Idioms and Phrases List 2025 PDF

PDF Name	Idioms and Phrases List 2025
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Language	English
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Idioms and Phrases List 2025 - Summary

Idioms and phrases are common expressions that mean something different from the usual meanings of the words. For example, when someone says they feel “under the weather,” it doesn’t mean they’re standing in the rain. It means they are feeling unwell. Knowing idioms and phrases can help you improve your language skills and communication.

Get the Idioms and Phrases PDF Download 2025

An idiom is a group of words that have a special meaning and are well known and often used in everyday speech. Sometimes idioms may seem odd in grammar but make sense in their figurative way.

For example: His patience was put through an acid test. It doesn’t mean a real acid test happened; it means his patience was really tested.

Common Idioms and Their Meanings

S.No.	Idioms & Phrases	Meaning
1.	Rank and File	Ordinary People
2.	By fits and starts	In short periods, not regularly
3.	A wee bit	A little
4.	Out of the wood	Free from difficulties and dangers
5.	Under his thumb	Under his control
6.	At ones wits end	Not knowing what to do
7.	Between the devil and the deep sea	Between two dangers
8.	Burn the midnight oil	Work or study hard
9.	Call a spade a spade	Speak frankly and directly
10.	Come off with flying colors	Be very successful
11.	Hoping against hope	Without hope
12.	Hit the nail on the head	Do or say the exact thing
13.	An axe to grind	A personal interest in the matter
14.	To get rid of	Dispose of
15.	At daggers drawn	Bitterly hostile
16.	To play ducks and drakes	To act foolishly or inconsistently
17.	To take the bull by the horns	To deal with a problem boldly and directly
18.	Rain cats and dogs	Rain heavily
19.	To move heaven and earth	To make a great effort
20.	No avail	Without any result
21.	Bark up the wrong tree	Accuse or blame the wrong person
22.	Keep one at bay	Keep someone at a distance
23.	Make a clean breast of it	Confess especially after doing something wrong
24.	Have a card up ones sleeve	Have a secret plan ready
25.	Like a cat on hot bricks	Very nervous
26.	Cat and dog life	A life full of fights
27.	Cock and bull story	A made-up story that is not true
28.	Cry for the moon	Ask for something impossible
29.	The pros and cons	The different parts of a matter in detail
30.	Be in a tight corner	In a very difficult situation
31.	Cross ones ts and dot	Be precise, careful and exact
32.	At arms length	Keep at a distance
33.	Out of the question	Impossible
34.	Out of the way	Strange
35.	Show a clean pair of heals	Run away
36.	Keep ones fingers crossed	Hope that plans go well
37.	In the nick of time	Just at the last moment
38.	Sitting on the fence	Hesitate between two choices
39.	Spread like wildfire	Spread quickly
40.	The gift of the gab	Talent for speaking
41.	By hook or by crook	By any means, fair or unfair
42.	Feather ones own nest	Make money unfairly
43.	Throw out of gear	Disturb the work
44.	Take to ones heels	Run away
45.	Tooth and nail	With all ones power
46.	Die in harness	Die while still working
47.	Take a leaf out of ones book	Imitate someone
48.	Leave no stone unturned	Use every possible way
49.	A man of straw	A man without substance
50.	Read between the lines	Understand the hidden meaning

Idioms for Competitive Exams 2025

These idioms are often seen in competitive exams:

A Blessing in Disguise – A good thing that first seemed bad
A Dime a Dozen – Something very common and not special
Adding Insult to Injury – Making a bad situation worse
Beat Around the Bush – Avoid saying your true feelings or opinion
Beating a Dead Horse – Wasting effort on something that is over
Bite the Bullet – Face an unpleasant situation bravely
Best of Both Worlds – Having all the advantages of two things
Biting Off More Than You Can Chew – Taking on more than you can handle
By the Skin of Your Teeth – Just managing to do something
Dont Judge a Book by Its Cover – Dont form an opinion based on looks
Doing Something at the Drop of a Hat – Doing something immediately
Dont Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch – Dont expect success before it happens
Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place – Facing two difficult choices

Phrases Explained Simply

A phrase is a group of words that work together but don’t have both a subject and a verb, so they cannot express a full idea by themselves. Examples include noun phrases, verb phrases, and prepositional phrases.

Phrases are parts of sentences and have clear, direct meanings. Unlike idioms, phrases don’t have hidden or figurative meanings. They mean exactly what the words say.