IDIOMS

📅 Published on: October 23, 2026

IMPORTANT FOR WBCS EXAMINATION

Letter E — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Eat humble pie	To apologize meekly after making a mistake	After his claims were proven wrong, he had to eat humble pie.
2	End in smoke	To yield no practical result	All his grand business plans ended in smoke.
3	Every dog has its day	Everyone gets a chance of success eventually	Don’t be discouraged; every dog has its day.
4	Eat one’s words	To retract a statement publicly	He was forced to eat his words when the facts came out.
5	Elbow room	Sufficient space or freedom	The small office leaves very little elbow room for staff.
6	Every nook and corner	Everywhere	She searched every nook and corner of the house for her keys.
7	Exceptional case	An unusual situation	Giving an extra attempt to a candidate is an exceptional case.
8	Eye-opener	An event that brings sudden awareness	Visiting the rural village was a real eye-opener for the students.
9	Equal to the occasion	Capably dealing with a situation	She proved equal to the occasion and delivered a brilliant speech.
10	Easy come, easy go	Something gained easily is easily lost	He spent his lottery winnings quickly because it was easy come, easy go.

Letter F — High-Frequency Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Forty winks	A short nap	Taking forty winks after lunch refreshed him for the evening shift.
2	Flesh and blood	Human nature or family relation	You should forgive your brother; after all, he is your own flesh and blood.
3	Falling out	A serious argument or disagreement	The two friends had a falling out over a financial misunderstanding.
4	Few and far between	Rare or infrequent	Good opportunities like this are few and far between.
5	Fish out of water	Uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment	Coming from a small village, he felt like a fish out of water in the metro.
6	Full of beans	Energetic and lively	The young children were full of beans after playing in the park.
7	Feather one’s own nest	To enrich oneself illegally while in power	The corrupt officer was accused of feathering his own nest.
8	Flash in the pan	A sudden temporary success that is not repeated	His first hit song proved to be a flash in the pan.

Letter G — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Go through fire & water	To brave any danger	A true soldier is ready to go through fire and water for his country.
2	Green-eyed monster	Jealousy	Beware of the green-eyed monster, as envy destroys peace of mind.
3	Give up the ghost	To die or stop working	The old car finally gave up the ghost on the highway.
4	Gain ground	To make progress or gain acceptance	The new political party is slowly gaining ground in rural areas.
5	Go wild	To behave uncontrollably with excitement	The crowd went wild when the team scored the winning goal.
6	Grease someone’s palm	To bribe someone	He tried to grease the officer’s palm to get his file approved quickly.
7	Get cold feet	To become nervous before an event	He got cold feet just before stepping onto the stage.
8	Good Samaritan	A helpful and charitable person	A good Samaritan helped the injured pedestrian reach the hospital.

Letter H — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Head over heels	Completely and deeply	He fell head over heels in love with the historical city.
2	Heart and soul	With complete dedication	She threw herself heart and soul into her research work.
3	Hit the sack	To go to sleep	I am exhausted after a long workday, so I am going to hit the sack.
4	Hold one’s tongue	To remain silent	It is better to hold your tongue when elders are speaking.
5	Horns of a dilemma	Caught between two equally difficult choices	He was on the horns of a dilemma whether to study abroad or stay.

Letter I — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	In the nick of time	Just before it is too late	The ambulance arrived in the nick of time to save the patient.
2	In hot water	In trouble or difficulty	He found himself in hot water after breaking the company rule.
3	In a nutshell	Briefly and concisely	To put it in a nutshell, the project was a great success.
4	In black and white	In written form	The landlord wanted the agreement in black and white before signing.
5	Iron will	Strong determination	She succeeded in her mission due to her iron will.
6	Ins and outs	Detailed facts and full intricacies	He knows all the ins and outs of the administrative process.
7	In the pipeline	Under preparation or development	Several new infrastructure projects are currently in the pipeline.
8	In the same boat	In the same difficult situation	Don’t worry if you lost your job; many workers are in the same boat.
9	Ivory tower	Living isolated from real-world problems	Scholars should not live in an ivory tower away from practical reality.
10	In the long run	Eventually over a period of time	Hard work always pays off in the long run.

Letter J — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Jump out of skin	To be severely startled	The sudden loud noise made her jump out of her skin.
2	Around the corner	Very near in distance or time	The final examinations are just around the corner.
3	Jettison excess baggage	To discard unnecessary burdens	Before starting the trek, we had to jettison excess baggage.
4	Judgment call	A decision based on personal discretion	Deciding whether to proceed with the outdoor match was a judgment call.
5	Justice delayed	Slow legal proceedings deprive fairness	The court stressed that justice delayed is justice denied.
6	Jump ship	To abandon an organization during trouble	Several employees jumped ship when the company faced financial losses.
7	Join the club	Expression of shared misfortune	If you forgot your umbrella today, join the club.
8	Joking aside	Speaking seriously after light humor	Joking aside, we must complete this report by evening.

