Intermediate Part 2nd English,Important IDIOMS 2010



A dark horse                        Saleem is a dark horse; I did not know that he had written a novel.

A rainy day                         We should save our money for a rainy days.

A man of letters                  Our teacher is a man of letters.

A burning question             Unemployment is a burning question of today.

The lion,s share                  She got the lion's share from her husband's property.

A bed of roses                      Life is not a bed of roses.


A bone of contention         Kashmir is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan.

A fair weather friend        Fair weather friends leave in difficulties.

A hard nut to crack           To check Terrorism has proved to be a hard nut to crack for the government.

Above board                        All his dealings are above board.

Abide by                             You should abide by your promise.

At arm,s length                    Keep him at arm's length because he is a gambler.

A black sheep                        As his brother is a gambler, he is considered the black sheep of the famliy.

Apple of discord                   This piece of land is an apple of discord between Saleem and Ali.

A snake in the grass            Beware of him,he is a real snake in the grass.

A fool,s paradise                   Those who believe that India and Pakistan will be friends,are living in a fool Paradise.

A child,s play                        It is not a child's play to write a good book in a month.

At the eleventh hour           He called of his plan at the eleventh hour.

At large                                The two robbers are still at large.

A drawn match                     A cricket test match usually proves to be a drawn match.

Break the ice                         All were silent;Saleem broke the ice by suggesting that they should play card.

Break down                           Because of over-work my health broke down.

Blow ones own trumpet        Great men do not blow their own trumpet.

Back out                                An honest man never tries to back out of his promise.

A man of straw                     In our society,no one respects a man of straw.

A maiden speech                  She impressed us with her maiden speech.

Beat about the bush             Stop beating about the bush and get to the point.

Bring up                                 The mother brought up the child with care.

Bring to book                       He brought the servent to book for his carelessness.

Bring to light                         New facts about the war have been brought to light.

Bag and baggage                   He threw out of the house,bag and baggage.

By fits and starts                    You cannot pass the examination if you work by fits and starts.

By leap and bounds                 Yameen is improving his English by leaps and bounds.

To be taken aback                     I was taken aback to know that such an able boy failed in the examination.

Burn the candle at both ends           You will fall ill if you keep on burning your candle at both ends.

Call Off                                          The students called off the strike.

Call Names It is shameful to call other names.

Call a spade a spade It is hard to call a spade a spade before a cruel master.

Call in question His honesty cannot be called into question.

Come to grief Their plan came to grief in the end.

Carry out I will not carry out his orders.

Carry weight Saleem's opinion carries weight with the principle.

Carry the day Saleem carried the day in local election.

Cut a sorry figure She cut a sorry figure when she could not speak on stage.

Deal with I am sure that I can deal with Ali.

End in smoke When he crashed his car, all his travel planes ended in smoke.

From hand to mouth Many people in this country live from hand to month.

Go through Saleem is my true friend and will go through fire and water for me.

Give Up My car gave up the ghost last night.

Give In The indians were forced to give in.

Give oneself airs She is too humble to give herself airs.

Get wind of How did she get wind of our plans ?

Hard and fast We will have to follow the hard and fast rules of his office.

Hit below the belt He hit akram below the belt as a result he sustained injury.

In the Long run Continue your struggle.In the long run,you will succeed.

Keep an eye on Please keep an eye on things here until I get back.

Keep up appearances Though he earns a little,he wears costly clothes to keep up appearances.

Look down upon Do not look down upon the poor.

Look sharp Bring me a glass of water and look sharp.

Leave in the lurch Do not leave your friends in the lurch.

Make both ends meet It is very difficult for the poor to make both ends meet.

Make a clean breast of First he denied his crime but finally,he decided to make a clean breast of it.

To nip in the bud Nip every evil in the bud.

Over head and ears He is over head and ears in love with Salma.

Off and on It rained on and off all day.

Pocket an insult He had to pocket an insult when he failed in the examination.

Put off The meeting was put off till tomorrow.

Put up with I cannot put up with his insult.

Read between the lines Reading between the lines,I think Ali wants to borrow money.

Set Off We will set off tomorrow.

Set up He has set up a shop in the town.

See through

Take after Children take after their parents.

Take a fancy to He has taken a fancy to that beautiful girl.

Take to heart He took the death of his mother to heart.

Turn over a new leaf After his failure,he turned over a new leaf and began to work hard.

Up to the mark This book is really up to the mark.

Broken reed I cannot trust him as he is a broken reed.

A bird,s eye view We got a bird's eye view of the city from the top of the tower.

A hair breath escape Adeel had a narrow escape from drowning.

A red letter day The day I was awarded the medal is a red-letter day for me.

A turn coat Do not trust him as he is a turn coat.

A wet blanket As he is wet blanket ,he is not invited to the parties.

A white elephant Telephone costs much, it is just a white elephant for common people.

All and sundry He invited all and sundry to his party.

All in all All in all,the party had been a great success.

Kith and kin We should love our kith and kin.

To flog a dead horse To try pass the examination without hard work is like to flog a dead horse.

From a scratch She learned English from scratch in six months.

Beard the lion in his den Do not disagree with your boss;it is like to beard the lion in his den.

An iron will You need an iron will to pass CSS examination.

A hay day August 14 a hay day for every pakistani.

Part and parcel To work in the field is part and parcel of a farmer's life.

To make headway They have made headway towards finding the solution to the problem.

In full swing When Mr.Ali reached there,the match was in full swing.

Under a cloud After fraud, he had to leave the office under a cloud.

To catch red handed The Police caught him red-handed when he was trying to steal a car.

Burn midnight oil He burnt the midnight oil to pass the examination.

Check by jowl Saleem sat check by jowl with me in the classroom.

Bear away the palm Pakistan bore away the palm in international hockey match.

A dog in the manger Hassan ever proved to be a dog in the manger.

French leave He ever enjoyed freacch leave.

By hook or by crook He wants to pass the exam by hook or by crook.

Hold over

A fish out of water I felt like a fish out of water in my new school.

On the horns of dilemma He could save only one of two drowing sons.

Bread and butter Teaching is his bread and butter

At home in He is quite home in English.

Writing on the wall We should learn a lesson from writing on the wall.

A laughing stock This fat man is a laughing stock of the village.

All in all All in all,the party had been a great success.

At daggers drawn She is at daggers drawn with her husband.

Bad blood There no bad blood between the two brother.

A man of parts Saleem is a man of parts an able teacher,a terriffic writer,to name a few.

To come off When will your convocation come off ?

To kick up a row

To get into hot water You may get into hot water if you disobey your boss.

Look into Please look into this matter carefully.

Turn tables He will turn the table on you one day, and he will be the boss.

Better Half His better half is a good house keeper.

To smell a rat The thief smell a rat and ran away.

Square meal Children should have three square meals a day

Bad Blood There is no bad blood between the two brothers.

To play truant He often plays truant from school.

Off hand They decided off hand to take a trip.

Null and void This contract is null and void.

Red tape He could not get his new passport in time because of red tape.

Bring about The incident brought about a change in him.

To fall a prey The innocent boy fell prey to smoking.

For good It looks as if Saleem has left D.g.Khan for good.

Finishing touches

To curry favour Big tax cuts are often proposed to curry favour with voters.

To bury the hatchet The two enemies buried their hatchet and became friends.

Blue blood Though Ali is poor, he has blue blood in his family.

To be taken aback

At the beck and call He killed a dog at the beck and call of his master.

At cross purposes I think we are talking at cross purposes.

An eye-wash Do not talk such eyewash!

All at sea I am all at sea with this problem.
Idioms                                                                        Sentences