English · Grammar · SSC & HSC
Phrases and Idioms — List with Meaning & Sentences
The phrases and idioms set in Bangladeshi board exams, each with its meaning and a model sentence.
An idiom is a fixed group of words whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words — "at large" does not mean "at" plus "large". Because the meaning is not literal, idioms are learned rather than derived. Exam questions ask you to use one in a sentence, so learn each idiom together with a sentence that shows its meaning in use.
Where it is set: SSC & HSC English — Vocabulary
Why an idiom cannot be worked out
An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is not the sum of its parts. At large has nothing to do with size, and bring to book has nothing to do with reading. Because the meaning is fixed by usage rather than derived from the words, an idiom has to be learned as a single item.
This is why translation fails here more than anywhere else in the paper. A Bengali idiom translated word for word produces English that is grammatical and meaningless.
- ✓ The criminal is still at large. = still free, not caught
- ✓ He was taken to task for his carelessness. = he was scolded
Idioms of character and behaviour
| Idiom | Meaning | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| a man of letters | a scholar or writer | Rabindranath was a great man of letters. |
| a man of straw | a person of no substance | He is a man of straw and cannot be trusted. |
| a bookworm | someone always reading | My sister is a real bookworm. |
| a black sheep | a disgrace to the family | He is the black sheep of the family. |
| a big gun | an important person | Several big guns attended the meeting. |
| a white elephant | a costly but useless possession | The unused stadium is a white elephant. |
| at daggers drawn | bitterly hostile | The two brothers are at daggers drawn. |
| hand and glove | in close association | He is hand and glove with the smugglers. |
- ✓ Everyone respects him because he is a man of letters.
- ✓ The project became a white elephant within two years.
Idioms of situation and result
| Idiom | Meaning | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| in black and white | in writing | Give me the agreement in black and white. |
| in a nutshell | briefly | In a nutshell, the plan failed. |
| out of date | no longer current | This method is out of date. |
| at a stretch | continuously | He read for six hours at a stretch. |
| by fits and starts | irregularly | He works by fits and starts. |
| in the long run | eventually | Honesty pays in the long run. |
| on the eve of | just before | He fell ill on the eve of the examination. |
| a bolt from the blue | a sudden shock | His death was a bolt from the blue. |
| to make both ends meet | to live within one’s income | A day labourer can hardly make both ends meet. |
| to turn a deaf ear | to ignore | He turned a deaf ear to my request. |
- ✓ The news of the accident came as a bolt from the blue.
- ✓ He studies by fits and starts, so his results are uneven.
Prepositional phrases used as idioms
A large group of exam idioms is built from a preposition plus a noun, and they behave as single adverbs or adjectives. They are easier to learn than the figurative idioms because their meanings are close to literal.
- by and by — gradually · by all means — certainly · by no means — not at all
- at random — without a plan · at once — immediately · at any rate — in any case
- in vain — uselessly · in time — early enough · on time — punctually
- for good — permanently · of late — recently · now and then — occasionally
- out of the question — impossible · out of pocket — having lost money
- ⚠️ in time and on time are not the same: arriving in time means with room to spare, arriving on time means exactly at the appointed hour.
- ✓ He tried in vain to convince them.
- ✓ He left the village for good after his father died.
How to use one in an exam answer
The question normally asks you to make a sentence using the idiom, and the mark is given for showing that you know its meaning — not merely for including the words.
- Build a sentence whose context makes the meaning visible; a reader should be able to guess the meaning from your sentence.
- Do not define the idiom in the sentence — "He is a bookworm, which means he reads a lot" does not earn the mark.
- Keep the idiom's form exactly as given; changing a word usually destroys it.
- Use it in the grammatical role it normally holds — a white elephant is a noun phrase, turn a deaf ear is a verb phrase.
- One clear sentence is enough; length adds nothing here.
- ✗ He is a black sheep, meaning he is bad. ✓ He is the black sheep of the family and has brought them nothing but trouble.
- ✗ He turned deaf ears to my request. ✓ He turned a deaf ear to my request. — the form is fixed
Practice
Work through these before you check the answers — the reasoning matters more than the answer.
- Use in a sentence: “in black and white”
- Meaning of “a bolt from the blue”?
- Use in a sentence: “to make both ends meet”
- Meaning of “at large”?
- Use in a sentence: “by fits and starts”
- What is the difference between “in time” and “on time”?
- Meaning of “a white elephant”?
- Use in a sentence: “to turn a deaf ear”
Answers
- I want the terms of the contract in black and white before I sign.
- A sudden and completely unexpected shock.
- With prices rising, a day labourer can hardly make both ends meet.
- Free, not captured — as in “The thief is still at large.”
- He prepares for his exams by fits and starts, so his results vary.
- “In time” means early enough, with room to spare; “on time” means exactly at the appointed hour.
- A possession that costs more to keep than it is worth.
- The authorities turned a deaf ear to the students’ repeated requests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Boards draw from a fairly stable list, and forty to fifty well-learned idioms cover the great majority of what is set. Learning a hundred badly is worse than learning fifty properly, because the mark depends on using one accurately in a sentence, not on recognising it.
Never as a two-column list. Learn each idiom inside one short sentence that makes its meaning obvious, and revise the sentence rather than the definition. That way the idiom comes back in a usable form under exam pressure, which is exactly what the question asks for.
Only in the ways the idiom itself allows — you can change the tense of its verb (he turned a deaf ear, he is turning a deaf ear) but not its wording. Writing “turned deaf ears” instead of “turned a deaf ear” breaks the idiom, and the mark goes with it.
No — the sentence has to show that you know what it means. A sentence where the idiom could be replaced by anything, or where you explain it instead of using it, does not earn the mark. Write a context in which the meaning is visible to the reader.
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Every grammar rule, plus paragraphs, compositions and applications for SSC and HSC.