Idiom Collecting. (By Chokchai)
1. Beware of that man! He will stick at nothing (is unscrupulous and will do anything to accomplice his purpose).
2. We are afraid you two are at cross-purposes (misunderstand each other).
3. They trusted him and he played them false (deceived them, betrayed them).
4. She was a shrewd woman, and it will not be easy to draw her out (to elicit information from her).
5. He made light of (treated lightly) his friends’ warning.
6. The figures which he quoted were shown to be incorrect, and this took the edge off his argument (made his argument ineffective).
7. We had on the way tea of a kind (of a poor kind).
8. I repaid his insolence in kind (in the same way).
9. The proposal was rejected with one voice (unanimously).
10. He is not the man to pocket an affront (to receive 0r submit to it without retaliation or showing resentment).
11. The fate of the accused hangs in the balance (is undecided).
12. Tom is a man of well-balanced (reasonable, moderate) opinions.
13. He was carried off his feet (was wild with excitement) when he was declared to have won the first prize.
14. She made the most of her opportunity (used it to best advantage).
15. That house is put on the market (offered for sale).
16. They sometimes work nine hours at a stretch (continuously).
17. By my skill in arguing I carried my point (defeated my adversaries in debate).
18. He is serving his time (going through an apprenticeship) in a bank.
19. Serves you right (you’ve got your deserts).
20. I shall manage to serve him out (to retaliate upon him, to have my revenge on him).
21. He is working against time (with utmost speed).
22. This year the mango-crop has fallen short of my expectations (has disappointed me).
23. While the members of the committee were discussing questions of finance, I felt like a fish out of water (in a strange situation).
24. A good student works steadily, not by fits and starts (irregularly, capriciously).
25. He has made his fortune and now take things easy (does not work hard).
26. Mr. Bean first introduced the system of payments by installments, and shortly afterwards other took a leaf out of his book (imitated him, profited by his example).
27. She was charged with cooking the accounts (preparing false statement).
28. You should take into his account (consider) his past services.
29. You must lie in the bed you have made (take the consequences of your own acts).
30. He thinks better of it now (he has thought more carefully about it).
31. I am sure he means business (is in earnest).
32. I cannot give you a definite reply on the spur of the moment (at once, without deliberation).
33. I see you know a thing or two (are wise or cunning).
34. He took his failure to hear (felt it deeply).
35. It goes to his heart (touches him deeply) to see so much misery.
36. He is leaving Cambodia for good (permanently).
37. It will go hard with him (prove a serious matter for him) if his partner retires from business.
38. Do you expect me to be at your beck and call (under your absolute control)?
39. I am afraid he is burning the candles at both ends (overtaxing his energy).
40. Let us now bury the hatchet (cease fighting) and work for the advance of the country.
41. Mr. James one of the trustees of a certain big charity, is suspected of feathering his own nest (making money unfairly).
42. It is reported that some ruffians laid hands on (assaulted) him while he was returning home.
43. It is suspected that he had a hand in (was concerned) the plot.
44. As usual he is blowing his own trumpet (praising himself).
45. The foolish young man made ducks and drakes of (squandered) his patrimony.
46. She knows French after a fashion (to a certain degree, not satisfactorily).
47. It is all Greek to me (something which I do not understand).
48. The thief was caught red-handed (in the very act of committing a theft).
49. Late in life he tried his hand (made an attempt) at farming.
50. His friend gave him the cold shoulder (treated him in a cold and distant manner).
51. While he spoke, the audience on their lips (listened eagerly to his words).
52. He stands well with (is well thought of by) his master.
53. She is accused of giving a false coloring to (misrepresenting) the incident.
54. Throughout his speech the boys were all ears (deeply attentive).
55. I was all eyes (eagerly watching) to see what he would do.
56. With a small income and a large family to maintain, he finds it rather difficult to keep his head above water (to keep out of debt).
57. You will come to grief (be ruined) if you follow his advice.
58. I keep that fellow at arm’s length (at a distance).
59. Don’t trust those men; they are villains to the backbone (in every way).
60. The account of the murder made her blood creep (filled her with horror).
61. The joke fell flat (caused no amusement).
62. It is a far cry (a long way off) from Delhi to New York.
63. The scheme appears worthless at the first blush (at first sight).
64. He was at his wit’s end (quite puzzled).
65. I am sure he won’t go back on (fail to keep) his word.
66. He is falling foul of (quarrelling with) everybody.
67. Do not give ear to (listen to) a tale bearer.
68. A spirit of unrest is in the air (found everywhere).
69. He was murdered in cold blood (deliberately).
70. On the approach of a policeman the bully showed a clean pair of heels (ran away).
71. What you purpose is out of the question (impossible).
72. The performance was not up to the mark (quite satisfactory).
73. He stuck to his guns (remained faithful to the cause).
74. I smell a rat (have reason to suspect something).
75. I nipped his scheme in the bud (made it fail before it could mature).
76. Let us have your term in black and white (in writing).
77. The election campaign is just now in full swing (very active).
78. He is not wise enough to keep his own counsel (to be reticent about his opinions).
79. The long and short of it (the simple fact) is that I do not want to deal with that new firm.
80. He insisted on his orders being carried out to the letter (with adherence to every detail).
81. I did not notice in him anything out of the way (strange).
82. They are at draggers drawn (their relations are strained) ever since the dissolution of the partnership between them.
83. De. Di did yeoman service (excellent work).
84. He is a man of his words (a trustworthy man).
85. Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing (hypocrite)!
86. I should like to have that matter settled immediately, because it keeps a man on the tenterhooks (in a state of suspense and anxiety).
87. He is under the thumb of (completely under the influence of) his wife.
88. I sent him about his business (dismissed him permanently) as I could stand his insolence no longer.
89. He appears to have an old head on young shoulders (be wise beyond his years).
90. People who talk shop (talk exclusively about their business) are generally unbearable.
91. There are black sheep in (bad characters, scoundrels) in every community.
92. He claims to have rubbed shoulders (come into close contact) with people of all sorts and conditions.
93. It will be at a pinch (in case of emergency, if hard pressed).
94. All his schemes end in smoke (came to nothing).
95. The dog is as good as (practically) dead.
96. He kicked up a row (made great noise).
97. I can make neither head nor tail (nothing) of it.
98. He is every inch (entirely) a gentle man.
99. He is over head and ears (deeply) in love/in debt.
100. He went out of his way (took special trouble) to oblige me.
101. He knows the ins and outs (the full detail) of that affair.
102. He seems ill at ease (uneasy).
103. The old man is hard of hearing (somewhat deaf).
104. Our school is within a stone’s throw of (at a short distance from) the church.
105. He is by long odds (most decidedly) the greatest of living mathematicians.
106. A few days before his death, he made a clean breast of (confessed without reserve) everything connected with that affair.
107. He does not understand that he stands in his own light (act against his own interests).
108. I am quite at sea (perplexed).
109. She was disappointed, but she took heart (cheered herself up) and tried again.
110. That fellow sets everybody by the ears (he is a mischief-maker).
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