IDIOMS/PHRASES
     Look at the sentence :                   tain to lead to an undesirable      922. (3) annoy somebody
     He was accused by his oppo-              outcome.                                 Ruffle somebody’s feather = to
     nents of being a man of straw            Look at the sentence :                   cause someone to be upset.
     and lacking in decisiveness.             I keep telling Gina to stop chas-        Look at the sentence :
908. (2) Refuse to accept responsibil-        ing after Rima. She’s just going         Mohan ruffled a few feathers
     ity                                      up a blind alley                         when he suggested cutting the
     Pass the buck = to blame some-      916. (1) From stem to stern = from            teacher’s salaries.
     one or make them responsible             the front to the back especially    923. (3) interrupt
     for a problem that you should            of a ship                                Cut short = to have to stop do-
     deal with.                               Look at the sentence :                   ing something before it is fin-
     Look at the sentence :                   Surges of water rocked their             ished.
     She is always trying to pass the         boats from stem to stern                 Look at the sentence :
     buck and I am sick of it.           917. (1) add unnecessary details to           Their conversation was cut short
909. (1) Becoming less acceptable             make better or worse.                    by the arrival of more guests.
     To lose ground = to become less          Over egg the pudding = to spoil     924. (2) ill feeling
     popular or to be given less sup-         something by trying too hard to          Bad blood = feelings of hate be-
     port.                                    improve it.                              tween people because of argu-
     Look at the sentence :                   Look at the sentence :                   ments in the past.
     Do you agree that left wing poli-        As a director, I think he has a          Look at the sentence :
     tics are losing ground among the         tendency to over-egg the pud-            There has been bad blood be-
     working classes?                         ding, with a few too many gor-           tween the two families for years.
910. (2) Every unpleasant situation           geous shots of the country side.    925. (1) an object of laughter
     has a positive side                 918. (1) change one’s behaviour for           A laughing stock = someone or
     Every dark cloud has a silver            the better                               something that seems stupid or
     lining = Difficult times always          Turn over a new leaf = start to          silly, especially by trying to be
     lead to better days. Difficult           act or or behave in a better or          serious or important and not suc-
     times are like dark clouds that          more responsible way; improve;           ceeding.
     pass overhead and block the              to start behaving in a better way.       Look at the sentence :
     sun.                                     Look at the sentence :                   Another performance like that
911. (4) in good health                       Apparently he has turned over a          and this team will be the laugh-
     Alive and kicking = prevalent            new leaf and he is not smoking           ing stock of the league.
     and very active; alive, existing;        any more.                           926. (2) unrelenting
     active and in good health.          919. (4) prepare for or go to war             As hard as nails = very tough ;
     Look at the sentence :                   Take up the hatchet = to make            callous, unbending ; hard-heart-
     You would be surprised how               or declare war                           ed ; unforgiving ; inflexible ; strict.
     hard it is to keep certain patients      Look at the sentence :              927. (3) had many professional diffi-
     alive and kicking.                       He induced the tribes to take up         culties
912. (1) To lose impetus or enthusi-          the hatchet against the English.         Strike several bad patches = to
      asm                                                                              experience a lot of problems in a
                                         920. (3) in an uncertain situation
      Run out of steam = to suddenly                                                   period of your life
                                              At a loose end = to have noth-
      lose the energy or interest to                                              928. (3) discussed
                                              ing to do
      continue doing something                                                         Talk over = to exchange
                                              At loose ends = not knowing what
      Look at the sentence :                                                           thoughts ; to discuss something.
                                              to do, especially because of an
      The peace talks seem to have run                                            929. (3) Cut a sorry figure = make a
                                              upsetting change.
      out of steam.                                                                    poor impression
                                              Look at the sentences :
913. (2) saved at the last moment                                                      Look at the sentence :
                                              If you find yourself at loose ends,      He cut a sorry figure in his out-
      Saved by the bell = saved by a          you could always clean the bath-
      last minute intervention                                                         dated jacket.
                                              room.
      Look at the sentence :                                                      930. (4) To take to task = to criticize
                                              I was at loose ends after finish-        somebody strongly for something
      She was drowning in the stream,         ing school and not being able to         they have done; reprimand
      but a boatman saved her by the          find a job.
                                                                                       Look at the sentence :
      bell.                              921. (2) with full force                      The culprits were taken to task
914. (3) Pretened not to notice               With might and main = with all           by the police.
      Turn a blind eye = overlook ;           one"s power or strength; to the     931. (2) Bring to light = to make new
      disregard ; neglect ; ignore            best of one"s ability; with as           information known to public; re-
      Look at the sentence :                  much effort as possible.                 veal.
      Management often turns a blind          Look at the sentence :                   Look at the sentence :
      eye to bullying in the workplace.       They shouted with might and              These facts have only just been
915. (4) Up a blind alley = following         main but nobody came to res-             brought to light.
      a course of action that is cer-         cue them.                                                                ppp
                                                        SEE–788