WBCS Preliminary
WBCS English PYQs: Idioms
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Select the idiom that best replaces the words in italics in the following sentence You should review your options carefully before you make a decision.
- make hay while the sun shines
- sit on the fence
- look before you leap
- kill the golden goose
Answer: Clook before you leap
The idiomatic expression ‘A slap on the wrist’ means (reprimand, rebuke, scolding)
- Short on time
- A very mild punishment
- To have a dispute
- To force an issue
Answer: BA very mild punishment
Replace the underlined portion with an idiom from the list below: They finally agreed on the business deal. (concur, be in accord)
- let the cat out of the bag
- see eye to eye
- to feel under the weather
- to cut a corner
Answer: Bsee eye to eye
The idiomatic expression ‘make both ends meet’ means (manage, survive)
- get by
- get over
- get done
- get well
Answer: Aget by
The idiomatic expression, ‘once in a blue moon’, means (hardly ever)
- rarely
- frequently
- regularly
- never
Answer: Ararely
The expression ‘holier than thou’ means (self-righteous, complacent, smug, self-satisfied)
- pure
- religious
- moralistic
- sanctimonious
Answer: Dsanctimonious
To feel ‘under the weather’ means (ill, indisposed, ailing)
- feel depressed
- feel uncomfortable
- feel unwell
- feel uncertain
Answer: Cfeel unwell
The idiomatic expression “pull yourself together”
- drag oneself
- help one
- get angry
- calm down by oneself
Answer: Dcalm down by oneself
The idiomatic expression ‘see eye to eye‘ means
- agree with someone
- to remain neutral
- to take over (something)
- to enjoy the best of both
Answer: Aagree with someone
He says he has invented a time machine, which is clearly a load of cobblers.
- Genuine
- Great
- Nonsense
- Significant
Answer: CNonsense
“A bolt from the blue” means
- sudden disaster
- in trouble
- blessing from above
- to remain neutral
Answer: Asudden disaster
He stood in hot water
- in trouble or disgrace
- met with an accident
- stepped into boiling water
- was angry
Answer: Ain trouble or disgrace
We didn’t really want that particular hotel, but it was a case of Hobson’s Choice.
- state of dilemma
- taking what is available or nothing at all
- teacher’s choice
- economical
Answer: Btaking what is available or nothing at all
‘Made up his mind’ means
- Remembered
- Resolved
- Forgot
- Lost
Answer: BResolved
He is a dark horse.
- Silent
- Secretive
- Dangerous
- Possessing a secret ability
Answer: DPossessing a secret ability
‘At daggers drawn’ means —
- Friendly
- On bad terms with
- Acquainted
- Unknown
Answer: BOn bad terms with
Everything was at sixes and sevens.
- Disordered
- Lost
- Found
- Sold
Answer: ADisordered
There’s no love lost between them.
- Avoid
- Not on good terms
- Challenge
- Quarrel
Answer: BNot on good terms
Edmund Burke had a wonderful gift of the gab. Gift of the gab means:
- Intelligence
- Humanity
- Eloquence (fluency, power of speech)
- Goodness
Answer: CEloquence (fluency, power of speech)
The expression ‘to take stock of’ means :
- To question
- To argue
- To survey
- To manipulate
Answer: CTo survey
The belief in witchcraft is losing ground.
- Becoming less acceptable
- Becoming popular
- Becoming powerful
- Losing principle
Answer: ABecoming less acceptable
The singer was not in voice.
- Lost voice
- To sing well
- Had a cough
- did not sang well
Answer: Ddid not sang well
No one dare call in question his honesty.
- Honesty of purpose
- Test
- Flatter
- Challenge
Answer: DChallenge
‘Puts one in mind’ means
- Resolved
- Decided
- Reminds
- Received
Answer: CReminds
‘Hand and glove’ means
- Arrogance
- Enemy
- Maintain a distance
- Intimate terms
Answer: DIntimate terms
I gave him a piece of my mind.
- Expressed love
- Fell in love
- Expressed anguish
- Trusted him
Answer: CExpressed anguish
He has the gift of the gab.
- A talent for speaking
- A good voice
- A logical bent of mind
- Talking nonsense
Answer: AA talent for speaking
She is a little under the weather today.
- Feeling unwell
- In sync with the weather
- Feeling excited
- Feeling sad
Answer: AFeeling unwell
He is such a good Samaritan. It means
- He is very clever
- He is a fool
- Someone who tries to help people
- He is a bad man
Answer: CSomeone who tries to help people
‘To see red’ means
- to begin to understand
- To be mad with anger
- A narrow escape
- Smart and clean
Answer: BTo be mad with anger
The news came like a bolt from the blue.
