Here is a short list of Idioms useful for the TOEFL and IELTS exams. Mastering Idioms is the key to success
in the Listening comprehension sections.
| If someone Takes after you |
they resemble you |
| Way to go! |
Used to tell somebody that you are pleased about something they have done. Good work! Well-done! |
| Hard up |
Lack money |
| Baby shower |
A party held to honor and present gifts to someone especially a bride to be |
| Unauthorized loan |
Humorous way of saying something is stolen |
| Put up with the idea |
To tolerate it |
| Put away the idea |
to shun it or drop it |
| On one's toes |
Well prepared |
| Be in someone's shoes |
be in the same situation as someone |
| Pulling ones leg |
Joking with some one |
| Come rain or shine |
What ever the circumstances |
| Take a rain check on something |
To promise to accept at a later date |
| For a rainy day |
In an emergency/for a possible future time of need |
| Put something together |
To assemble it |
| Lay into someone |
Physically or verbally attacking someone |
| Lay into something |
Eat something quickly with enthusiasm |
| Lay off someone |
Fire /discharge/dismiss someone from duties |
| Get one's cards |
To be dismissed from job |
| Test the waters |
Make peoples views and opinions clear |
| Stand the test of time |
Strong enough to last for a very long time |
| Read between the lines |
To detect a meaning not expressed but implied |
| Give someone a run for their money |
Force someone to use all their skill to succeed /give a fierce competition |
| Run someone ragged |
To wear/exhaust/tire someone |
| Make the blood run cold |
Frighten |
| Put someone in the running |
Enter someone into a contest |
| Run into someone |
Meet someone unexpectedly / accidentally |
| Doesn't stand a chance |
Has no possibility of succeeding |
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| Breeze through something |
Do something easily and quickly |
| Stand someone up |
To fail to keep an appointment or date with them |
| On the cards |
Likely to happen |
| Concession stands |
Place where food is sold |
| Get some shut eye |
Get some sleep |
| Back out of something |
To withdraw from something |
| Make light of something |
Treat as unimportant |
| Hush something up |
Keep silent |
| Make short work of something |
To do it very quickly |
| Water something down |
Make something less difficult |
| Stumble across something |
Discover something by chance |
| Take something up |
Pursue a new interest |
| Tag along |
Accompany |
| Win hands down/win at a canter |
Win very easily |
| To not agree more |
To agree very much |
| Fit the bill |
Perfectly suited to something /just right |
| Foot the bill |
Pay the bill |
| The writing is on the wall |
something disastrous or bad is going to happen |
| when something is like water off a duck's back to someone |
then it has no effect on them(ex. I've scolded amanda several times but, it's just water off a duck's back to her) |
| when something fell on stony ground |
it's been ignored |
| When you refer to someone as being dyed-in-the-wool |
they have very strong opinions about something, Opinions that are not easily changed (eg.a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative) |
| If you are doing something on a wing and a prayer |
you are not confident and relying more on luck, rather than your ability |
| If something is cut and dried |
then it is final, it cannot be changed |
| When you say that a game is too close to call |
it is evenly poised, running neck and neck |