Letter K — Important Idioms

#	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Keep at arm’s length	To maintain distance from someone	It is wise to keep selfish people at arm’s length.
2	Kick the bucket	To die	The old grandfather kicked the bucket after a long illness.
3	Keep wolf from door	To earn enough to avoid starvation	He works two shifts just to keep the wolf from the door.
4	Kill two birds with one stone	To achieve two goals with one action	By cycling to work, he exercises and saves money, killing two birds.
5	Keep fingers crossed	To hope for good luck	I am keeping my fingers crossed for your job interview.
6	Kick up a row	To create a disturbance or noise	The angry customer kicked up a row at the billing counter.
7	Keep an eye on	To watch carefully	Please keep an eye on my luggage while I buy a train ticket.
8	Know the ropes	To understand details of a job	It takes a few weeks for a new employee to know the ropes.
9	Keep under wraps	To keep secret	The launch date of the new product is being kept under wraps.
10	Kith and kin	Relatives and close friends	He invited all his kith and kin to his wedding anniversary.
11	Keep one’s chin up	To remain cheerful during tough times	Keep your chin up; things will improve soon.
12	Knock on wood	Expression to avoid bad luck	Our team has had no injuries this season, knock on wood.
13	Keyed up	Excited or nervous	The players were keyed up before the championship final.
14	Keep pace with	To move at the same speed	It is essential to keep pace with modern technological advancements.
15	Keep tight rein on	To control strictly	The manager keeps a tight rein on office expenditure.

Letter L — Important Idioms

#	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Leave no stone unturned	To make every possible effort	The police left no stone unturned to find the criminal.
2	Laughing stock	An object of ridicule	His foolish behavior made him the laughing stock of the class.
3	Lion’s share	The largest portion of something	The oldest son claimed the lion’s share of the family property.
4	Look before you leap	Think carefully before taking action	Always look before you leap when making major financial investments.
5	Let cat out of bag	To reveal a secret unintentionally	She let the cat out of the bag about the surprise birthday party.
6	Lead by the nose	To control someone completely	The crafty politician led the followers by the nose.
7	Lock, stock, & barrel	Completely including everything	The owner sold the factory lock, stock, and barrel.
8	Lip service	Insincere agreement or respect	Politicians often pay lip service to environmental protection.
9	Long & short of it	The summary of a matter	The long and short of it is that we need more funding.
10	Live high on the hog	To live luxuriously	After winning the prize, he lived high on the hog.
11	Lose one’s temper	To become angry suddenly	Try not to lose your temper during a discussion.
12	Look down upon	To regard as inferior	Never look down upon people who do manual labor.
13	Lame excuse	An unsatisfactory explanation	Coming late due to traffic was a lame excuse.
14	Leave in the lurch	To abandon someone in difficulty	A true friend will never leave you in the lurch.
15	Like a house on fire	Extremely well and quickly	The two roommates got along like a house on fire.

Letter M — Important Idioms

#	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Make ends meet	To earn enough to cover basic living costs	Many families struggle to make ends meet with rising prices.
2	Make mountain of molehill	To exaggerate a minor issue	Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill over a small mistake.
3	Mind one’s own business	To refrain from meddling	It is best to mind your own business and avoid gossiping.
4	Move heaven and earth	To exert maximum effort	He moved heaven and earth to get a seat in the top medical college.
5	Method to madness	Logical reason behind strange behavior	Though his teaching style seems chaotic, there is a method to his madness.
6	Make clean breast of	To confess fully	The thief decided to make a clean breast of his crime before the judge.
7	Miss the boat	To miss an opportunity	If you don’t apply today, you will miss the boat.
8	Maiden speech	First speech delivered by a person	His maiden speech in Parliament impressed everyone.
9	Man of letters	A scholarly person or writer	Dr. Sharma is a renowned man of letters in English literature.
10	Make light of	To treat something as unimportant	You should not make light of your health problems.
11	Meet someone halfway	To compromise	Both parties agreed to meet halfway to settle the dispute.
12	Man of straw	A weak or powerless person	The figurehead manager proved to be a man of straw.
13	Make no bones about	To state directly without hesitation	She made no bones about her dissatisfaction with the service.
14	Mince words	To speak evasively to avoid offense	Tell me the truth directly without mincing words.
15	Money doesn’t grow on trees	Wealth requires effort to earn	Put that expensive toy back; money doesn’t grow on trees.

