1. Once in a blue moon:
Meaning-Something that happens very rarely
Sentence- Once in a blue moon, the blue jay can be seen in these parts of the forest.
2. Beating around the bush:
Meaning-Avoiding the main topic
Sentence-The President was beating around the bush when the citizens demanded a reason for the forgery of legal documents.
3. Chip on your shoulder:
Meaning-When someone is upset about something that happened a while ago
Sentence-He has a chip on his shoulder for being abandoned by his parents in his childhood.
4. Cry over spilt milk:
Meaning-Complaining about a loss or failure from the past
Sentence-He was mad because he couldn’t clear the cut off due to a silly mistake. But, then he realized there was no use crying over spilt milk and decided to become more careful.
5. Spill the beans:
Meaning-To disclose a secret
Sentence-The little one spilled the beans about the surprise vacation we had planned.
6. Piece of cake:
Meaning-Something that is easy to understand or do
Sentence-I thought that the problem would be tough, but it turned out to be a piece of cake!
7. Blessing in disguise:
Meaning-Something good and useful that did not initially seem that way
Sentence-His accident was a blessing in disguise because it gave him a lot of time to think about his life while he was recovering, and as a result, he made some important decisions that improved his life.
8. Come hell or high water:
Meaning-Possible obstacles in your path (will not stop you)
Sentence-I have decided that come hell or high water I will become an engineer.
9. Taste of your own medicine:
Meaning-When someone receives the same treatment, usually negative, that he/she gives to others
Sentence-She is always taunting others and hurting their sentiments. I just wish someone would give her a taste of her own medicine.
10. Golden handshake:
Meaning-A big sum of money given to a person when he/she leaves a company or retires
Sentence-The management of the company wanted to decrease their workforce. They offered a golden handshake to their aged employees.
11. Mean business:
Meaning-Being serious/dedicated
Sentence-The border is sealed by troops who mean business.
12. Apple of one’s eye:
Meaning-Being cherished more than others are
Sentence-Sam is adored by his teacher for his childlike nature. He is the apple of her eye.
13. The best of both worlds:
Meaning-The benefits of widely differing situations, enjoyed at the same time.
Sentence-I had the best of both worlds since I worked as an ordinary member of the team but got to learn from the leaders.
14. Feeling a bit under the weather:
Meaning-Feeling slightly ill
Sentence-I may not be able to jog today, as I am feeling a bit under the weather.
15. Icing on the cake:
Meaning-Something that turns good into great
Sentence-India’s victory over England on India’s Independence Day was like icing on the cake.
16. Cost an arm and a leg:
Meaning-Be very expensive
Sentence-His laziness made him miss his flight to Chandigarh. The next ticket cost him an arm and a leg.
17. Jump the bandwagon:
Meaning-To join a popular activity or trend
Sentence-When he was detected with diabetes, he quickly jumped on the bandwagon and joined the Zumba dance class.
18. Ball is in your court:
Meaning-When it is up to you to make the next decision or step.
Sentence-Now the ball is in your court; decide whether you want to reply or not.
19. Bite off more than you can chew:
Meaning-To take up a task which you may not be able to accomplish due to lack of ability.
Sentence-I bit off more than I could chew when I decided to take up the 300-page research project.
20. Can’t judge a book by its cover:
Meaning-Cannot judge something primarily on appearance.
Sentence-The house looked impressive in the advertisement. Still I made a trip to the house to check everything. It is wise not to judge a book by its cover.
21. Hear it on grapevine:
Meaning-To hear rumors about something or someone
Sentence-I heard it on grapevine that he had stiffed an old man asking for his pension.
22. It takes two to tango:
Meaning-Actions or communications need more than one person
Sentence-Even though I thought I would be fired after the altercation with my manager, thankfully upper management realized that it takes two to tango.
23. Last straw:
Meaning-The final problem in a series of problems
Sentence-My body was already in bad shape. The accident was the last straw. I am now on complete bed rest.
24. To be in the doldrums:
Meaning-To be in low spirits
Sentence-Sam was in the doldrums after he was insulted by the boss in front of his colleagues.
25. To sit on the fence:
Meaning-To remain neutral
Sentence-Since I wasn’t aware of the details, I decided to sit on the fence during the argument between my cousins.
