50 Important idiom and phrases Asked In SSC Exams

S.No.	Idioms & Phrases	Meaning
1.	Rank and File	Ordinary People
2.	By fits and starts	In short periods, not regularly
3.	A wee bit	A little
4.	Out of the wood	Free from difficulties and dangers
5.	Under his thumb	Under his control
6.	At one’s wits end	In a state where one does not know what to do
7.	Between the devil and the deep sea	Between two dangers
8.	Burn the midnight oil	Work or study hard
9.	Call a spade a spade	Speak frankly and directly
10.	Come off with flying colors	Be highly successful
11.	Hoping against hope	Without hope
12.	Hit the nail on the head	Do or say the exact thing
13.	An axe to grind	A personal interest in the matter
14.	To get rid of	Dispose of
15.	At daggers drawn	Bitterly hostile
16.	To play ducks and drakes	To act foolishly or inconsistently
17.	To take the bull by the horns	To tackle a problem in a bold and direct fashion
18.	Rain cats and dogs	Rain heavily
19.	To move heaven and earth	To make a supreme effort
20.	No avail	Without any result
21.	Bark up the wrong tree	Accuse or denounce the wrong person
22.	Keep one at bay	Keep one at a distance
23.	Make a clean breast of it	Confess – especially when a person has done a wrong thing
24.	Have a card up one’s sleeve	Have a secret plan in reserve
25.	Like a cat on hot bricks	Very nervous
26.	Cat and dog life	Life full of quarrels
27.	Cock and bull story	Made up story that one should not believe
28.	Cry for the moon	Ask for the impossible
29.	The pros and cons	The various aspects of a matter in detail
30.	Be in a tight corner	In a very difficult situation
31.	Cross one’s t’s and dot	Be precise, careful and one’s i’s exact
32.	At arm’s length	To keep at a distance
33.	Out of the question	Impossible
34.	Out of the way	Strange
35.	Show a clean pair of heals	Run away
36.	Keep one’s fingers crossed	The anxiety in which you hope that nothing will upset your plans
37.	In the nick of time	Just at the last moment
38.	Sitting on the fence	Hesitate between two decisions
39.	Spread like wild fire	Spread quickly
40.	The gift of the gab	Talent for speaking
41.	By hook or by crook	By fair or foul means
42.	Feather one’s own nest	Make money unfairly
43.	Throw out of gear	Disturb the work
44.	Take to one’s heels	Run away
45.	Tooth and nail	With all one’s power
46.	Die in harness	Die while in service
47.	Take a leaf out of one’s book	Imitate one
48.	Leave no stone unturned	Use all available means
49.	A man of straw	A man of no substance
50.	Read between the lines	Understand the hidden meaning

50 Important Idiom And Phrases Asked In SSC Exams

1.	In cold blood	Deliberately and without emotion
2.	A thorn in the flesh	A constant source of annoyance
3.	Smell a rat	Suspect something foul
4.	Harp on the same string	Dwell on the same subject
5.	Bury the hatchet	End the quarrel and make peace
6.	Leave one in the lurch	Desert one in difficulties; leave one in a helpless condition
7.	Like a fish out of water	In a strange situation
8.	At one’s beck and call	Under his control
9.	To make both ends meet	To live within one’s income
10.	In hot water	In trouble
11.	Nip in the bud	Destroy in the early stage
12.	Stick to one’s guns	Remain faithful to the cause
13.	To eat humble pie	To apologize humbly and to yield under humiliating circumstances
14.	In high spirits	Very happy
15.	Put the cart before the horse	Put or do things in the wrong order
16.	To all names	To abuse
17.	On tenterhooks	In a state of suspense and anxiety
18.	Wash one’s dirty linen	Discuss unpleasant in public-private matters before strangers
19.	To bell the cat	To face the risk
20.	A hard nut to crack	A difficult problem
21.	Let the cat out of the bag	Reveal a secret
22.	A big gun	An important person
23.	Kill two birds with one stone	To achieve two results with one effort
24.	Take one to task	Rebuke
25.	Gain ground	Become Popular
26.	To blow one’s own	To praise one’s own trumpet achievement
27.	A bosom friend	A very close friend
28.	A brown study	Dreaming
29.	Turn a deaf ear	Disregard / ignore what one says
30.	A close shave	Narrow escape
31.	Turn over a new leaf	Change for the better
32.	Make up one’s mind	Decide
33.	In the long run	Eventually; ultimately
34.	Bring to light	Disclose
35.	Pay off old scores	Take revenge
36.	Hard and fast rules	Strict rules
37.	At the eleventh hour	At the last moment
38.	A close shave	Narrow escape
39.	To cut a sorry figure	To make a poor show
40.	With a high hand	Oppressively
41.	Burn one’s fingers	Get into trouble by interfering in other’s affairs
42.	Laugh one’s head off	Laugh heartily
43.	Chew the cud	Ponder over something
44.	Play second fiddle	Take an unimportant part
45.	Above board	Honest and open
46.	Through thick and thin	Under all conditions
47.	Put a spoke in one’s wheel	To upset one’s plans
48.	At sixes and sevens	In a disordered/disorganized manner, chaotic
49.	At home	Comfortable
50.	Alpha and omega	The beginning and the