500+ Latest Idioms & Phrases For Defence Exams NDA CDS AFCAT

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English idioms and phrases are one of the important features of English for all the defence examinations.

Below is a list of 500 most commonly asked questions that you can expect from the Idioms and Phrases section for your upcoming NDA exam, AFCAT exam and CDS exam and other Defence examination, as per the last five years’ exam trends.

The below list of 500+ English Idioms and Phrases questions and answers will be really helpful for your upcoming NDA, CDS, AFCAT, TA, INET, MNS, ACC exams, and other SSB interviews

English Idioms and Phrases are important for competitive exams like CDS NDA AFCAT UPSC etc. They come up all the time in different competitive exams in English papers. Having good knowledge of Idioms will help you to score around 10-20 marks on your English question paper for various exams like CDS AFCAT NDA Bank UPSC SSC etc. Idioms don’t always make sense literally, they are different words with different meanings and usage. To understand the Idioms, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and usage of each idiom. Learning idioms will be easy and the best way to understand and remember Idioms is by comparing English idioms to the idioms in your own language.

The candidates who are preparing for the NDA AFCAT CDS exam in 2022 – 2023 can read the Useful Idioms & Phrases given below. Reading idioms daily and gaining enough knowledge of Idioms and Phrases will help you to score more marks on your English paper.

Also Read: 1000+ Most Commonly Asked Synonyms & Antonyms For NDA CDS AFCAT Exam [DOWNLOAD PDF]

Below you can find the list of Idioms and Phrases for the competitive exams

COMMON ENGLISH IDIOMS

List of most common English Idioms for the competitive exams.

Idiom	Meaning	Usage
A blessing in disguise	a good thing that seemed bad at first	as part of a sentence
A dime a dozen	Something common	as part of a sentence
Beat around the bush	Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable	as part of a sentence
Better late than never	Better to arrive late than not to come at all	by itself
Bite the bullet	To get something over with because it is inevitable	as part of a sentence
Break a leg	Good luck	by itself
Call it a day	Stop working on something	as part of a sentence
Cut somebody some slack	Don’t be so critical	as part of a sentence
Cutting corners	Doing something poorly in order to save time or money	as part of a sentence
Easy does it	Slow down	by itself
Get out of hand	Get out of control	as part of a sentence
Get something out of your system	Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on	as part of a sentence
Get your act together	Work better or leave	by itself
Give someone the benefit of the doubt	Trust what someone says	as part of a sentence
Go back to the drawing board	Start over	as part of a sentence
Hang in there	Don’t give up	by itself
Hit the sack	Go to sleep	as part of a sentence
It’s not rocket science	It’s not complicated	by itself
Let someone off the hook	To not hold someone responsible for something	as part of a sentence
Make a long story short	Tell something briefly	as part of a sentence
Miss the boat	It’s too late	as part of a sentence
No pain, no gain	You have to work for what you want	by itself
On the ball	Doing a good job	as part of a sentence
Pull someone’s leg	To joke with someone	as part of a sentence
Pull yourself together	Calm down	by itself
So far so good	Things are going well so far	by itself
Speak of the devil	The person we were just talking about showed up!	by itself
That’s the last straw	My patience has run out	by itself
The best of both worlds	An ideal situation	as part of a sentence
Time flies when you’re having fun	You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun	by itself
To get bent out of shape	To get upset	as part of a sentence
To make matters worse	Make a problem worse	as part of a sentence
Under the weather	Sick	as part of a sentence
We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it	Let’s not talk about that problem right now	by itself
Wrap your head around something	Understand something complicated	as part of a sentence
You can say that again	That’s true, I agree	by itself
Your guess is as good as mine	I have no idea	by itself

COMMON ENGLISH IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS

List of common English Idioms and expressions for the competitive exams.