26. Break the ice:
Meaning-To initiate a social conversation or interaction
Sentence-At the start of the lecture, the new professor tried to break the ice by telling a joke.
27. A bird’s eye view:
Meaning-A view from a very high place that allows you to see a very large area
Sentence-The Singapore Big Wheel offers a bird’s eye view of the city.
28. A litmus test:
Meaning-A method that helps to know if something is correct
Sentence-Taking up the job served as a litmus test for me to know how good I was at applying my knowledge.
29. At the drop of a hat:
Meaning-Willingness to do something instantly
Sentence-She expects me to make dinner at the drop of a hat even if I am very busy with office work.
30. Afraid of one’s own shadow:
Meaning-To become easily frightened
Sentence-Her creepy encounter with the supernatural had a devastating effect on her. She is now afraid of her own shadow.
31. A house of cards:
Meaning-A poor plan
Sentence-The State’s new scheme was initially welcomed, but later turned out to be a house of cards when it was discovered how easy it was to perpetrate a scam.
32. Black and blue:
Meaning-Full of bruises
Sentence-The young lad was all black and blue after a tiff with a raging senior.
33. Be on cloud nine:
Meaning-Be very happy
Sentence-I will be on cloud nine when my first article gets published.
34. Bone of contention:
Meaning-A subject or issue over which there is continuing disagreement
Sentence-The examination system has long been a serious bone of contention in the HRD Ministry.
35. Eat humble pie:
Meaning-To apologize humbly
Sentence-He will have to eat humble pie for the disrespect shown to the Captain.
36. Fool’s paradise:
Meaning-False sense of happiness or success
Sentence-They were living in a fool’s paradise, refusing to accept that they were facing poverty.
37. Give cold shoulder:
Meaning-To ignore
Sentence-I sent her a message to apologize for my misbehavior, but she gave me the cold shoulder.
38. Get a raw deal:
Meaning-To not be treated as well as other people
Sentence-The fact is that students in government schools get a raw deal.
39. Hit the nail on the head:
Meaning-To do the correct thing
Sentence-She hit the nail on the head when she laid out a list of justifiable grievances she had with the company.
40. Hand to mouth:
Meaning-live on only basic necessities
Sentence-The severe drought led the farmers to live hand to mouth.
41. Hit the bull’s eye:
Meaning-To be exactly right about something or achieve the best result possible.
Sentence-The detective hit the bull’s eye when he figured out that nobody but the doctor could have had access to the poison.
42. Let the cat out of the bag:
Meaning-To reveal the secret carelessly or by mistake
Sentence-Now that she had let the cat out of the bag, she had no option but to confess.
43. Make a face:
Meaning-To show dislike or disappointment through facial expressions
Sentence-Little Stella made a face at the sight of bitter gourd in her food.
44. Open Pandora’s Box:
Meaning-To find a source of great troubles and problems
Sentence-Finding the wallet on the road opened up a Pandora’s box. I was arrested for stealing when I went to report it at the police station.
45. It’s Greek to me
Meaning-Something that is not understandable
Sentence-I failed my commerce test; it was all Greek to me!
46. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket:
Meaning-Do not put all your resources in one basket.
Sentence-The boy put all his money into his dream startup that eventually failed. I had told him not to put all his eggs in one basket.
47. To call a spade a spade:
Meaning-To be brutally frank, outspoken, blunt in speech.
Sentence- Let’s call a spade a spade – popular he may be, but that man is a liar.
48. To be a Good Samaritan:
Meaning-To be kind and compassionate to someone in distress
Sentence-I was sure I would be stuck on the highway till the morning, but a Good Samaritan offered me a ride home.
49. To put in a nutshell:
Meaning-To say in a few words or to make something concise
Sentence-The Textbook Development Committee decided to put the 30-page chapter in a nutshell to help save time for students during revision.
50. To pour oil on troubled waters:
Meaning-To make peace
Sentence-I am always stuck pouring oil on troubled waters when my mother and wife start their bickering.
51. To move heaven and earth:
Meaning-To exert all efforts
Sentence-He moved heaven and earth to ensure that his family was taken care of in the foreign land in his absence.
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