IDIOMS FOR SSC ENGLISH - ALL SSC PYQS UPTO 2025 - PART 5 (100 Idioms)

 

IDIOMS FOR SSC ENGLISH - ALL SSC PYQS UPTO 2025 - PART 5

 (100 Idioms)

Sr. No.	Idiom	Meaning	Actual Place or Situation of Usage	Example
351	A finger in every pie	To be involved in many things	To describe someone who is involved in many different activities or businesses, sometimes in a meddling way	Though Ravi is silent and reserved, he has got a finger in every pie
352	Throw cold water on	To show indifference or discourage	When someone discourages a plan or idea, often by pointing out its flaws	When he talked about his acting skills, his friends threw cold water on it
353	A greenhorn	An inexperienced person	To describe a novice or a beginner who lacks experience in a particular field	Piyush is a greenhorn in the leather industry
354	Blow your own trumpet	To brag about one's own accomplishments	To describe someone boasting about their own achievements and talents	It's not polite to blow your own trumpet in front of others
355	Cry for the moon	To desire the unattainable	When someone wishes for something that is impossible to get	Susan knows that getting a sports car for her birthday is crying for the moon, but she can't help dreaming about it
356	Have a narrow escape	To just manage to avoid danger or trouble	When someone barely avoids a dangerous or disastrous situation	The house had a narrow escape from being flooded when the storm changed direction at the last minute
357	Halcyon days	Peaceful days	To refer to a past period that was idyllically happy and peaceful	The childhood days are halcyon days of our life
358	Added fuel to the fire	To make a bad situation worse	When an action exacerbates an already tense or difficult situation	When he made fun of the sage, who was already infuriated, it added fuel to the fire
359	Out of gear	In a state of disorder; not functioning properly	To describe a system, organization, or machine that is not working correctly	The recent strike of the employees left the factory and its machinery out of gear
360	Pin money	An allowance for personal use	A small sum of money for personal, discretionary spending	My mother asked my father to increase her personal use allowance
361	Bring to book	To punish someone for something they are accountable for	To hold someone accountable and punish them for wrongdoing	The manager was punished for his negligence in work (brought to book)
362	Pell-mell	In great confusion	To describe a situation of disorderly confusion or a panicked rush	Everything in the mansion was in pell-mell after the robbery
363	Whistled in the dark	Tried to keep up one's confidence	To pretend to be brave or confident in a frightening or uncertain situation	He was alone... but he whistled in the dark
364	On the cards	Due or likely to happen	To describe an event that is very probable or expected in the future	Nitish's promotion is on the cards
365	Lily-livered	Not brave	A derogatory term for someone who is a coward	The soldier was called lily-livered because he ran away from the battlefield
366	Tied herself up in knots	To become very confused when trying to explain something	When someone becomes muddled and incoherent while speaking	Pooja tried to explain the problem, but soon she tied herself up in knots
367	To bell the cat	To face a risk	To undertake a dangerous or difficult task that will benefit a larger group	No one was quite ready to bell the cat
368	Rule the roost	To be in charge	To be the dominant person in a group or situation	Today, the country's nationalists rule the roost and hand out the jobs
369	Scrape the barrel	To be forced to use one's last and weakest resource	When you have to use the last and least desirable options because there are no others left	After months of searching, they had to scrape the barrel to find any remaining job candidates
370	To prime the pump	To encourage the growth or action of something	To take action to stimulate or encourage something to develop	To get more people to join the club, they offered free snacks as a way to prime the pump
371	Bad iron	Bad luck	An expression for misfortune or bad luck	Spilling coffee on my white shirt before the presentation was another instance of bad iron
372	Falling foul of	Quarrelling with	To get into trouble with someone or break a rule	Has he lost his mind? He is falling foul of everybody
373	Get into a scrape	To be involved in a problem	To find oneself in a difficult or awkward situation, often due to one's own actions	Tommy got into a scrape when he borrowed his sister's bike without asking...