Idiom	Meaning	Usage
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush	What you have is worth more than what you might have later	by itself
A penny for your thoughts	Tell me what you’re thinking	by itself
A penny saved is a penny earned	Money you save today you can spend later	by itself
A perfect storm	the worst possible situation	as part of a sentence
A picture is worth 1000 words	Better to show than tell	by itself
Actions speak louder than words	Believe what people do and not what they say	by itself
Add insult to injury	To make a bad situation worse	as part of a sentence
Barking up the wrong tree	To be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place	as part of a sentence
Birds of a feather flock together	People who are alike are often friends (usually used negatively)	by itself
Bite off more than you can chew	Take on a project that you cannot finish	as part of a sentence
Break the ice	Make people feel more comfortable	as part of a sentence
By the skin of your teeth	Just barely	as part of a sentence
Comparing apples to oranges	Comparing two things that cannot be compared	as part of a sentence
Costs an arm and a leg	Very expensive	as part of a sentence
Do something at the drop of a hat	Do something without having planned beforehand	as part of a sentence
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you	Treat people fairly. Also known as “The Golden Rule”	by itself
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch	Don’t count on something good happening until it’s happened.	by itself
Don’t cry over spilt milk	There’s no reason to complain about something that can’t be fixed	by itself
Don’t give up your day job	You’re not very good at this	by itself
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	What you’re doing is too risky	by itself
Every cloud has a silver lining	Good things come after bad things	by itself
Get a taste of your own medicine	Get treated the way you’ve been treating others (negative)	as part of a sentence
Give someone the cold shoulder	Ignore someone	as part of a sentence
Go on a wild goose chase	To do something pointless	as part of a sentence
Good things come to those who wait	Be patient	by itself
He has bigger fish to fry	He has bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now	by itself
He’s a chip off the old block	The son is like the father	by itself
Hit the nail on the head	Get something exactly right	by itself
Ignorance is bliss	You’re better off not knowing	by itself
It ain’t over till the fat lady sings	This isn’t over yet	by itself
It takes one to know one	You’re just as bad as I am	by itself
It’s a piece of cake	It’s easy	by itself
It’s raining cats and dogs	It’s raining hard	by itself
Kill two birds with one stone	Get two things done with a single action	by itself
Let the cat out of the bag	Give away a secret	as part of a sentence
Live and learn	I made a mistake	by itself
Look before you leap	Take only calculated risks	by itself
On thin ice	On probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble.	as part of a sentence
Once in a blue moon	Rarely	as part of a sentence
Play devil’s advocate	To argue the opposite, just for the sake of argument	as part of a sentence
Put something on ice	Put a projet on hold	as part of a sentence
Rain on someone’s parade	To spoil something	as part of a sentence
Saving for a rainy day	Saving money for later	as part of a sentence
Slow and steady wins the race	Reliability is more important than speed	by itself
Spill the beans	Give away a secret	as part of a sentence
Take a rain check	Postpone a plan	as part of a sentence
Take it with a grain of salt	Don’t take it too seriously	as part of a sentence
The ball is in your court	It’s your decision	by itself
The best thing since sliced bread	A really good invention	as part of a sentence
The devil is in the details	It looks good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems	by itself
The early bird gets the worm	The first people who arrive will get the best stuff	by itself
The elephant in the room	The big issue, the problem people are avoiding	as part of a sentence
The whole nine yards	Everything, all the way.	as part of a sentence
There are other fish in the sea	It’s ok to miss this opportunity. Others will arise.	by itself
There’s a method to his madness	He seems crazy but actually he’s clever	by itself
There’s no such thing as a free lunch	Nothing is entirely free	by itself
Throw caution to the wind	Take a risk	as part of a sentence
You can’t have your cake and eat it too	You can’t have everything	by itself
You can’t judge a book by its cover	This person or thing may look bad, but it’s good inside	by itself

FAMILIAR ENGLISH IDIOMS & PROVERBS

List of difficult English Idioms for the competitive exams.

