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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. Everything was at sixes and sevens.
Disordered.
It means things are in a state of confusion or not arranged properly.
Think: a mess or chaos equals sixes and sevens.
Ever since the move, my desk has been at sixes and sevens.
Q12. A bolt from the blue
an unexpected event
Lightning from a clear sky is sudden, shocking, and not planned—so it means something surprising happens.
Think: blue skies, then a bolt—surprise!
Learning she quit the job was a bolt from the blue.
Q13. To be all at sea.
lost and confused
To be all at sea means you feel lost or confused, as if you don’t know what to do.
Imagine being on a boat with no map—you’re at sea and unsure.
When starting a new job, she was all at sea for the first week.
Q14. Cold comfort
C. slight satisfaction
Cold comfort means a small, not strong, feeling of relief or satisfaction in a tough situation.
Think of a cold result that still gives a tiny comfort.
It was cold comfort to find a single winning ticket after the long losing streak.
Q15. To bite the dust
to fail
The idiom “to bite the dust” means to die or fail, often suddenly.
Picture someone biting dust after a big failure.
Their project bit the dust when funding stopped.
Q16. A damp squib
a disappointing result
The phrase "a damp squib" means something that turns out to be boring or disappointing, like a party or event that failed to be exciting.
Think: damp = not exciting; squib = a small, disappointing spark.
The failure of the plan was a damp squib compared to our big hopes.
Q17. On hearing the news of the kidnapping, she became afraid of her own shadow.
Very nervous and easily frightened
The phrase means being scared easily, like a shadow that follows you and frightens you, even in small situations.
Think of a person who jumps at every little sound—afraid of their own shadow.
Ever since the incident, she’s afraid of her own shadow in crowded places.
Q18. To be fair and square
B. honest
The phrase means behaving in a fair and honest way, without cheating or bending rules.
Think of it as playing by the rules—fairness + honesty.
She won the prize fair and square by answering all questions correctly.
Q19. She just needs forty winks in order to be able to work all night.
a short nap
The phrase forty winks means a brief nap to rest before more work.
Forty winks = a quick, short nap.
She closed her eyes for forty winks before her night shift.
Q20. The minute she arrived at the office, she was given the pink slip.
C. a letter to inform that she had lost her job
The pink slip means you are fired or dismissed from a job. A letter about this is a pink slip.
Think of a pink slip as a "stop" notice from work.
She received the pink slip today and had to leave work immediately.