Letter N — Important Idioms

#	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Nip in the bud	To stop a problem in its initial stages	Bad habits should be nipped in the bud before they grow strong.
2	Neck and neck	Extremely close in a race	The two runners were neck and neck until the finish line.
3	Null and void	Having no legal force	The contract was declared null and void by the High Court.
4	No love lost between	Strong mutual dislike	There is no love lost between the two political rivals.
5	Not one’s cup of tea	Not to one’s liking or interest	Classical music is simply not my cup of tea.
6	Nuts and bolts	Practical basic details	Let us discuss the nuts and bolts of the new project execution.
7	Nook and corner	Every small space	The detective searched every nook and corner of the office.
8	Never-never land	An imaginary ideal place	Expecting a world without problems is living in a never-never land.
9	No holds barred	Without any restrictions	The candidates engaged in a no holds barred debate on television.
10	Nine days’ wonder	A short-lived sensation	The celebrity scandal proved to be a nine days’ wonder.
11	Nitty-gritty	Core essential facts	Before making a decision, let us look at the nitty-gritty of the deal.
12	Nose in the air	Arrogant behavior	Ever since she got promoted, she walks around with her nose in the air.
13	Nip and tuck	Closely contested	The match was nip and tuck right until the final minute.
14	Nail in the coffin	Something that causes final failure	The huge financial loss was the final nail in the company’s coffin.
15	Not born yesterday	Experienced and not easily fooled	You cannot trick me with that trick; I was not born yesterday.

Letter O — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Once in a blue moon	Very rarely	He visits his ancestral village only once in a blue moon.
2	On cloud nine	Extremely happy and thrilled	She was on cloud nine when she heard about her scholarship.
3	Out of the blue	Suddenly and unexpectedly	An old school friend called me out of the blue yesterday.
4	Off the record	Unofficial and confidential	The minister spoke off the record during the informal lunch.
5	On the fence	Undecided or neutral	He is still on the fence about accepting the new job offer.
6	Open secret	A secret known to almost everyone	Their planned retirement is an open secret in the office.
7	Out of the woods	Out of danger or difficulty	Though the patient is improving, he is not yet out of the woods.
8	On the ball	Alert and efficient	A good manager must always stay on the ball to handle sudden issues.
9	Over the moon	Delighted and overjoyed	The entire team was over the moon after winning the championship.
10	On thin ice	In a risky position	If you come late again, you will be on thin ice with your boss.
11	Out of hand	Uncontrollable	The crowd grew out of hand after the concert was delayed.
12	Off and on	Intermittently	It rained off and on throughout the afternoon.
13	Spur of the moment	Spontaneously without planning	They decided to take a road trip on the spur of the moment.
14	Out of order	Not working properly	The lift is out of order today, so we must use the stairs.
15	Over and above	In addition to	He received a festival bonus over and above his monthly salary.

Letter P — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Penny for thoughts	Asking what someone is thinking	You look so quiet today; a penny for your thoughts.
2	Play with fire	To take dangerous risks	Investing all your savings in speculative stocks is playing with fire.
3	Pull someone’s leg	To tease someone playfully	Don’t take him seriously; he was just pulling your leg.
4	Pour oil on waters	To calm a heated argument	The teacher’s calm words poured oil on troubled waters.
5	Pay through nose	To pay an exorbitant price	He had to pay through the nose for urgent flight tickets.
6	Pin money	Small allowance for personal expenses	She earns some pin money by giving evening tuition classes.
7	Pull up one’s socks	To improve work performance	You need to pull up your socks if you want to clear the final exam.
8	Put cart before horse	To do things in the wrong sequence	Buying furniture before renting an apartment is putting cart before horse.
9	Pass the buck	To shift responsibility to another person	Corrupt officials always try to pass the buck when mistakes happen.
10	Part and parcel	An essential component	Long working hours are part and parcel of a corporate career.
11	Poke one’s nose into	To meddle in others’ affairs	Stop poking your nose into my personal matters.
12	Pocket an insult	To tolerate an insult silently	Rather than fighting, he decided to pocket the insult and leave.
13	Play second fiddle	To occupy a subordinate role	He was tired of playing second fiddle to his business partner.
14	Penny wise, pound foolish	Careful with small sums but wasteful with large ones	Saving on paper while wasting thousands on printing is penny wise, pound foolish.
15	Pros and cons	Advantages and disadvantages	Carefully consider the pros and cons before switching your job.

