Necessary Idioms and Phrases
By means of = He succeeded by means of hard labour.
On the sly = The thief entered my room on the sly.
Above all = Above all, he is an honest man.
In the long run = The sinners suffer in the long run.
Nip in the bud = His plans were nipped in the bud.
On the eve of = He told me the truth on the eve of his departure.
Take after = She takes after her mother.
End in smoke = All his efforts ended in smoke.
Storm in a tea-cup = We should not have a storm in a tea-cup about the menu.
For the sake of = We should eat good food for the sake of good health.
At a glance = I can tell at a glance what is wrong.
To and fro = The woman is rocking the baby to and fro.
Burning question = Climate change is a burning question of the day.
In the event of = We should take oral saline in the event of diarrhoea.
Far and wide = The name of Dr. Yunus has spread far and wide.
Make fun of = We should not make fun of the poor.
On the whole = On the whole, he is a good man.
A white elephant = Dredging all the rivers is a white elephant for Bangladesh.
Skim through = Only skimming through a text is not enough for good result.
Gala day = Pohela Boishakh is a gala day for us.
Flesh and blood = Every flesh and blood must die.
Well off = He comes of a well off family.
Put up with = None can put up with his rude behaviour.
Ups and downs = Human life must have ups and downs.
By hook or by crook = I must solve the problem by hook or by crook.
At the sight of = I went there at the sight of her.
Black and blue = People gave the thief black and blue.
Hard and fast = No one wants to follow the hard and fast rules.
The lion share = He enjoys the lion share of the company.
Beat about the bush = Do not beat about the bush, come to the point.
Throw dust in one’s eyes = He threw dust in my eyes by giving me a fake note of 500TK.
Insist on = My father insisted on my going there.
Pay no heed = I cried for help but he paid no heed to me.
With a view to = We go to school with view to learning.
Keep one’s eyes open = We should always keep our eyes open to remain healthy.
Bird’s eye view = The principal had a bird’s eye view of the field from his office.
Hard nut to crack = Corruption is a hard nut to crack for us.
Take to heart = He took my comment to heart and left the place.
Square meal = Many people can not get a square meal a day.
The third degree = When I returned home late, my father gave me the third degree.
Crying need = Economic freedom is a crying need for democracy.
At the eleventh hour = The doctor came at the eleventh hour.
In full swing = Our classes are going on in full swing.
Keep body and soul together = The man earns a little and keeps body and soul together.
Make one’s fortune = Emperor Babur came to India to make his fortune.
Weal and woe = Human life is full of weal and woe.
Ins and outs = I know the ins and outs of the matter.
Beggar description = Their sorrows beggar description.
Bring to book = The principal brought the student to book for stealing a watch.
Sine die = Our college was closed for sine die.
In course of time = Everything changes in course of time.
Bite your tongue = The liar spoke the truth and bit his tongue.
Straight as an arrow = He leads a life of straight as an arrow.
At stake = His life is at stake.
Turn a deaf ear to = I advised him for long but he turned a deaf ear to me.
Live from hand to mouth = The man lives from hand to mouth.
Green horns = The green horns commit crimes and suffer unnecessarily.
In the twinkling of an eye = He disappeared in the twinkling of an eye.
All and sundry = The club is open to all and sundry.
Bad blood = The two brothers always have bad blood.
Armed to the teeth = They were armed to the teeth to face the enemy.
Lame excuse = Jerry broke the axe handle but did not show any lame excuse.
Pros and cons = He described the pros and cons of his journey.
Turn over a new leaf = He turned over a new leaf to change his lot.
Make both ends meet = Many people can not make both ends meet.
At length = He told the story at length.
Poles apart = My friends were poles apart from me in my sorrow.
A stone’s throw = My college is a stone’s throw from my home.
Big guns = The politicians are the big guns of our society.
Keep pace with = We have to keep pace with the modern technology.
Ever and anon = I will visit you ever and anon.
Dead against = My father is dead against modern song.
In plenty = Jute grows in plenty in our country.
Slow coach = He can not prosper as he is a slow coach.
Mind your Ps and Qs = Mind your Ps and Qs because I am senior to you.
Crocodile tears = He showed crocodile tears at the death of his step brother.
Face the music = If you do not obey the law, you will face the music.
Pie in the sky = He wants to be the prime minister. It is just pie in the sky.
Cut to the quick = He has been cut to the quick by her rudeness.
Slow poke = As he is a slow poke, he cannot do anything quickly.
Tit for tat = The man stole the watch and was punished. It is just tit for tat.
Eating humble pie = He made the mistake and ate humble pie.
