WWW.SSC-CGL2014.

IN
WWW.SSC-CGL2014.IN

Idioms & Phrases
1) To let the cat out of the bag to reveal a secret
2) To keep the wolf from the door to maintain oneself at a minimal level; to keep
from starving, freezing, etc
3) To show the white feather to show cowardice
4) To beat black & blue to beat severely
5) To be in the pink to be in perfect health
6) A white paper a government report
7) To catch red handed to catch in the act of stealing/ committing the crime
8) A red carpet welcome a respectable welcome
9) A white elephant an expensive thing
10) Palmy days prosperous days
11) The fair sex women
12) A live wire dynamic, active
13) Sharp tongue in the habit of using abusive language
14) The sixth sense intuition
15) A vicious circle a series of unwanted/unhappy/evil incidents
16) The zero hour an important part of time for launching something
17) A feather in ones cap a symbol of honour and achievement
18) Pros & cons for and against
19) To be in poor supply scarcity
20) Hard words harsh language
21) Dutch courage courage shown by a drunken person
22) Hot news new or sensational news
23) A rainy day a time of financial difficulty
24) An open secret a secret known to all
25) A bull in a china shop a clumsy person, someone who upsets other people's plans
26) Bread and butter food for livelihood
27) Kith and kin close relatives, family
28) A big shot an important person
29) A shortcut easier/shorter way
30) Big words boasting
31) Alpha and omega the beginning and the end
32) An iron will a strong will
33) High life aristocratic, rich life
34) A rope of sand a promise easily broken
35) The golden rule the best principle
36) An apple of discord a cause of quarrel
37) A dead language a language which is not spoken now
38) To be dead against to oppose staunchly, strongly
39) Come to a bad end to become a criminal
40) A herculean task an extremely difficult task
41) To pay homage to to pay respects to
42) Plunge into to fall into
43) Short and sweet brief and impressive
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WWW.SSC-CGL2014.IN

44) The salt of the earth those of great worth and reliability
45) Bag and baggage with all belongings
46) Way and means methods
47) To keep ones word - to keep ones promise
48) By word of mouth orally
49) Null and void legally invalid
50) Castles in the air daydreams, thinking or dreaming about something unattainable
51) A storm in a teacup much discussion about some unimportant thing
52) To bring to book to punish
53) A cool head being calm, composed
54) A childs play something easy
55) Black and white simple, clear and understandable
56) To be well off to be rich
57) The fourth estate the press
58) A fools paradise an illusionary world
59) To break the ice to break the silence
60) A yeomans service helping or serving
61) Between Scylla and charybdis to choose between 2 unattractive choices/perils
62) To turn over a new leaf change for the better
63) Hand and glove intimate
64) At sixes and sevens in disorder
65) At the eleventh hour at the last moment
66) To make a slip of the tongue an accidental and usually trivial mistake in speaking
67) To smell a rat to suspect
68) To pick holes to find fault with
69) To keep the ball rolling to cause something that is in progress to continue
70) To fall a prey to become a victim to
71) To break the news to announce
72) Come off with flying colours win credit, being successful
73) Cut coat according to cloth adapt expenditure to income
74) A cock and bull story fictious story
75) Chicken hearted lacking courage
76) Dance to ones tunes follow blindly, to always do what someone tells you to do,
whether you agree with it or not
77) A dead letter a law no longer in use
78) Rain cats and dogs to rain heavily
79) Not fit to hold candle to person much inferior to or not to be compared with
another
80) Burn the midnight oil to study late in the night
81) Burn candle at both ends to regularly stay awake late and get up early
82) Burn ones fingers to get oneself into unexpected trouble due to rashness
83) Miss the bus lose an opportunity
84) Keep body and soul together remain alive
85) Blow hot and cold to be enthusiastic one moment and not interested the next
86) Once in a blue moon very rarely
87) Between the devil and deep sea in an inescapable position
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88) To make the best of a bad bargain adapt as well as possible to a bad situation
89) Apple of ones eyes the favourite object of ones love or affection
90) Lead to the altar to marry
91) Like hot cakes in much demand
92) A cake walk an easy task
93) Birds of a feather people of like character
94) The afternoon of life beyond middle age
95) Achilles heel a weak spot, a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength, actually or
potentially leading to downfall
96) With all of ones heart sincerely
97) Keep ones head above water to be free from debt
98) Go out of ones head go mad, act unpredictably
99) Throw ones hat in the ring to accept a challenge
100) Jack of all trades one who knows something of everything
101) A snake in the grass a person who pretends to be friendly, a deceitful or
treacherous person
102) A skeleton in the cupboard a dark or embarrassing secret of the past
103) The life and soul essence, the most important part of
104) By fair means or foul means by good or evil methods
105) A fly in the ointment a cause for trouble, a small but irritating flaw that
spoils the whole thing
106) A wet blanket one who dampens the atmosphere, tries to spoil others fun
107) To have clean hands to be innocent
108) To hold ones head high to be proud of
109) An eye opener revealing, enlightening, informative
110) To be on the last legs at the end of one's strength or resources; ready to
collapse, fail, or die
111) To pull the leg of to tease
112) An utopian scheme excellent and ideal but impracticable
113) The bill of fare the menu
114) By hook or crook by any means, fair or unfair
115) To turn a deaf ear to to ignore
116) A fish out of water in strange circumstances, to feel out of place in a new
place
117) To jeer at to make fun of
118) A man of letters someone who writes well
119) To die before ones time to die young
120) To put two and two together to guess the truth about a situation from
pieces of information
121) To be born with a silver spoon in ones mouth to be born rich
122) To have an axe to grind have a dispute to take up with someone or, to have
an ulterior motive
123) To nip in the bud put an end to something at an early stage
124) Cry over spilt milk cry or complain about something that has already
happened
125) By leaps and bounds to grow larger very quickly, rapidly
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WWW.SSC-CGL2014.IN