Idiom	Meaning	Usage
A little learning is a dangerous thing	People who don’t understand something fully are dangerous	by itself
A snowball effect	Events have momentum and build upon each other	as part of a sentence
A snowball’s chance in hell	No chance at all	as part of a sentence
A stitch in time saves nine	Fix the problem now because it will get worse later	by itself
A storm in a teacup	A big fuss about a small problem	as part of a sentence
An apple a day keeps the doctor away	Apples are good for you	by itself
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure	You can prevent a problem with little effort. Fixing it later is harder.	by itself
As right as rain	Perfect	as part of a sentence
Bolt from the blue	Something that happened without warning	as part of a sentence
Burn bridges	Destroy relationships	as part of a sentence
Calm before the storm	Something bad is coming, but right now it’s calm	as part of a sentence
Come rain or shine	No matter what	as part of a sentence
Curiosity killed the cat	Stop asking questions	by itself
Cut the mustard	Do a good job	as part of a sentence
Don’t beat a dead horse	Move on, this subject is over	by itself
Every dog has his day	Everyone gets a chance at least once	by itself
Familiarity breeds contempt	The better you know someone the less you like him	by itself
Fit as a fiddle	In good health	as part of a sentence
Fortune favours the bold	Take risks	by itself
Get a second wind	Have more energy after having been tired	as part of a sentence
Get wind of something	Hear news of something secret	as part of a sentence
Go down in flames	Fail spectacularly	as part of a sentence
Haste makes waste	You’ll make mistakes if you rush through something	by itself
Have your head in the clouds	Not be concentrating	as part of a sentence
He who laughs last laughs loudest	I’ll get you back for what you did	by itself
Hear something straight from the horse’s mouth	Hear something from the person involved	as part of a sentence
He’s not playing with a full deck	He’s dumb	by itself
He’s off his rocker	He’s crazy	by itself
He’s sitting on the fence	He can’t make up his mind	by itself
It is a poor workman who blames his tools	If you can’t do the job, don’t blame it on others	by itself
It is always darkest before the dawn	Things are going to get better	by itself
It takes two to tango	One person alone isn’t responsible. Both people are involved.	by itself
Jump on the bandwagon	Follow a trend, do what everyone else is doing	as part of a sentence
Know which way the wind is blowing	Understand the situation (usually negative)	as part of a sentence
Leave no stone unturned	Look everywhere	as part of a sentence
Let sleeping dogs lie	Stop discussing an issue	as part of a sentence
Like riding a bicycle	Something you never forget how to do	as part of a sentence
Like two peas in a pod	They’re always together	as part of a sentence
Make hay while the sun shines	Take advantage of a good situation	as part of a sentence
On cloud nine	Very happy	as part of a sentence
Once bitten, twice shy	You’re more cautious when you’ve been hurt before	by itself
Out of the frying pan and into the fire	Things are going from bad to worse	by itself
Run like the wind	Run fast	as part of a sentence
Shape up or ship out	Work better or leave	by itself
Snowed under	Busy	as part of a sentence
That ship has sailed	It’s too late	by itself
The pot calling the kettle black	Someone criticizing someone else he is just as bad	as part of a sentence
There are clouds on the horizon	Trouble is coming	by itself
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones	People who are morally questionable shouldn’t criticize others	by itself
Through thick and thin	In good times and in bad times	as part of a sentence
Time is money	Work quickly	by itself
Waste not, want not	Don’t waste things and you’ll always have enough	by itself
We see eye to eye	We agree	by itself
Weather the storm	Go through something difficult	as part of a sentence
Well begun is half done	Getting a good start is important	by itself
When it rains it pours	Everything is going wrong at once	by itself
You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar	You’ll get what you want by being nice	by itself
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink	You can’t force someone to make the right decision	by itself
You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs	There’s always a cost to doing something	by itself

