Idioms/Phrases For SSC Exams -2

Look into something

Meaning:-

to examine something

Usages:-

A working party has been set up to look into the problem.
The police is looking into the case.

Fish in troubled waters

Meaning:-

to involve oneself in a difficult, confused or dangerous situation, especially with a view to gaining an advantage
make a profit out of a disturbance

Mind Tricks:-

A fish escapes easily in disturbed (troubled) waters (sea). It is hard to catch fish in the disturbed water. So here according to this phrase, fish get benefited ,not to be caught, due to high agitated waters (sea).

Usages:-

A good man does not try to fish in troubled waters.
Agents find a way to fish in troubled waters.

Keep the wolf from the door

Meaning:-

to have enough money to avoid going hungry
to stop somebody feeling hungry

Usages:-

The poor have to do hard work to keep the wolf from the door.
Thousands put on a daily fight to keep the wolf from the door .

Break the ice

Meaning:-

to say or do something that makes people feel more relaxed, especially at the beginning of a meeting, party, etc.

Usages:-

Jim organized a few party games to break the ice when people first arrived.
We should include music the party to break the ice.

Null and Void

Meaning:-

having no legal force
not valid

Mind Tricks:-

Null means having the value zero and void means empty space.

Usages:-

The contract was declared null and void.
The policy has been declared to be null and void.

To play second fiddle

Meaning:-

to be treated as less important than somebody or something
to have a less important position than than somebody or something else

Mind Tricks:-

Fiddle means to keep touching or moving something with your hands, especially because you are bored and want to avoid someone.

Usages:-

I am not going to play second fiddle to anyone.
The narrative in this book plays second fiddle to the excellent photographs.

Face the music

Meaning:-

to accept and deal with criticism or punishment for something you have done

Usages:-

The others all ran off, leaving me to face the music.
Mary broke a dining-room window and had to face the music when her father got home.

Call a spade a spade

Meaning:-

to say exactly what you think without trying to hide your opinion

Mind Tricks:-

Spade means an offensive word for a black person. Spade is an offensive word and we should not use word spade for a black person. So according to idiom when we call a spade a spade, we do not hide our opinion.

Usages:-

Villagers always call a spade a spade.
Be aware to call a spade a spade.

Out of my wits

Meaning:-

to make someone very frightened or confused
greatly confused

Mind Tricks:-

Wits means ability to think quickly and cleverly.

Usages:-

I am out of my wits and therefor cannot find a way to solve the problem
Math subject makes me out of my wits.

Jumping down my throat

Meaning:-

to react very angrily to somebody

Usages:-

Salman is jumping down my throat.
She has been very irritable recently, jumping down my throat every time I open my mouth.

For good / For good and all

Meaning:-

permanently

Usages:-

This time she is leaving for good (permanently leaving).
So many people are leaving country for good.

Achilles heel

Meaning:-

a weak point or fault in somebody's character, which can be attacked by other

Mind Tricks:-

Names after the Greek hero Achilles. When he was a small child, his mother held him below the surface of the river Styx to protect him against any injury. She held him by his heel, which therefore was not touched by the water. Achilles died after being wounded by an arrow in the heel.

----- Oxford.

Usages:-

Weak batting order is an Achilles heel of our team.

Blow his own trumpet/horn

Meaning:-

to tell other people how good and successful you are

Mind Tricks:-

Trumpet means to talk about something publicly in a proud or enthusiastic way.

And trumpet is a brass musical instrument.

Usages:-

He is always blowing his own trumpet.

Cut the Gordian knot

Meaning:-

solve a very complex problem in a simple way remove the difficulty
to solve a problem boldly and decisively

Mind Tricks:-
Gordian knot means a very difficult or impossible task or problem.
Origin Of Gordian Knot:-

From the legend that Gordius, king of Gordium in Persia, tied an intricate knot and prophesied that whoever untied it would become the ruler of Asia. It was cut through with a sword by the Greek leader Alexander the Great.

Usages:-

He cut the Gordian knot by practicing what he preached.
Our scientists have power to cut the Gordian knot.

A leap in the dark

Meaning:-

something you do without being certain what will happen as a result

Mind Tricks:-

Leap means to jump high or a long way. So leap in the dark means you are going through darkness where you don't know what are around you.

Usages:-

Doing job in this company like a leap in the dark.
The experiment was a leap in the dark.

In the long run

Meaning:-

over a period of time

Usages:-

Hard work pays in the long run.

A fish out of water

Meaning:-

a person who feels uncomfortable or awkward because he or she is in surroundings that are not familiar

Usages:-

Lee was a fish out of water in Los Angeles.

Apple of discord

Meaning:-

anything causing trouble, discord

Usages:-

This building is an apple of discord.
Selection of candidate is an apple of discord among the member of a party.

Let the grass grow under their feet

Meaning:-

to waste time by delaying doing something
to do nothing

Usages:-

The construction remains unfinished and the workers have let the grass grow under their feet.
My brother is very lazy, he is letting the grass grow under his feet.

Smell the rat

Meaning:-

to suspect that something is wrong about a situation

Usages:-

The police smelt the rat behind the death of the girl.
I smelt the rat about that incident.

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