126) A turning point a crucial point
127) To read between the lines to perceive or detect an obscure or unexpressed
meaning
128) To play with fire to engage in dangerous activities
129) Spare the rod not beating a young child, student
130) Gift of the gab ability to speak in a persuasive and interesting way
131) Out of the frying pan into the fire get out of a bad situation only to find
oneself in a worse situation
132) Own flesh and blood to be related
133) One foot in grave almost dead
ANTONYMS
1 Believe x Incredible 23 Awful x pleasant
2 On the edge x In the middle of 24 Remember x forget
3 Float x Sink 25 Get rid of x retain
4 Earsplitting x gentle 26 Plenty x shortage
5 Taken over x given up 27 Accept x deny
6 Terrible x pleasant 28 Hospitable x unfriendly
7 Conscious x unconscious 29 Vanish x reappear
8 Managed x failed 30 Entertain x ignore
9 Gathered x dispersed 31 Independence x dependence
10 Shame x fame 32 Amiable x unfriendly
11 Thoughtful x senseless 33 Bewildered x clear
12 Courage x weakness, cowardice 34 Grateful x ungrateful
13 Wriggled x straightened 35 Enjoyed x suffered
14 Strange x familiar 36 Resemble x differ
15 Agree x disagree 37 Retreat x advance
16 Difficult x easy 38 Arrive x depart
17 Urgent x slow 39 Enormous x limited
18 Pleaded x ordered, commanded 40 Mercy x unmerciful, pitiless
19 Wonderful x tough 41 Weaker x powerful
20 Scared x unafraid 42 Paradise x hell
21 Aware x unaware 43 Conservation x destruction
22 Admit x disagree 44 Attracted x repelled
45 Always x never 91 Fickle x constant, steady
46 Funny x serious 92 Fragile x strong
47 Normal x abnormal 93 Guilty x innocent
48 Cover x unwrap 94 Homogeneous x heterogeneous
49 Offensive x defensive 95 Haughty x meek
50 Positive x negative 96 Gloomy x bright, cheerful
51 Obeyed x disobeyed 97 Idle x busy
52 Precious x valueless 98 Imminent x transcendent
53 Blessed x cursed 99 Industrious x lazy
54 Failure x success 100 Knowledge x ignorance
55 Persuade x dissuade 101 Luxury x penury
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WWW.SSC-CGL2014.IN

56 Agony x relief 102 Lament x rejoice
57 Complete x partial 103 Latitude x longitude
58 Dissected x joined 104 Liberate x enslave
59 Obey x disobey 105 Material x spiritual
60 Exit x entrance 106 Naive x sophisticated
61 Excitement x dullness 107 Epilogue x prologue
62 Standstill x move 108 Spendthrift x niggard
63 Prolong x limit 109 Idealistic x pragmatic
64 Exhausted x stored up, refreshed 110 Succeed x precede
65 Crucial x unimportant 111 Demote x promote
66 Familiar x uncommon 112 Wholesale x retail
67 Content x discontent 113 Punish x reward
68 Distant x nearby 114 Saint x sinner
69 Brevity x long 115 Sacred x secular
70 Bonafide x malafide 116 Sympathy x antipathy
71 Cautious x careless 117 Terrestrial x celestial
72 Compulsory x optional 118 Thesis x antithesis
73 Barren x fertile 119 Triumph x defeat
74 Benediction x malediction 120 Variable x constant
75 Convex x concave 121 Reluctant x ready
76 Counterfeit x genuine 122 Urbane x rude
77 Courtesy x rudeness 123 Poignant x blunt
78 Deficit x surplus 124 Protected x jeopardized
79 Democracy x autocracy 125 Praiseworthy x reprehensible
80 Diligent x lazy 126 Tranquil x agitated
81 Delete x insert 127 Active x passive
82 Demolish x construct 128 Curious x uninquisitive
83 Dynamic x static 129 Famous x notorious
84 Elevation x depression 130 Ordinary x extraordinary
85 Exaggeration x understatement 131 Stirred x unstirred, calm
86 Economical x extravagant 132 Anxious x unconcerned
87 Egoist/ egotist x modest, humble 133 Confidence x diffidence
88 Excessive x deficient 134 Profit x loss
89 Emigrant x immigrant 135 Dormant x active
90 Fictious x real 136 Gigantic x dwarfish
137 Humble x proud
138 Comfort x discomfort
139 General x particular
140 Trivial x significant
141 Higher x lower
142 Regular x irregular
143 Modern x ancient
144 Simple x complex
145 Freedom x slavery
146 Betterment x deterioration
147 Expensive x cheap
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WWW.SSC-CGL2014.IN

148 Optimistic x cheap
149 Slimy x fat
150 Normal x abnormal
151 Abandon x keep
152 Abolish x establish
153 Adversity x prosperity
154 Admonish x praise
155 Abstract x concrete
156 Affluence x poverty
157 Assent x dissent
158 Ascend x descend
159 Alien x native
160 Amuse x bore
161 Appreciate x depreciate
162 Ample x scanty