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Idioms & Phrases	Meaning
Rank and File	Ordinary People
By fits and starts	In short periods, not regularly
A wee bit	A little
Out of the wood	Free from difficulties and dangers
Under his thumb	Under his control
At one’s wits end	In a state where one does not know what to do
Between the devil and the deep sea	Between two dangers
Burn the midnight oil	Work or study hard
Call a spade a spade	Speak frankly and directly
Come off with flying colors	Be highly successful
Hoping against hope	Without hope
Hit the nail on the head	Do or say the exact thing
An axe to grind	A personal interest in the matter
To get rid of	Dispose of
At daggers drawn	Bitterly hostile
To play ducks and drakes	To act foolishly or inconsistently
To take the bull by the horns	To tackle a problem in a bold and direct fashion
Rain cats and dogs	Rain heavily
To move heaven and earth	To make a supreme effort
No avail	Without any result
Bark up the wrong tree	Accuse or denounce the wrong person
Keep one at bay	Keep one at a distance
Make a clean breast of it	Confess – especially when a person has done a wrong thing
Have a card up one’s sleeve	Have a secret plan in reserve
Like a cat on hot bricks	Very nervous
Cat and dog life	Life full of quarrels
Cock and bull story	Made up story that one should not believe
Cry for the moon	Ask for the impossible
The pros and cons	The various aspects of a matter in detail
Be in a tight corner	In a very difficult situation
Cross one’s t’s and dot	Be precise, careful and one’s i’s exact
At arm’s length	To keep at a distance
Out of the question	Impossible
Out of the way	Strange
Show a clean pair of heals	Run away
Keep one’s fingers crossed	The anxiety in which you hope that nothing will upset your plans
In the nick of time	Just at the last moment
Sitting on the fence	Hesitate between two decisions
Spread like wild fire	Spread quickly
The gift of the gab	Talent for speaking
By hook or by crook	By fair or foul means
Feather one’s own nest	Make money unfairly
Throw out of gear	Disturb the work
Take to one’s heels	Run away
Tooth and nail	With all one’s power
Die in harness	Die while in service
Take a leaf out of one’s book	Imitate one
Leave no stone unturned	Use all available means
A man of straw	A man of no substance
Read between the lines	Understand the hidden meaning
In cold blood	Deliberately and without emotion
A thorn in the flesh	A constant source of annoyance
Smell a rat	Suspect something foul
Harp on the same string	Dwell on the same subject
Bury the hatchet	End the quarrel and make peace
Leave one in the lurch	Desert one in difficulties; leave one in a helpless condition
Like a fish out of water	In a strange situation
At one’s beck and call	Under his control
To make both ends meet	To live within one’s income
In hot water	In trouble
Nip in the bud	Destroy in the early stage
Stick to one’s guns	Remain faithful to the cause
To eat humble pie	To apologize humbly and to yield under humiliating circumstances
In high spirits	Very happy
Put the cart before the horse	Put or do things in the wrong order
To all names	To abuse
On tenterhooks	In a state of suspense and anxiety
Wash one’s dirty linen	Discuss unpleasant in public-private matters before strangers
To bell the cat	To face the risk
A hard nut to crack	A difficult problem
Let the cat out of the bag	Reveal a secret
A big gun	An important person
Kill two birds with one stone	To achieve two results with one effort
Take one to task	Rebuke
Gain ground	Become Popular
To blow one’s own	To praise one’s own trumpet achievement
A bosom friend	A very close friend
A brown study	Dreaming
Turn a deaf ear	Disregard / ignore what one says
A close shave	Narrow escape
Turn over a new leaf	Change for the better
Make up one’s mind	Decide
In the long run	Eventually; ultimately
Bring to light	Disclose
Pay off old scores	Take revenge
Hard and fast rules	Strict rules
At the eleventh hour	At the last moment
A close shave	Narrow escape
To cut a sorry figure	To make a poor show
With a high hand	Oppressively
Burn one’s fingers	Get into trouble by interfering in other’s affairs
Laugh one’s head off	Laugh heartily
Chew the cud	Ponder over something
Play second fiddle	Take an unimportant part
Above board	Honest and open
Through thick and thin	Under all conditions
Put a spoke in one’s wheel	To upset one’s plans
At sixes and sevens	In a disordered/disorganized manner, chaotic
At home	Comfortable
Alpha and omega	The beginning and the end
At sea	Confused and lost
A bosom friend	A very close friend
At one’s beck and call	At one’s service
By leaps and bounds	Rapidly
To burn one’s boats	Go back on a decision
To beat about the bush	Talk irrelevantly
To burn candle at both ends	To waste lavishly
Take one to task	Rebuke
A bone of contention	A source of quarrel
Add fuel to the fire	To aggravate the situation
An acid test	A critical test
At a snail’s pace	Very slowly
A bolt from the blue	Something unexpected
To build castles in the air	Make imaginary schemes
Once in a blue moon	Something that happens very rarely
Beating around the bush	Avoiding the main topic
Cry over spilled milk	Complaining about a loss or failure from the past
Chip on your shoulder	When someone is upset about something that happened a while ago
Piece of cake	Something that is easy to understand or do
Golden handshake	A big sum of money given to a person when he/she leaves a company or retires