374	Blow something out of (all) proportion	To behave as if something is much worse than it really is	To exaggerate the importance or seriousness of a problem	She blew the small argument out of proportion by telling everyone in the neighborhood about it
375	To go to the dogs	To become worse	To describe a person, place, or thing that has deteriorated badly	The company went to the dogs after the new CEO took over
376	Up the creek	In trouble	To be in a serious and difficult situation	I'm going to be in trouble if I don't submit my homework to the teacher (I'll be up the creek)
377	Stir up a hornets' nest	To provoke trouble	To cause a lot of trouble or make many people angry	When the politician made that controversial statement, he unknowingly stirred up a hornets' nest...
378	Taking a bull by the horns	To deal with a difficult situation in a very direct or confident way	To confront a challenge head-on with courage	He faced his problems by taking a bull by the horns
379	A perfect storm	The worst possible situation	A rare combination of events or circumstances creating an exceptionally bad situation	The shortage of ingredients and a busy evening rush... created a perfect storm of chaos
380	As dead as a doornail	Completely obsolete or dead	Used to emphasize that something is unquestionably dead or no longer in use	Your career is now as dead as a doornail
381	Caught a tartar	To encounter someone more powerful than expected	When you attack or challenge someone who turns out to be much stronger or more formidable than you anticipated	My business partners thought that I would simply accept their cheating, but they will soon realise that they caught a tartar
382	Hit the jackpot	Gaining a big success	To have a sudden and remarkable success, especially one that brings a lot of money	Sarah couldn't believe her luck when she hit the jackpot at the casino...
383	Take it with a grain of salt	Not to take things seriously	To understand that something is not completely true or accurate and should be viewed with skepticism	Mahesh has learnt not to take things seriously. (take it with a grain of salt)
384	Weather the storm	To deal with a difficult situation without being harmed	To survive a period of difficulty or danger	Many analysts are tipping stable, blue-chip companies to weather the storm
385	Speaks his mind	To express thoughts, opinions, or feelings openly and honestly	To say exactly what you think, without censoring yourself	Harry always speaks his mind but he is not always very diplomatic!
386	Pass the buck	Blaming another person	To shift responsibility or blame for something to someone else	During the game, when the team lost, he passed the buck to the referee
387	Chewing the cud	To think slowly and carefully about something	To ponder or meditate on something at length	Shelley has been chewing the cud for a few days but still has not decided to quit the job
388	At cross purposes	Disagreeing with each other's ideas	When two or more people misunderstand each other's intentions and are working towards different goals	Their conversation seemed confusing as they were communicating at cross purposes
389	A pipe dream	An unreal hope	A hope or plan that is impossible or very unlikely to happen	You must not participate in the marathon... It is a pipe dream on your part!
390	You snooze, you lose	If you are not alert, you are likely to miss opportunities	A warning that if you don't pay attention and act quickly, you will miss out on chances	She missed out on the special discount because she didn't make a decision quickly. You snooze, you lose!
391	Gets on my nerves	Irritates me	To describe someone or something that is extremely annoying	His voice gets on my nerves
392	Familiarity breeds contempt	The better you know someone the less you like him	A proverb meaning that prolonged close association with someone can lead to a loss of respect for them	The better you know someone the less you like him. (Familiarity breeds contempt)
393	Get up on the wrong side of the bed	Someone who is having a horrible day or is in a bad mood	To describe someone who is irritable and in a bad mood for no apparent reason	He seems annoyed today. Maybe he got up on the wrong side of the bed
394	Comparing apples to oranges	Comparing two things that cannot be compared	When an unfair or illogical comparison is made between two fundamentally different things	Julia has the habit of comparing apples to oranges
395	Die a dog's death	To die a shameful, dishonorable, or miserable death	To die in a disgraceful or wretched way	The doctor who used illegal methods... must die a shameful death (a dog's death)
396	I don't buy it	I am not convinced	An informal way of saying that you do not believe something	You may think so, but I don't buy it
397	Easier said than done	Not as easy as it appears to be	Used to say that a task is more difficult than it seems from just talking about it	Getting a new job is easier said than done.