- Windfall
- Thunderbolt
- Sudden and unexpected
- Shock
Answer: CSudden and unexpected
‘Hold fire’ means
- To delay doing something
- Catch Fire
- Prevent fire
- Magnify
Answer: ATo delay doing something
To take up the gauntlet means
- To accept the challenge
- To refuse
- To appreciate
- To move
Answer: ATo accept the challenge
He tried by all means, by hook or crook to win the case.
- By any means fair or foul
- By money
- By Man power
- By muscle power
Answer: ABy any means fair or foul
He changed his job and was out of frying pan or fire.
- Happy with the job
- Misfit
- In a condition from bad to worse
- Lucky in the choice
Answer: CIn a condition from bad to worse
In spite of all his brag he had ‘to eat humble pie‘ means that he had to
- Apologize
- Surrender
- Leave
- Eat his food
Answer: AApologize
His observations were ‘beside the point‘ means that his observations were
- Written in point form
- Written beside points
- Not relevant
- Not heard by others
Answer: CNot relevant
‘A wild-goose chase‘ means
- Togo hunting
- To go on a foolish, fruitless search
- To chase wild geese
- To protect
Answer: BTo go on a foolish, fruitless search
He ‘made light‘ of his friend’s warning means he
- Lit a fire
- Showed the light
- Took seriously
- Treated lightly
Answer: DTreated lightly
“In the time of danger, we should try to take the bull by the horns” means in the time of danger we try to
- Surmount it
- Face the situation boldly
- Overcome it
- Control ourselves
Answer: BFace the situation boldly
A clever man sweeps his family scandals under the _____
- Ground
- Floor
- Carpet
- Gravestone
Answer: CCarpet
It is usual nowadays to blow one’s own ____ to impress others.
- Horn
- Trumpet
- Drum
- Band
Answer: BTrumpet
The separation from a near and dear one fills one’s mind with blues.
- Sadness
- Romanticism
- Nostalgia
- Colorfulness
Answer: ASadness
‘To give dog a bad name’ means :
- It is very difficult to destroy the reputation of a loyal person
- It is very difficult to lose a bad reputation
- It is very difficult to earn a good reputation in a bad company
- It is very difficult both to be loyal and do something that jeopardizes self-reputation
Answer: BIt is very difficult to lose a bad reputation
‘A bolt from the blue’
- A drop from the sky
- An unexpected shock
- Thunderbolt
- A blue sky
Answer: BAn unexpected shock
To go to the dogs.
- To turn over a new leaf
- To oil one’s own machine
- To be off one’s head
- To breathe one’s last
Answer: CTo be off one’s head
Poles apart
- Very distant
- Separate
- Totally different in views
- Very difficult
Answer: CTotally different in views
In the new place he had to earn by the sweat of his brow
- Very hard work
- Frown of his brow
- Seriously
- Idly
Answer: AVery hard work
‘To come to the fore‘ means to become
- Prominent
- Aggressive
- Weak
- Aware
Answer: AProminent
‘On one’s toes‘ signifies
- Concentration
- Courtesy
- Punctuality
- Alertness
Answer: DAlertness
To make headway is to
- Make Progress
- Make little progress
- To progress towards collision
- To proceed to travel
Answer: AMake Progress
Waiting with bated breath is to
- Feel very excited
- Feel breathlessness
- Waiting for the dentist with the complaint of bad breath
- Waiting to take revenge
Answer: AFeel very excited
She has been sitting on the books taken from the library for a month.
- Doing nothing with the books
- Reading the books carefully
- Reading the book slowly
- Keeping the books as a mark of protest
Answer: ADoing nothing with the books
In a Hobson’s choice situation one
- Must accept what is offered as there is no alternatives
- Can freely choose from many alternatives
- Must choose only in consultation with other members of the group he/she belongs to
- Can do any of the above
Answer: AMust accept what is offered as there is no alternatives
A fly-by-night company is one that
- Operates only at night
- Sends cargo by plane only
- Is interested only in making quick profits
- Operates from no fixed place
Answer: CIs interested only in making quick profits
Dance is an art form. But to be a dance attendant is to : (subordinate, subsidiary)
- Take part in group dance
- Entertain by dancing
- Be subservient
- Be flattering
Answer: CBe subservient
To have other fish to fry (have a subordinate role)
- To play the second fiddle
- To do the yeoman’s service
- To oil one’s own machine
- To cut the coat according to one’s cloth
Answer: ATo play the second fiddle
At daggers drawn
- Hostile to others
- Violent to others
- Dangerous for others
- Violently opposed to each other
Answer: DViolently opposed to each other
The receptionist of the hotel greeted us with the pink of courtesy.
