Some Important Idioms & Phrases

1. A fools paradise: Nobody should live in a fools paradise.

2. A fair weather friend: I had a lot of money and I knew a lot of people, but most of them turned
out to be fair weather friends.
3. At a loss: I was at a loss to decide how to deal with the matter.
4. As well as: He gave us food as well as shelter for the night.
5. At sixes and sevens: I dont know where my writing materials are, everything is at sixes and
sevens.
6. At once: Suddenly there was flash of lights in the sky and we could hear a clap of thunders at
once.
7. Acid test: Everyone must succeed in the acid test of the time he lives in.
8. At loggerheads: The governments are still at loggerheads over the island.
9. At fingers end: He knows about the fact at fingers end.
10. At the outset: I learned at the outset of the project that I was to lead it.
11. A bolt from the blue: The news of his father death came as a bolt from the blue.
12. As soon as: Please send it as soon as possible.
13. At least: The journey was, at least, cheap.
14. A castle in the air: His thinking made a castle in the air.
15. At a stretch: Who could work ten hours at a stretch?
16. A red letter day: 21st February is a red letter day in the history of Bangladesh.
17. As good as: Nipa is as good as her mother.
18. Apple of discord: Slight matter was the apple of discord between Rony and Aswad.
19. At all cost: You must stop the press from finding out and out at all cost.
20. A slip of the pen: She was made accountable for a slip of the pen.
21. Achilles heel: Mr. Akram is a multi-personality man but in case of giving speech, he gets
nervous, it is his Achilles heel.
22. At length: He told the story at length.
23. A paper tiger: South Africa is a team of paper tiger.
24. All and sundry: Cold drinks were served to all and sundry.
25. A piece of cake: When you know what you are doing it is a piece of cake.
26. ABC: He doesnt know the ABC of science.
27. All thumbs: Maria is all thumbs when it comes to gendering.
28. At large: The anti-socials are till at large.
29. A blessing in disguise: Losing my job turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it forced
me to think carefully about my future.
30. A fresh beginning: After our apologies and a little discussion, we decided to make a fresh
beginning.
31. After all: You missed the train after all.
32. Beyond question: His honesty is beyond question.
33. Black Sheep: He is the black sheep of the family.
34. Burning question: Corruption is the burning question in our country.
35. Bury the hatchet: The two rivals buried the hatchet and made friendship between them.
36. By fits and starts: He comes to our house few and far between.
37. Between Scylla and Charybdis: I have fallen between Scylla and Charybdis because it is quiet
impossible for me to satisfy both my mother and my wife.
38. Blue blood: He is proud of his blue blood.
39. By all means: "Can I see it?" by all means.
40. By hook or by crook: She was determined to go to London, by hook or by crook.
41. By no means: He can by no means help me.

42. By virtue of: They are members of the club by virtue of their great wealth.
43. Beggar description: The sunset of Cox's Bazar sea-shore beggars description.
44. By dint of: By dint of hard work, Shakespeare earned his name and fame.
45. Break down: Telephone system has broken down.
46. Bring about: This folly may bring about his downfall.
47. Block head: Her brother was a block head.
48. Bank on: He is banking on his father assistance.
49. Beset with: They beset us with requests for money.
50. Bread and butter: To many people, agriculture is the chief bread and butter.
51. Bear out: They all bear out this statement.
52. By far: The last of these reasons is by far the most important.
53. Between the lines: To understand it, read between the lines.
54. Cats and dogs: It is raining cats and dogs.
55. Coup detat: The army mounted a coup detat.
56. Cold Shoulder: The assistant manager always colds shoulder the staff under him.
57. Chicken-hearted: A chicken hearted man like you can not shine in life.
58. Carry the day: We carried the day in 1971 in our war of liberation.
59. Call for: The situation calls for drastic action.
60. Clear up: After a month's rain the weather at last clear up.
61. Cut and run: USA secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton stated the United States would not
cut and run.
62. Call names: Avoid calling names because it will tarnish the image of your.
63. Crocodile tears: He accused his step mother of shedding crocodile tears.
64. Cut to the quick: Hearing your fathers death, I cut to the quick.
65. Come round: She will come round soon.
66. Come to light: New evidence has recently come to light.
67. Commit to memory: She committed the instruction to memory.
68. Cross out: Cross the name of the dead person off the list.
69. Call off: The opposition called off the strike.
70. Come into force: The ordinance comes into force at once.
71. Competent for: He was competent for the job.
72. Dark horse: He surprised us all like a dark horse.
73. Day in, Day out: The intensity of campus violence is on increase day in, day out.
74. Dawn to dusk: They work in the field from dawn to dusk.
75. Dead against: He is dead against corruption.
76. Dead as a dodo: After the next general election Sheikh Hasina will have only two followers,
except as a fake member parliament he is as dead as a dodo.
77. Doze off: Maria dozed off in front of the fire.
78. Do away with: This chemical will do away with the stain in your sink.
79. Ex-officio: He is an ex-officio member of the committee.
80. Eke out a living: Although his income is very low, he can easily eke out a living.
81. Eye-wash: The arrest of the ruling party students wings was an eye wash.
82. Every nook and cranny: We searched every nook and cranny.
83. Every now and then: Shemul and Rony come Banglabazar
84. From time to time: He comes to market from time to time.
85. French leave: He took French leave.
86. Fall out: His hair is falling out.
87. Few and far between: My visits to old village are few and far between.
88. Fish out of water: In Dhaka city, felt like a fish out of water because this city is devoid of soul.
89. Fall victim to: He has fallen victim to escape gout.

