Exercise [Idioms]

Exercise

I. Guess the meaning of the following idioms in italics and write the answer beneath the question:

1. In spite of all his riches, he had to eat humble pie because of his prodigal son.

2. He is not worth his salt if he fails at this juncture.

3. The teacher took him to task for reading a novel in Maths class.

4. He is determined to win in the game by hook or by crook.

5. The cost of living in the US is high and a new immigrant finds it difficult to make both ends meet.

6. How can we trust a man who plays fast and loose.

7. The students sometimes turn a deaf ear to the words of the teacher.

8. His argument does not hold water.

9. This is more than flesh and blood can tolerate.

10. He visits me off and on.

II. Match the following:

III. Substitute the idioms with suitable words/phrases:

1. The reader reads between the lines.

2. Her youngest son is a spendthrift.

3.What is good of entering into negotiations with a man of straw.

4. The student harps on the same string as he has not learnt.

5. The German Measles affected the baby in the womb ad the baby is hard of hearing.

6. He worked at a stretch to finish the project.

7. The freshers felt fish out of water in the new atmosphere.

8. River Kaveri is the bone of contention between two states.

9. It is all Greek to me.

10. Let us bury the hatchet to have smooth relation between us.

11. He burnt the candle at both ends to finish his assignment and he fell sick.

12. He is leaving the United States for good.

13. The successful man rarely rests on his oars.

14. My boss is a hard nut to crack.

15. I am afraid you have caught a Tartar in him.

IV. Frame sentences using the following idiom:

1. apple of one's eye

2. in a dilemma

3. cat on the wall

4. cat out of the bag

5. achilles' heel

6. red handed

7. cats and dogs

8. bag and baggage

9. ins and outs

10. pay back in the same coin