398	To show a clean pair of heels	To run fast	To run away from a situation quickly	The clever fox showed a clean pair of heels to the pursuing hounds
399	Hold good	To remain valid	For a rule, statement, or principle to continue to be true or applicable	Honesty is the best policy' does not hold good in the present times...
400	Opened a Pandora's box	To uncover more problems	To do something that causes a lot of new and unexpected problems	His deep study of the case opened a Pandora's box
401	Through the grapevine	Via gossip	To hear news or information through informal, person-to-person conversation	News about the party spread through the grapevine
402	Ruffle someone's feathers	To make someone annoyed	To upset or offend someone	His criticism of her work really ruffled her feathers
403	To hold his tongue	To learn to keep quiet	To refrain from speaking, especially when you want to say something	Our secretary is always in the mood for an argument. He must learn to hold his tongue
404	Keep a lid on	To control the level of something in order to stop it increasing	To keep a situation under control and prevent it from getting worse	Reghu's been trying to keep a lid on his emotions...
405	By word of mouth	In spoken form	Information passed from person to person through conversation	A piece of information received by word of mouth has no authenticity
406	Springs to mind	Dawns on; to come into one's mind suddenly	When an idea or thought suddenly occurs to you	Athira would like to get him a special birthday present, but nothing springs to mind
407	Keep him posted	To keep sharing the latest information	To regularly update someone on the progress of a situation	The officer asked his subordinates to keep him posted of the workplace developments
408	A blind spot	An area in your range of vision that you cannot see properly	A subject or area in which someone's knowledge or understanding is lacking	He was a great scientist, but he had his blind spots
409	Get down to brass tacks	To become serious about something	To start discussing the most important and practical details of a matter	After a long and general discussion, let's get down to brass tacks and decide on a budget...
410	A bed of nails	A problematic or uncomfortable situation	A situation that is full of difficulties and discomfort	Life is a bed of nails for street children in India
411	To have an itching palm	To be greedy for money	To have a strong desire for bribes or tips	He was known for having an itching palm, always eager to receive bribes...
412	Out of the woods	Out of danger	No longer in a difficult or dangerous situation	...she was thrilled to be out of the woods and on the path to financial stability
413	Buy a lemon	To buy something that is worthless	To purchase something, especially a vehicle, that proves to be defective and unreliable	...little do we realise that we are up to buy a lemon
414	One swallow does not make a summer	A single fortunate event does not mean that what follows will also be good	A proverb warning not to assume that a single positive event is a sign of long-term success	The first sample of ore... is very promising, but we should remember that one swallow does not make a summer
415	To meet one's eyes	To look at someone directly while they are looking at you	To look directly at someone without showing fear or shame	I tried to avoid meeting his eye
416	A blast from the past	Something powerfully nostalgic	Something that strongly reminds you of a past time	The class tenth photograph was a blast from the past
417	Against the clock	Rushed and short on time	To do something as fast as possible to finish before a deadline	We are working against the clock to finish the report by Friday
418	In the groove	Starting to perform very well	To be performing confidently and at one's best	...the band finally... got in the groove, delivering an electrifying performance
419	Walk on air	To be extremely happy	To feel elated or euphoric	The boys are walking on air because their team won the game
420	Wet behind the ears	To be young and without experience	To describe someone who is naive and lacks experience in a particular area	He's just finished high school, so he's still wet behind the ears
421	A dead duck	Totally useless	A plan or person that is certain to fail or be unsuccessful	That new budget bill was a dead duck before it hit the Senate
422	To pull the trigger	To commit to a course of action	To make a final decision to do something after a period of hesitation	...she finally decided to pull the trigger and start her own business
423	On the job	Working at a particular job	While doing a particular job	The new programme offers on-the-job training with vocational qualifications
424	The life and soul of the party	A person who brings lots of energy to the party	The most lively and amusing person at a social gathering	Sarah was always the life and soul of the party...