Letter Q — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Queer fish	A strange or eccentric person	The old painter was considered a queer fish by his neighbors.
2	Quench one’s thirst	To satisfy thirst	A cold glass of lemonade quenched my thirst after the workout.
3	Quick on the uptake	Quick to understand	The new student is very quick on the uptake during math lectures.
4	Quiet as a mouse	Extremely silent	The children sat quiet as a mouse while the teacher told a story.
5	Quantum leap	A sudden major advance	The discovery of penicillin was a quantum leap in medicine.
6	Quaking in boots	Trembling with fear	The guilty boy was quaking in his boots when called to the office.
7	Quarter to	Fifteen minutes before an hour	We reached the station at a quarter to nine.
8	Quid pro quo	Favor given in return for something	The agreement was based on a mutual quid pro quo.
9	Quicker than eye	Extremely fast and unnoticeable	The magician’s trick was quicker than the eye.
10	Quit while ahead	To stop before losing luck	After winning three rounds of chess, he decided to quit while ahead.
11	Quite a few	A substantial number	Quite a few students attended the special weekend seminar.
12	Quick temper	Easily angered	His quick temper often gets him into arguments with colleagues.
13	Queer the pitch	To ruin a plan or chance	Revealing secret details early served to queer the pitch for the team.
14	Quality time	Time spent meaningfully	He enjoys spending quality time with his family on Sundays.
15	In quick succession	Following rapidly one after another	The player scored three goals in quick succession.

Letter R — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Read between lines	To understand hidden meaning	Read between the lines to catch what the diplomatic letter implies.
2	Rain cats and dogs	To rain heavily	We had to stay indoors because it was raining cats and dogs.
3	Red-handed	Caught while committing a crime	The security guard caught the burglar red-handed.
4	Red tape	Excessive bureaucratic procedures	Bureaucratic red tape delayed the approval of the new hospital project.
5	Rule of thumb	A practical general guideline	As a rule of thumb, add two cups of water for every cup of rice.
6	Ruffle feathers	To irritate or offend someone	His critical comments managed to ruffle the chairman’s feathers.
7	Run out of steam	To lose momentum or energy	After working ten hours continuously, the team ran out of steam.
8	Rise to occasion	To perform well in a crisis	She rose to the occasion and led emergency relief operations successfully.
9	Roll out red carpet	To give a lavish welcome	The university rolled out the red carpet for the visiting Nobel laureate.
10	Rock the boat	To disturb a stable situation	Everything is running smoothly, so please do not rock the boat.
11	Run-of-the-mill	Ordinary and average	The movie had a run-of-the-mill plot with no exciting twists.
12	Rob Peter to pay Paul	To pay one debt by taking another	Taking a loan to clear credit card bills is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
13	Red herring	A clue intended to distract attention	The suspect introduced a red herring to mislead police investigators.
14	Rome was not built in a day	Important work takes time	Be patient with your progress; Rome was not built in a day.
15	Rub salt in wound	To worsen someone’s pain	Teasing him about his exam failure was like rubbing salt into the wound.

Letter S — Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Spill the beans	To reveal secret information	She accidentally spilled the beans about the surprise party.
2	Sit on the fence	To remain neutral in a debate	The council member sat on the fence during the vote.
3	Snake in the grass	A deceitful hidden enemy	Beware of him; he turned out to be a snake in the grass.
4	Steal someone’s thunder	To lessen someone’s achievement	She stole my thunder by announcing her news right before my speech.
5	See eye to eye	To agree completely	My sister and I rarely see eye to eye on fashion choices.
6	Straight from horse’s mouth	Information from direct source	I heard about the resignation straight from the horse’s mouth.
7	Storm in a teacup	Big commotion over trivial matter	Their argument over a misplaced key was just a storm in a teacup.
8	Skeleton in closet	An embarrassing secret	Almost every influential family has a skeleton in the closet.
9	Smell a rat	To suspect deception	The detective smelled a rat when the suspect gave conflicting answers.
10	Spick and span	Extremely clean and tidy	She kept her room spick and span at all times.
11	Stand in good stead	To be useful in the future	His knowledge of programming will stand him in good stead.
12	Swan song	Final performance before retirement	The veteran actor gave a remarkable performance in his swan song.
13	Shot in the arm	Something that provides encouragement	The financial grant gave a shot in the arm to the struggling startup.
14	Save for a rainy day	To reserve money for emergencies	Wise people always save a portion of their income for a rainy day.
15	Smooth sailing	Easy progress without obstacles	Once we crossed the mountain pass, it was smooth sailing all the way.