90. For good: This time she is leaving for good.

91. Flesh and blood: How can a man of flesh and blood tolerate such ill treatment?
92. Fresh blood: This Company needs some fresh blood on its board to bring in new ideas.
93. Fish out: They fished a dead body out of the river.
94. Get rid of: He wanted to get rid of his relatives.
95. Give a hand: If you give me a hand, I shall be able to finish more quickly.
96. Give way to: We had to give way to the car coming in from the opposite direction.
97. Go through: She went through the companys accounts, looking for evidence of fraud.
98. Give up: He has given up smoking.
99. Get on: He got on the train.
100. Heart and soul: He tried heart and soul but could not pass.
101. Hit the roof: He hit the roof for his misconduct.
102. Hue and cry: There was a general hue and cry against the war.
103. Hang in the balance: The long term future of the space programme hangs in the balance.
104. Hold water: His excuse didnt hold water at large.
105. Hard nut to crack: This assignment is a hard nut to crack.
106. Held up: We were hold up by traffic jam.
107. In the face of: She showed great courage in the face of danger.
108. In the event: I was worried about the hotel but in the event in the event I had enough money to
pay.
109. In lieu of: He took mathematics in lieu of biology as a fourth subject.
110. In a nutshell: Since we had a very short time, she told her story in a nutshell.
111. In black and white: I never thought they'd put it in black and white on the front page.
112. In the long run: The sinners suffer in the black and white.
113. In order: Is everything in order?
114. In a hurry: Our guests are in a hurry to leave.
115. In the mean time: A new school is being built, but in the mean time this school building remains
seriously over crowded.
116. In no time: I shall come back in no time.
117. Keep Pace with: It is very hard to keep pace with everyone.
118. Lay down: She lay the book down on the table.
119. Leave no stone unturned: The patriot left no stone unturned to please his countrymen.
120. Look down upon: Don't look down upon the poor.
121. Live from hand to mouth: The poor live from hand to mouth.
122. Lag behind: We still lag far behind many of our competitors in using modern technology.
123. Lay hands on: We have still to lay hands on the gold.
124. Long and short: The long and short of it is, I hate working with him so much that I am going to
resign.
125. Make both ends meet: Now the poor make both ends meet.
126. Man of straw: A man of straw like you cant do it.
127. Maiden speech: Maria gave a good impression in her maiden speech.
128. Make up: After some discussion we finally made up.
129. Null and void: This rule is null and void now.
130. Nick of time: The doctor came in the nick of the time.
131. Nip in the bud: His ambition of becoming a doctor was nipped in the bud.
132. Narrow escape: Sohel narrowly escaped from serious accident.
133. Open secret: Corruption is now open secret in our country.
134. Out and out: He is out and out a rogue.
135. Out of the question: Three more days off is out of the question.
136. On and on: She went on and on about her trip.

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Out of sight: Out of sight, Out of mind.

Once in a blue moon: He is seen once in a blue moon.
Out of date: Using the Nokia set 1600 is out of date.
Once for all: I want to settle the issue once for all.
Out of the way: I dont believe he has done anything out of the way.
Over head and ears: He was over head and ears in debts.
Pros and cons: We weighed up the pros and cons.
Put up with: It is too difficult to put up with bad temper for long.
Put off: The marriage was put off by a week.
Pull together: All of you should pull together to complete.
Part and parcel: A library is a part and parcel of an ideal school.
Red handed: The thief was caught red handed.
Rank and file: He was promoted from the rank and file to the post of the captain.
Rack and ruin: They went to rack and ruin.
Run over: The student was run over by a truck.
Safe and sound: They reached their destination safe and sound.
Slow coach: I dons like slow coach like Rakib.
Setting sun: We have seen the sun.
Sine die: The school was close sine die.
Set: We set off for London just after 10am.
Take care of: Take care of your health.
Tall talk: Nobody likes him for his tall talk.
Tooth and nail: She fought tooth and nail.
Touch down: The spacecraft touched down on schedule.
Turn up: We turned up the field in body.
To get away: He cant cope with this situation, so he has to get away with bad reputation.
To take into account: Course-work is taken into account as well as exam results.
Turn a blind eye: Thachens often turn a blind eye to minor breaches of discipline.
To and fro: She rocked the baby to and fro.
Tell off: The teacher told the student off for making so many careless mistakes.
Turn up: I doubt whether he will turn up at the meeting.
Turn down: He asked her to marry him but she turned him down.
Take off: The plane is to take off at 8 oclock.
Turn a deaf ear: Maria turned a deaf ear to our pleading.
The Elysian Fields: Every body songs for the Elysian field but nobody act accordingly.
Time and again: Time and again, I have had to remind my son to study before going out with.
To a man: They were all destroyed, to a man.
Ups and downs: There is ups and downs in life.
Up to the mark: Your hard working is not up to the mark.
Without fail: We must come without fail.
White Elephant: I dont believe that this department is a white elephant of the Govt.
With regard to: I have no complaints with regard to his work.
White lie: She resorted to white lie for not insulting me.
With flying colors: She passed the exam with flying colors.
With respect to: The two groups were similar with respect to income and states.
Win win: There were smiles all round when the contract was signed, it was a win win situation.
What with: What with all you have to carry, we should take a taxi.
With a view to: I went to the market with a view to buying a book.
Yeomans service: For last five he rendered yeomans service to his city as Mayor.