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📚 Idioms and Phrases Practice
Choose an answer, then open the short learning card. Learn the meaning of common idioms and phrases with short examples, memory clues, and exam-focused explanations.
Q11. The representatives of the two states tried to enforce a treaty which was a dead letter.
no longer in force
The phrase dead letter means something written or agreed that is no longer legally valid or enforced.
Think: dead letters sit in law books, not in effect.
The treaty remained a dead letter and was never put into action.
Q12. To drink like a fish:
D. To be a drunkard
This means someone who drinks too much alcohol all the time.
Think: fish drink a lot of water; a person who drinks a lot is a drunkard.
After the party, he was drinking like a fish.
Q13. "Cart off" means:
"cart off" means to take someone or something away, often forcefully or abruptly.
Q14. To get cold feet
"To get cold feet" means to suddenly become too nervous or frightened to do what you had planned to do.
Q15. The man cannot be trusted in the post for he has an itching palm.
Itching palm: A desire for money, greed, wanting a bribe.
Q16. I cannot deal with a queer fish like him.
a queer fish: a person whose behaviour is strange or unusual.
Q17. He is in deep water and needs your help.
"deep water" meaning: in a difficult or awkward situation.
Q18. Choose the most appropriate meaning of the idiom "To cry wolf".
To cry wolf: to keep asking for help when you do not need it, with the result that people think you do not need help when you really need it.
Q19. If someone uses the idiom "a black sheep", he/she is talking about:
"a black sheep": a person who has done something bad that brings embarrassment or shame to his or her family.
Q20. When one is "airing dirty linen in public", the person is:
"airing dirty linen in public": discussing or arguing about unpleasant or private things in front of other people.