Making hay = Make hay when the sun shines.
Achilles’ heel = Talking about his family life is his Achilles’ heel.
The acid test = The acid test of a good teacher is to remain calm in the children’s class.
Against all odds = He succeeded in life against all odds.
Ahead of time = He came to know about the matter ahead of time.
All the best =You are going to Cox’s Bazar, all the best to you.
All of a sudden = I met him all of a sudden.
All the year round = The apples are found all the year round.
An angel of light = My father is an angel of light to me.
Bear fruit = Work hard, it will bear fruit so far.
A day dream = The boy is in a day dream that he will be a king.
A dead end = After working for long, he is faced with a dead end.
Every now and then = He disturbs me every now and then.
Give a big hand = The boy performed well and all gave a big hand.
In cold blood = The man killed his wife in cold blood.
Part and parcel = A library is part and parcel of a college.
Make of fuss = They make a great fuss of the new baby.
Dead end job = He is in a dead end job in the local factory.
Hot cake = The book is selling like a hot cake.
An account of = He gave me an account of his journey.
Take to heart = He took my comment to heart and left the place.
Take pity on = At last God took pity on him.
In an instant = Now we can communicate with anybody in an instant.
A man of letters = Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah was a man of letters.
Narrow escape = I had a narrow escape from the accident.
Out and out = What he said was an out and out lie.
Tell upon = Smoking tells upon our health.
Few and far between = His visit to me is few and far between.
Go through = The world climate is now going through a great change.
Build castles in the air = You should not build castles in the air, rather work hard.
At sixes and sevens = The books are at sixes and sevens in the room.
Next to nothing = I got the profit just next to nothing.
Beauty sleep = She had a beauty sleep, woke up and had lunch.
On behalf of = I met the principal on behalf of the class.
Come true = His dream came true and he became a doctor.
As well as = Ilhan as well as his brother has done it.
In case of = In case of rain, I will take the umbrella.
As if / as though = He behaves as if/ as though he knew me.
Make up one’s mind = He made up his mind to go abroad.
Beyond one’s means = Standing first in the run race is beyond my means.
Learn by heart = He learns his lesson by heart.
Cut off = The village is cut off from the rest of the world.
Cut out = I cut out coffee for the next two weeks.
At daggers drawn = The two brothers are at daggers drawn.
In a nutshell = He described the story in a nutshell.
Bolt from the blue = The news of his father’s death came as bolt from the blue to him.
Cut a sorry figure = He cut a sorry figure in the exam.
Pass away = Kazi Nazrul Islam passed away in1976.
At best = His response to the proposal was at best cool.
Hue and cry = There is a hue and cry among the people about price hike.
Heart and soul = I am trying heart and soul to pass the exam.
On account of = He was absent from the meeting on account of his illness.
Take to task = As I arrived late, everybody took me to task.
At a stretch = None can work all day long at a stretch.
By dint of = Everybody loves him by dint of his honesty.
Look down upon = We should not look down upon the poor.
Run out = My pen has run out.
Bell the cat = It is easy to say but who will bell the cat.
Facts and figures = I need all the facts and figures before I decide the matter.
A low profile = The issue has a low profile in this month.
The nitty gritty = I need to know about the nitty gritty before I decide the matter.
Turn inside out = The thief has turned the room inside out.
In a fix = I am in a fix what to do.
Red tape = Our development slows down due to red tape.
Swan song = The swan song of Artist Joynul Abedin was praiseworthy.
Apple of discord = He is an apple of discord to his boss for his bad behaviour.
Make sense = The sentence does not make sense.
Let alone = The poor children do not get food, let alone education.
Loom large = Our population is looming large day by day.
Run short = I ran short of pocket money last month.
Open secret =The matter is open secret to all.
Lock and load = Lock and load, we have to go now.
So that = I study hard so that I can pass the exam.
Find fault with = He always finds fault with me.
To the last = I tried to the last to win the match.
Hat trick = He did a hat trick of 6 and scored 18 runs.
Call it a day = After working for ten years I think it is time for me to call it a day.
Set out = They set out their journey yesterday.
To be in the swim =We all are in the swim without knowing.
Play truant = He always plays truant from school.
Speak ill of = We should not speak ill of others.
As a matter of fact = As a matter of fact I did not commit the crime.
Author:
Md. Nourozur Rahaman
BCS(General Education)
Assistant Professor of English
Narayanganj Government Women’s College
Examiner of National University
Contact:House No. GP(Ja)-96(Ground floor)
Wireless Gate, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212
(Behind Hotel Zakaria, Madrasha Lane)
Mobile: 01715376235
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