- Very sweetly
- With seriousness
- Warmly
- Respectfully
Answer: AVery sweetly
The truant boy promised to turn over a new leaf.
- Turn to nature
- Start a new and a better life
- Move away from the place
- Change for the worse
Answer: BStart a new and a better life
Please put on record my objections to this step.
- Put in writing
- Do not forget
- Play on a record-player
- Send them to the proper authorities
Answer: APut in writing
The man was willing to undertake the work for a consideration.
- Out of sympathy
- Against payment
- Only for a brief period
- On certain terms
Answer: BAgainst payment
A day in winter is cold but to turn a cold shoulder to a person is to
- Pursue him
- Ignore him
- Approach him
- Hurt him
Answer: BIgnore him
On no account
- With an ill grace
- In the open
- By all means
- By hook or by crook
Answer: CBy all means
In a nutshell (in short, briefly)
- In the open
- In all its detail
- To throw in the sponge
- To put on paper
Answer: BIn all its detail
The speaker spoke at length in fine he urged his audience to be patriotic (finally, in short)
- In fine language
- With a noble gesture
- In telling phrases
- In conclusion
Answer: DIn conclusion
He faced a crisis and was in a fix.
- Motionless
- In a difficulty
- Confused
- Dumbfounded
Answer: BIn a difficulty
He has been here for years and should know the ins and outs of the job.
- The secrets
- All the details
- Entries and exits
- The problems and their solutions
Answer: BAll the details
The improved tax collections are a shot in the arm for the country’s economy.
- A close-range shot
- A shot-gun blast
- A great encouragement
- At arm’s length
Answer: CA great encouragement
The president’s visit was called off at the eleventh hour.
- At the earliest opportunity
- At 11 a.m.
- At the last possible moment
- Shortly before noon
Answer: CAt the last possible moment
The team made short work of their opponents.
- Disposed of quickly
- Underestimated the strength of
- Avoided working hard
- Fell short of
Answer: ADisposed of quickly
The man in the street is opposed to this idea.
- The beggar
- The pavement-dweller
- The destitute
- The average, ordinary
Answer: DThe average, ordinary
He is not fit to hold a candle to predecessor.
- Unable to enlighten
- Incapable of following
- Not to be name in comparison with
- Unfit to guide
Answer: CNot to be name in comparison with
The screen is in character with the rest of the furniture.
- Complementing
- Contrasting
- In keeping
- Joining
Answer: CIn keeping
I did not notice in him anything out of the way. (remote place, finished, unusual)
- Familiar
- Strange
- Charming
- Attractive
Answer: BStrange
He is not great lawyer but he has the gift of the gab
- A talent for speaking
- A pleasant face
- A serious bearing
- A silent nature
Answer: AA talent for speaking
He stood his ground with firmness
- Dug up the ground
- Built a house
- Maintained his position
- Built a wall
Answer: CMaintained his position
He gained success by dint of hard work. (by use of, by virtue of)
- By means of
- Force of
- By way of
- By virtue of
Answer: ABy means of
None can be a good orator without the gift of the gab.
- Ability of quote
- Ability improvise
- Fluency of Speech
- Wit and humor
Answer: CFluency of Speech
The rule has been declared null and void.
- Devoid of substance
- Incorrect
- Invalid
- Inappropriate
Answer: CInvalid
Your arguments are of no avail.
- Helpless
- Meaningless
- Unprofitable
- Useless
Answer: DUseless
Her bank account was in the black. (financially solvent)
- Contained untaxed money
- Had a credit balance
- Was kept secret
- Contained the profits of crime
Answer: BHad a credit balance
It is high time that India and Pakistan iron out their differences over Kashmir and other issues.
- Find a solution
- Harden even further their belligerent attitude
- Smooth over an argument or quarrel
- Argue out
Answer: AFind a solution
Keeping late hours in office is playing havoc with his health.
- Advantageous for
- Improving marginally
- Harming marginally
- Ruining completely
Answer: DRuining completely
The success of his welfare project added another feather in his cap.
- Advantage
- Problem
- Friend
- Achievement to be proud of
Answer: DAchievement to be proud of
Arrival and departure on the same day in addition to the tight work schedule, would be cutting in line. (jump the queue)
- Nerve-racking
- Wise
- Leaving oneself the minimum time
- Relaxing
Answer: CLeaving oneself the minimum time
There were several communal violence incidents throughout the globe.
- The model of the earth used for the study of geography
- A spherical body
- The world
- A planet
Answer: CThe world
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