Letter T- Important Idioms

	Idiom / Phrase	Meaning / Explanation	Example Sentence (Easy to Moderate)
1	Take with grain of salt	To view information with skepticism	Take his claims with a grain of salt because he likes to exaggerate.
2	Through thick & thin	Supporting through good and bad times	A loyal friend stays by your side through thick and thin.
3	Throw in towel	To surrender or admit defeat	After three unsuccessful attempts, he decided to throw in the towel.
4	Turn over new leaf	To change behavior for the better	The trouble-making boy decided to turn over a new leaf this term.
5	Take bull by horns	To confront a problem directly	He took the bull by the horns and resolved the customer complaint.
6	Time & tide wait for none	Opportunities must be seized promptly	Do not delay your work; time and tide wait for none.
7	To the letter	Following instructions strictly	The lab technician followed the safety procedure to the letter.
8	Tooth and nail	Fighting with great energy	The residents fought tooth and nail against the deforestation proposal.
9	Turn a deaf ear	To ignore or refuse to listen	The management turned a deaf ear to the workers’ demands.
10	Touch and go	Uncertain or precarious situation	The patient’s condition was touch and go right after the surgery.
11	Turn the tables	To reverse a bad situation	The home team turned the tables in the final quarter of the match.
12	Take for granted	To undervalue due to familiarity	We should never take our health for granted.
13	Throw cold water on	To discourage a plan	The director threw cold water on our proposal for an office outing.
14	Tread on thin ice	To take a risky course of action	Criticizing your boss openly is treading on thin ice.
15	Two sides of same coin	Two closely linked aspects	Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin.

Idioms

Question 1

The idiomatic expression ‘pull yourself together’— (WBCS Preliminary 2020)

(A) drag oneself

(B) help one

(D) calm down by oneself

Correct Answer: (D) calm down by oneself

Meaning of the Idiom (‘pull yourself together’): To regain self-control, regain composure, or calm down when feeling upset, stressed, or emotional.

Meaning of Options:

(A) drag oneself: To move along sluggishly, with great difficulty, or reluctantly.

(B) help one: To give assistance, aid, or support to a person.

(C) get angry: To lose temper, become enraged, or feel strong hostility.

(D) calm down by oneself: To restore composure and regain peace of mind without relying on outside assistance.

Question 2

Question Text: To feel ‘under the weather’ means (WBCS Preliminary 2021)

(A) feel depressed

(B) feel uncomfortable

(D) feel uncertain

Correct Answer: (C) feel unwell

Meaning of the Idiom (‘under the weather’): Feeling slightly sick, indisposed, or suffering from a mild illness.

Meaning of Options:

(A) feel depressed: Feeling deeply sad, hopeless, or low in spirits.

(B) feel uncomfortable: Experiencing physical discomfort or mental unease.

(C) feel unwell: Feeling sick, ill, or physically indisposed.

(D) feel uncertain: Feeling unsure, hesitant, or doubtful about a situation.

Question 3

Question Text: The idiomatic expression ‘make both ends meet’ means (WBCS Preliminary 2021)

(A) get by

(B) get over

(D) get well

Correct Answer: (A) get by

Meaning of the Idiom (‘make both ends meet’): To earn or manage just enough money to cover essential living expenses and basic needs.

Meaning of Options:

(A) get by: To manage or survive with minimal resources or basic necessity.

(B) get over: To recover from an illness, loss, or emotional difficulty.

(C) get done: To finish, execute, or complete a specific task.

(D) get well: To fully regain health after being ill.

Question 4

Question Text: The expression ‘holier than thou’ means (WBCS Preliminary 2021)

(A) pure

(B) religious

(D) sanctimonious

Correct Answer: (D) sanctimonious

Meaning of the Idiom/Expression (‘holier than thou’): Displaying an attitude of hypocritical moral superiority, self-righteousness, or self-exaltation.

Meaning of Options:

(A) pure: Clean, wholesome, and uncorrupted by moral flaws or impurities.

(B) religious: Dedicated to, expressing, or adhering to the beliefs and practices of a religion.

(C) moralistic: Given to making excessive moral judgments or expressing rigid opinions about right and wrong behavior.

(D) sanctimonious: Making a hypocritical show of righteousness, piety, or moral superiority over others.

Question 5

Question Text: The idiomatic expression, once in a blue moon, means (WBCS Preliminary 2021)

rarely

frequently

regularly

never

Correct Answer: (A) rarely

Meaning of the Idiom (‘once in a blue moon’): An event or occurrence that happens extremely infrequently or on very rare occasions.

Meaning of Options:

(A) rarely: Infrequently; seldom or on rare occasions.

(B) frequently: Often; happening at short intervals or many times.

(C) regularly: At uniform intervals; according to an established routine or standard schedule.

(D) never: At no time in the past, present, or future; not at all.