425	Pedal to the metal	To go full speed, especially while driving a vehicle	To drive as fast as possible	You are running late. You are going to miss the plane unless you put pedal to the metal
426	To throw up the sponge	To surrender or give up the contest	To admit defeat	...the boxer finally threw up the sponge, admitting defeat...
427	Dead ringer	Having strong resemblance to someone else	Someone who looks exactly like another person	Susie has such strong resemblance to (is a dead ringer for) Kate Winslet...
428	Go down like a lead balloon	To be received badly by an audience	When a suggestion, joke, or performance is very poorly received	...his new invention went down like a lead balloon when the public showed little interest in it
429	It takes two to tango	For an argument both parties are equally responsible	Used to say that two people are both responsible for a conflict or situation	The disagreement escalated because they failed to realize it takes two to tango
430	To scratch one's head	To think hard in a puzzled way	To be confused or perplexed about something	The riddle was so challenging that it made him scratch his head in confusion
431	Dead men's shoes	A job that one takes over from somebody who has left unexpectedly or died	Gaining a position through the departure or death of the previous holder	He advanced quickly in his career thanks to dead men's shoes
432	To stretch one's legs	To go for a walk after you have been sitting for a long time	To get up and walk around after a period of being seated	After sitting for hours, I decided to stretch my legs
433	Drastic times call for drastic measures	When you are extremely desperate you need to take extremely desperate actions	A proverb meaning that extreme and difficult situations require extreme actions	When faced with a major crisis, it is essential to remember that drastic times call for drastic measures
434	Being a backseat driver	Giving someone unnecessary advice	To criticize or give unwanted advice to the person in control of a situation	...Pranav couldn't stop himself from being a backseat driver
435	To fly into a rage	To get very angry	To suddenly become extremely angry	When I told her I accidentally broke her favorite mug, she flew into a rage
436	To mind one's P's and Q's	To be polite and careful in one's behavior and speech	To be careful about what you say and how you behave	Tom's good manners impressed everyone. He minded his P's and Q's by being polite and respectful
437	Rolling in cash	To have a large quantity of money	To be very wealthy	Ever since she won the lottery, she's been rolling in cash...
438	Queer somebody's pitch	To upset someone's plans	To spoil someone's chances of success	The unexpected arrival of a new competitor completely queered the established company's pitch...
439	To go a long way	To become successful in life	To be very helpful or effective in achieving success	Maintaining a positive mindset can go a long way in achieving success...
440	In ones and twos	In small numbers	To describe people or things arriving or appearing a few at a time	The children entered the amusement park in ones and twos...
441	Crossed the Rubicon	Made an irreversible change that will greatly impact his life	To take a decisive, irreversible step	He crossed the Rubicon when he got that huge tattoo on his back!
442	Ethnic Cleansing	Killing of a certain ethnic or religious group on a massive scale	The mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society	During the conflict, the region witnessed the horrifying act of ethnic cleansing...
443	Got this game in the bag	To have won this game certainly	To be certain of winning or succeeding	Don't start to think we've got this game in the bag, gentlemen
444	Fixed in one's ways	Not willing or wanting to change from your normal way of doing something	To describe someone who is stubborn and unwilling to change their habits or routines	He is fixed in his ways. He always follows the same procedure in order to complete the projects
445	Cold fish	A person lacking in sympathy	To describe a person who is unemotional and unfriendly	Ashish is a cold fish because he barely helps anyone in pain
446	Go bananas	To become excited or angry	To become very emotional, either with excitement or anger	She'll go bananas when you tell her the news
447	To pull your weight	To do your full share of work	To contribute a fair amount of effort to a group task	In group projects, everyone must pull their weight... for success
448	Scraping the bottom of the barrel	Selecting from the last or worst of the resources left	To use the last and least desirable options when nothing else is available	They had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find someone willing to do the job
449	Be at a crossroads	To make a very important decision	To be at a point where a crucial decision must be made that will affect the future	...she found herself at a crossroads, unsure of which career path to pursue
450	To pick holes in someone's coat	To find fault with someone	To criticize someone or their argument by finding minor flaws	She constantly picks holes in his work, no matter how much effort he puts in

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