English Language

Idioms and Phrases

680 Questions
All Idiom/Phrase Meaning 431 Error Detection in Idioms 73 Synonymous Idiom Replacement 58 Idiom Completion 46 Contextual Usage 22 Foreign Origin Phrase Meaning 1 One-Word Substitution 1 Prepositional Phrase Selection 1

Idioms and Phrases Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom.

To be lost in the cloud

  1. to meet with one's death

  2. to be perplexed

  3. to be concealed from view

  4. to find oneself in a very uncomfortable position
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The idiom 'lost in the clouds' describes someone who is mentally absent, confused, or deeply lost in daydreams rather than paying attention to reality. Option B correctly captures this state of being bewildered or perplexed. The other options do not relate to the figurative meaning of being mentally lost or confused.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom.

To accept the gauntlet

  1. to accept defeat

  2. to accept a challenge

  3. to suffer humiliation

  4. to accept an honor
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

In medieval times, throwing down a gauntlet (armored glove) was a formal challenge to combat. Accepting it meant accepting the challenge to fight. Option B correctly captures this meaning of accepting a challenge. The other options incorrectly suggest defeat or negative outcomes rather than courageously accepting a challenge.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom.

To wash one's dirty linen in public

  1. to criticize one's dirty acts in public

  2. to quarrel furiously in the open

  3. to do some ugly work in public

  4. to discuss scandalous matters of personal nature in the presence of strangers
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This idiom refers to discussing private, embarrassing, or scandalous personal matters in public view. Option D correctly captures the meaning of exposing intimate personal or family issues that should remain private. The other options are too literal or don't capture the scandalous nature of what's being exposed.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom.

To have brush with

  1. knowledge of painting

  2. to be on pleasing terms

  3. to be impressed

  4. to encounter
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

To have a brush with something means to have a brief, often unexpected encounter or experience with it. Option D correctly captures this meaning of encountering something briefly. The other options incorrectly reference painting, pleasant relationships, or being impressed, which are unrelated to the idiom's meaning.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom which is underlined.

He shows the white feather when it comes to dealing with real life problems.

  1. acts cowardly

  2. tells lies

  3. runs away

  4. shows true colors
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The white feather was historically associated with cowardice - white feathers in game birds were considered signs of poor fighting spirit. To show the white feather means to act cowardly. Option A correctly captures this meaning. The other options refer to lying, running away, or showing true colors, which are different concepts.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom which is underlined.

You will upset the apple cart if you reveal the truth.

  1. make others sad

  2. cause uproar

  3. disturb the arrangement

  4. be in trouble
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Upsetting the apple cart means disrupting an established arrangement or causing trouble by interfering with the existing order. Option C correctly captures this meaning of disturbing arrangements. The other options incorrectly focus on making people sad, causing general uproar, or being in trouble, rather than the specific act of disruption.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom which is underlined.

The children were so hungry that they tucked into their dinner.

  1. ate heartily

  2. ate hurriedly

  3. waited impatiently

  4. attacked hungrily
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

To tuck into food means to start eating eagerly and heartily. Option A correctly captures this meaning of eating with enthusiasm. The other options incorrectly suggest eating hurriedly, waiting impatiently, or attacking - none of which capture the sense of enjoying food heartily.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom which is underlined.

Mark is never satisfied as his eyes are bigger than his stomach.

  1. far sighted

  2. ambitions

  3. greedy

  4. bad intentions
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The idiom 'eyes are bigger than your stomach' refers to taking more food than you can actually eat, showing greed or lack of self-awareness about your capacity. Option C correctly identifies this as being greedy. The other options incorrectly refer to being far-sighted, ambitious, or having bad intentions, which miss the idiom's specific meaning about overestimating capacity.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the option that best expresses the meaning of the idiom which is underlined.

The beauty of Monalisa beggared description.

  1. was extraordinary to describe

  2. was highly praised

  3. was highly appealing

  4. needed no description
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

'Beggared description' is an idiom meaning something is so extraordinary that words cannot adequately describe it - it exceeds the capacity of language. The phrase suggests the subject is beyond what can be expressed. 'Highly praised' or 'needed no description' don't capture this meaning.

Multiple choice

I suspect the fellow lives by his wits as he never opens up with anyone. Pick the correct answer for the underlined idiom in the given sentence.

  1. he is extremely frightened

  2. he allows himself to think calmly and clearly in a demanding situation

  3. he is constantly alert and vigilant

  4. he has no settled means of subsistence, but picks up a living by deceit or fraud

  5. he is overwhelmed with difficulties, and is at a loss as to what to do next
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; this is the reason that he doesn't talk much with others.

Multiple choice

Stephen poking fun at me for my blunder was like the pot calling the kettle back; he had goofed up too. Select the correct meaning of the underlined idiom in the given sentence.

  1. stopping to waste time and getting on with something

  2. a large but distant or imaginary reward

  3. deteriorating through neglect

  4. blaming another for a fault that one has in equal measure

  5. a pot used for food or for cooking
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct; the second clause makes this meaning clear.