Spill the beans	To disclose a secret
Blessing in disguise	Something good and useful that did not initially seem that way
Mean business	Being Serious or Dedicated
Come hell or high water	Possible obstacles in your path
Apple of one’s eye	Being cherished
Bite off more than you can chew	Not able to complete a task due to lack of ability
The best of both worlds	The benefits of widely differing situations, enjoyed at the same time
Feeling a bit under the weather	Feeling slightly ill
Icing on the cake	Something that turns good into great
Cost an arm and a leg	Be very expensive
Jump the bandwagon	To join a popular activity or trend
Ball is in your court	When it is up to you to make the next decision or step
To be in the doldrums	To be in low spirits
To sit on the fence	To remain neutral
Break the ice	To initiate a social conversation or interaction
Hear it on grapevine	To hear rumors about something or someone
Can’t judge a book by its cover	Cannot judge something primarily on appearance
It takes two to tango	Actions or communications need more than one person
Let the cat out of the bag	To reveal the secret carelessly or by mistake
Black and blue	Full of Bruises
Be on cloud nine	Be very happy
Last straw	The final problem in a series of problems
A bird’s eye view	A view from a very high place that allows you to see a very large area
A litmus Test	A method that helps to know if something is correct
At the drop of a hat	Willingness to do something instantly
Afraid of one’s own shadow	To become easily frightened
A house of cards	A poor plan
Fool’s paradise	False sense of happiness
Get a raw deal	To not be treated as well as other people
Give cold shoulder	To ignore
Hand to mouth	Live on only basic necessities
Make a face	To show dislike or disappointment through facial expressions
It’s Greek to me	Something that is not understandable
To pour oil on troubled waters	To make peace
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	Do not put all your resources in one basket (in one place or thing)
To put in a nutshell	To say in a few words or to make something concise
Back out	To withdraw from a promise or contract
Blow up	To explode
Back Up	To support and sustain
Back Upon	To be relevant
Break Down	Failure in something
Break off	To end or discontinue
Break Up	To disperse / dissolve
Bring up	To rear
Call forth	To provoke
Call out	To shout
Call upon	To order
Carry on	To continue
Cast away	To throw aside
Catch up with	To overtake
Come off	To take place
Cry Down	To make little of
Catch up with	To overtake
Cry out against	To complain loudly against
Cut out	Designed for
Drop in	To Visit Casually
Drop out	To fall
Fall back	To Recede; To Retreat
Fall down	From a higher position to a lower one
Fall off	To Withdraw; To Drop Off
Fall under	To come under
Get along	To Prosper; To Progress; To Proceed
Get on with	To Live Pleasantly Together; To Progress
Get into	To be involved in
Give in	To Surrender; To Yield
Give over	Not to do any longer
Go after	To Follow; To Pursue
Go Down	To be accepted
Go without	To remain without
Go by	To follow
Hang about	To Loiter near a place
Hang upon	To depend upon
Hold out	To Endure; To Refuse to yield; To continue; To offer
Hold to	Abide By
Keep off	To ward off
Keep up with	To keep pace with
Knock out	To win by hitting another one
It takes two to tango	Both people involved in a bad situation are responsible for it
Last straw	The final problem in a series of problems
Keep something at bay	Keep something away
Kill two birds with one stone	To solve two problems at a time with just one action
Let sleeping dogs lie	Leave something alone if it might cause trouble
Open the floodgates	Release something that was previously under control
Out of the blue	Happen unexpectedly
Out on a limb	Do something risky
Over the Top	Totally excessive and not suitable for the occasion
Pen is mightier than the sword	Words and communication have a greater effect than war
Push one’s luck	Trying to obtain more than what one has
Reap the harvest	Benefit or suffer as a direct result of past actions
Roll up sleeves	To get yourself prepared
See eye to eye	To be in agreement with
Shot in the dark	A complete guess
Sink your teeth into	Do something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm
Take with a grain/pinch of salt	To doubt theaccuracy of information
Skating on thin ice	Do or say something risky
Tight spot	A difficult situation
Strike while the iron is hot	To act at the right time
Take the plunge	Venture into something of one’s interest despite the risks involved
Take a nosedive	Rapid drop or decrease in value
Think the world of	Admire someone very much
Stand in a good stead	To be useful or be of good service to someone
Take a back seat	Choose to be less important in a role
Wave a dead chicken	Do something useless
Whale of a time	Enjoy a lot
Wrap one’s brain around	Concentrate on something to understand
Zero in on something	Focus all attention on one thing
Above all	Chiefly, Mainly
On Account of	Due to
On no account	Not for Any Reason
A Fidus Achates	A faithful friend or a devoted follower
The Heel of Achilles	A Weak Point
An Adonis	A very handsome man
To assume airs	To affect superiority
To stand aloof	To keep to oneself and not mix with others
To lead to the altar	To marry
An Ananias	A Liar
An Apollo	A Man with Perfect Physique
To Upset the Apple Cart	To disturb the peace
