The new principal has set some hard and
fast rules for the students.
 Heart and soul I will put my heart and soul into this job.
 Hit the nail on its head Bob doesn't say much, but every now and
then he hits the nail right on its head‫۔‬
 Hope against hope I'm hoping against hope that someone will
return my wallet.
 Hold water Nothing you’ve said so far holds water.
 Hue and cry There was a hue and cry on the bomb blast
spot.
 In a fix The surprise attack of China put India in a
fix.
 Ill at ease He is always ill at ease when facing his step-
father.
 Ins and outs He knows all the ins and outs if this plan.
 In black and white He submitted his explanation in black and
white.
 In a nutshell Tell me your new idea in a nutshell.
 In the air His secret affairs were soon in the air.
 In full swing When we arrived the party was already in
full swing.
 In the teeth of The new policy was adopted in the teeth of
fierce criticism.
 Keep pace with The company is struggling to keep pace with
changes in the market.
 Kith and kin He is very kind to his poor kith and kin.
 Keep an eye on Keep an eye on the notice boards for
forthcoming events .
 Keep abreast of Read the papers if you want to keep abreast
of current affairs.
 Keep back She was unable to keep back her tears, and
wept freely.
 Kick the bucket His heirs were greedily waiting for him to
kick the bucket.
 Lame excuse She's always got some lame excuse for being
late.
 Lay by He laid his tools by for the next project.
 Lay down arms The rebel soldiers laid down their arms and
surrendered.
 Lick the dust You will never lick the dust unless you give
up!
 Look down upon You shouldn't look down upon him just
because he is a dustman.
 Lead by nose He thinks she's perfect, and she leads him
around by the nose.
 Lead a cat and dog life The love married couple soon started to lead
a cat and dog life.
 Let the cat out of the bag I was trying to keep the party a secret, but
Amina went and let the cat out of the bag.
 lion’s share Boss took the lion’s share of bribed amount.
 Life and soul My parents are life and soul of my
aspirations.
 Long and short Please write the long and short of this essay.
 Maiden speech His maiden speech was too long and boring.
 Make both ends meet I have to work at two jobs to make both ends
meet.
 Make amends for They must make amends for the harm they've
caused you
 make fun of The boys made fun of her short dress at the
party.
 Man of parts Men of parts achieve their goals.
 man of letters Prof. Anjum is a man of letters.
 Now and then We visit my parents now and then, but we
rarely see our other relatives.
 Null and void The old rules of taxation are null and void
now.
 Once in a blue moon We go out to eat once in a blue moon.
 On the eve of He felt sick on the eve of the race.
 Part and parcel Breathing is the part and parcel of life.
 Rainy day Wise people save something for the rainy
day.
 Red tape It takes months for a case to get through the
red tape.
 Safe and sound I reached home safe and sound.
 Set off We ate a hearty breakfast before we set off.
 Sixes and sevens The books were laying sixes and sevens on
the table.
 Snake in the grass Beware of your new friend, he is a snake in
the grass.
 Spick and span She keeps her room spick and span.
 Storm in a tea cup His anger was unreasonable, it was just a
storm in a teacup.
 Time and tide Time and tide waits for none.
 Through thick and thin Good friends stand by each other through
thick and thin.
 To be caught red hand The thief was caught red handed.
  To pass on The committee passed on the proposal, so
work can now begin.
 To pass away I'm sorry to hear that your father passed
away last night.
 To be taken aback I was taken aback by the news of his death.
 To nip in the bud · A bad habit in a child should be nipped in
the bud.
 To end in smoke They must take practical measures to carry
out their plan; otherwise it will end in smoke.
 Turn a deaf ear to The boss turned a deaf ear to my
explanation.
 Up to the mark Her latest batch of work just isn't up to the
mark.
 Ups and downs There were many ups and downs in his
political career.
 Up to the mark Her school work is not quite up to the mark.
 Wet blanket A selfish person is a wet blanket.
 White elephant The old car has now become a white
elephant for him.
 With a view to He's painting the house with a view to
selling it.
 With open arms Reduction in income tax will be welcomed
with open arms.

Phrases
 Break away I tried to break away from him, but he was
holding me too tight.
 Break into Spies have been trying to break into my
computer.
 Break out A fire broke out in the forest.
 Bring down Government brought down the prices of
petrol last month.
 Bring in Our new boss has brought in new rules in the
company.
 Bring out I hear you have brought out a new edition of
your book.
 Bring up We brought up the puppies carefully and
sold them for a good.
 Bring about Floods bring about destruction on large scale.
 Bear out Her theories were not borne out by the
research I did.
 Give away He gave away all his money before his death.
 Give up If you give up smoking, you will live longer.
 Give in This government will not give in to terrorism.
 Put off Don’t put off what you can do today till
tomorrow
 Put on When he put on the wig and false moustache I
could not recognize him.
 Put out It took two hours to put out the fire.
 Put in I am writing to boss to put in for a transfer.
 Put down They frequently put down their sister for
walking slowly.
 Carry out You must carry out my orders.
 Carry on Let's carry on this discussion at some other
time.
 Carry off I think someone carried off the lawn chairs last
night.
 Come of He comes of a noble family.
 Come down The fire is so great that the whole building will
have to come down.
 Come by Cheap organic food is still difficult to come by.
 Come across Suddenly I came across my old friends on the
road.