Page 236 - DENG201_ENGLISH_II

English - II

Notes 80. To leave no stone unturned (to try one’s level-best): He left no stone unturned to secure a seat
for his son in one of the prestigious colleges.
81. To live from hand to mouth (to have a scarce living): Many families in India have to live from
hand to mouth on account of economic backwardness.
82. To lose heart (to be disheartened): Do not lose heart because you have lost your job, you can
always get another.
83. To make up one’s mind (decide): She has to make up her mind about whom she wants to marry.
84. To make both ends meet (to live within one’s means): He can hardly make both ends meet with
his present income.
85. To move heaven and earth (to go up to the extreme): He moved heaven and earth to see his son
married to the industrialist’s daughter.
86. To see eye to eye with (agree): The manager and the accountant do not see eye to eye at the time
when accounts are prepared.
87. To play ducks and drakes (waste): The young man played ducks and drakes with his inherited
money.
88. To put the cart before the horse (to do a thing in a wrong way): Having a baby first and getting
married afterwards, is like putting the cart before the horse.
89. To have too many irons in the fire (to have too many things in hand): Studying, working and
looking after the house at the same time means she has too many irons in the fire.
90. To kill two birds with one stone (to accomplish two tasks in one attempt): If you are a little
more tactful, you will hear more and make a better image of yourself, thereby killing two birds
with one stone.
91. To read between the lines (to try to understand the hidden meaning): The letter is to be read
between the lines.
92. To turn over a new leaf (to change for the better): After his defeat in the match, he has turned
over a new leaf.
93. To take the bull by the horns (to face difficulty boldly): He is a young man of great courage
and will take the bull by the horns.
94. To win laurels (distinguish oneself): Sunil Gavaskar has won many laurels as one of the greatest
cricketers.
95. A storm in a tea cup (used derisively to indicate a great fuss about a trifle): A fight in the bus for
a window seat, is like raising a storm in a tea cup.
96. Not worth his salt (a good-for-nothing fellow): He is not worth his salt if he fails at this juncture.
97. To play up (to try to make something appear more important than it is): She played up her past
achievements just to impress us.
98. To put a spoke in one’s wheel (to obstruct progress, to prove a serious barrier or hindrance):
Brown was getting on well in business till Robinson opened a rival establishment, and that put
a spoke in Brown’s wheel.
99. To set Thames on fire (to do something extraordinary or brilliant): He is a steady worker, but
never likely to set Thames on fire.
100. To take people by storm (to captivate): His singing took the audience by storm.
101. To fight shy of (trying or attempting to avoid a person): He tried to draw me into partnership
with him in business, but I fought shy of him.
102. To gild the pill (cover a disagreeable thing with something pleasant): They demanded a large
war indemnity from us and gilded the pill by offering us two warships.
103. To nip in the bud (to destroy in early stages of growth, to kill in infancy): Diphtheria is a
disease which nips many a life in the bud.

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