Apple Pie Order	In perfect order
Arcadian Life	A blissful, happy, rural and simple life
To take up arms	To fight or go to the war
To Grind	To have some selfish objective in view
To break the back of anything	To perform the most difficult part
To backbite a person	To speak disguise about someone
He has no backbone	He has no will of his own
To cause bad blood	To Cause Enmity
Bag and Baggage	With all one’s belongings
To keep the ball rolling	To keep things going
Barmecide feast	Imaginary Benefits
Bee-line	The shortest distance between two places
Behind one’s back	Without one’s Knowledge
Behind the scenes	In Private
To hit below the belt	To act unfairly in a contest
To bite the dust	To be Defeated in Battle
A Wet Blanket	A person who discourages enjoyment or enthusiasm
In Cold Blood	Deliberately
A blue Stocking	A learned/educated or intellectual woman
At First Blush	At first sight
A Bolt from the Blue	Something completely unexpected that surprises you
One’s bread and butter	One’s means of livelihood
To breadth one’s last	To Die
To make bricks without straw	To attempt to do something without proper materials
To kick the bucket	To die
Good wine needs no bush	There is no need to advertise something good
To burn the candle at both ends	To expend energy in two directions at the same time
If the cap fits, wear it	If you think the remarks refer to you, then accept the criticism
Care killed the cat	Don’t fret and worry yourself to death
To Catch one’s eye	To attract attention
To take the chair	To preside a meeting
She is no chicken	She is older than she says
To pick and choose	To make a careful selection
To square the circle	To attempt something impossible
Every cloud has a silver lining	Adverse conditions do not last forever
Close fisted	Mean
Cut your cloth according to your cloth	Live within your income
A cock and bull story	A foolishly incredible story
To be cock sure	To be perfectly sure or certain
To throw cold water upon anything	To discourage efforts
Off color	Not in the usual form
To commit to memory	To learn by heart
Too many cooks spoil the broth	Where there are more workers than necessary
Crocodile tears	Hypocritical Tears
By hook or by crook	By fair or foul means
Cut and dried	Readymade
Up to date	Recent
Evil days	A period of misfortune
Halcyon Days	A time when there are peace and happiness in the land
To step into dead man’s shoes	To come into an inheritance
Go to the devil	Be off
Devil’s bones	Dice
Devil’s Playthings	Playing Cards
Give a dog a bad name and hang him	Once a person loses his reputation
Every dog has his day	Sooner or later, everyone has his share of good fortune
To throw dust in one’s eyes	To try to deceive someone or mislead someone
A white elephant	A useless possession which is extremely expensive to keep
To set the Thames on fire	To do something sensational or remarkable
A burnt child dreads the fire	One who has had a previous unpleasant experience is always scared of situations where such experiences are likely to be repeated
A fish out of water	Anyone in an awkward
Foul play	Cheating
To jump from a frying pan into fire	To come out of one trouble and get into a worse
All that glitters are not gold	Things are not always as attractive as they appear
To die in harness	To continue at one’s occupation until death
Make hay while the sun shines	Take advantage of all opportunities
Lock, stock and barrel	The whole of everything
A miss is as good as a mile	Comes nowhere near it. If someone narrowly misses the target it still is treated as a missed one or failure.
To move heaven and earth	To exert all efforts
One swallow does not make a summer	It is unreliable to base one’s conclusions on only a single test or incident
If wishes were horses, beggars might ride	If wishing could make things happen, then even the most destitute people would have everything they wanted
A nine days’ wonder	An event which relates a sensation for a time but is soon forgotten
Yellow press	Newspapers which publish sensational and unscrupulous stories and exaggerates the news to attract readers.
A ball park figure	A general financial figure
To balance the books	To make certain that the amount of money spent is not more than the amount of money received.
A cash cow	A product or service that makes a lot of money for a company
Devil’s Advocate	To present a counter argument
Don’t give up the day job	You are not very good at something. You could not do it professionally.
To cook the books	To modify financial statements
To get the sack	To be dismissed from your job
To be snowed under	To be very busy
To work your fingers to the boneOrTo sweat blood	To work really hard
Hear it on the grapevine	To hear rumors
In the heat of the moment	Overwhelmed by what is happening in the moment
Not a spark of decency	No Manners
Speak of the devil!	This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives
Whole nine yards	Everything. All of it
Your guess is as good as mine	To have no idea about anything

These were 500 Idioms and Phrases in short, the most commonly asked questions that you can easily expect for your upcoming NDA, CDS, and AFCAT, and other defence exam. Not only that, you can also follow these questions & learn the words & remember them for the other defence competitive exam preparation for the Idioms and Phrases section in English.

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