10. Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions — 80 with Sentences — English (Precis & Composition)

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CSS grammar questions often say "Use the following idioms in sentences to bring out their meaning." Examiner reports specifically flag taking idioms literally. A good answer uses the idiom naturally and makes the meaning obvious from the sentence. These are the formal/British idioms CSS favours; the American conversational ones are in 🧩 American Idioms & Expressions.

Answer format

A bone of contention (a cause of dispute): Kashmir has remained a bone of contention between Pakistan and India since 1947.

A – C

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
A bone of contention	cause of dispute	The water-sharing formula became a bone of contention between the provinces.
A blessing in disguise	apparent misfortune that proves good	Losing that job was a blessing in disguise; it pushed him to start his own firm.
A bolt from the blue	a complete surprise	The resignation of the finance minister came as a bolt from the blue.
A cock-and-bull story	an absurd, unbelievable tale	The accused told the court a cock-and-bull story about finding the money.
A red-letter day	a memorable, happy day	The day she cleared the CSS was a red-letter day for her family.
A white elephant	a costly, useless possession	The unused airport has turned into a white elephant for the province.
A wild-goose chase	a hopeless search	Looking for the file without its number was a wild-goose chase.
Achilles' heel	a weak point	Tax collection remains the Achilles' heel of our economy.
At daggers drawn	in bitter hostility	The two brothers have been at daggers drawn over the inheritance.
At one's wits' end	completely puzzled	The doctors were at their wits' end about the strange illness.
At the eleventh hour	at the last moment	The deal was saved at the eleventh hour.
Beat about the bush	avoid the main point	Stop beating about the bush and tell me what happened.
Bear the brunt	suffer the worst part	The poor always bear the brunt of inflation.
Bell the cat	undertake a dangerous task for others	Everyone criticised the policy, but no one was willing to bell the cat.
Between Scylla and Charybdis	between two equal dangers	With debt on one side and inflation on the other, the government is between Scylla and Charybdis.
Bite the dust	be defeated / fail	Many start-ups bit the dust during the recession.
Blow one's own trumpet	boast	A good leader lets results speak rather than blowing his own trumpet.
Break the ice	start conversation in a tense setting	The foreign ministers broke the ice with talk of cricket.
Burn the midnight oil	work late into the night	Aspirants burn the midnight oil for months before the written exam.
Burn one's boats/bridges	make retreat impossible	By resigning publicly, he burnt his boats.
By hook or by crook	by any means, fair or foul	He was determined to win the seat by hook or by crook.
Call a spade a spade	speak plainly	The auditor called a spade a spade and named the officials involved.
Crocodile tears	false sorrow	The politician shed crocodile tears over the victims.
Cry over spilt milk	regret what cannot be undone	The match is lost; there is no use crying over spilt milk.
Cut a sorry figure	make a poor impression	Unprepared, he cut a sorry figure at the interview.

D – L

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
Die in harness	die while still working	The old judge died in harness at the age of seventy.
Draw the line	set a limit	We welcome criticism, but we draw the line at abuse.
Eat humble pie	admit a mistake humbly	After the failed forecast, the analyst had to eat humble pie.
Feather one's nest	enrich oneself dishonestly	Some officials used their posts to feather their own nests.
Few and far between	rare	Honest contractors are few and far between.
Fish in troubled waters	profit from others' trouble	Hoarders fish in troubled waters during every crisis.
Get into hot water	get into trouble	He got into hot water for leaking the report.
Hang by a thread	be in a precarious state	The coalition government is hanging by a thread.
Hit the nail on the head	say exactly the right thing	The editorial hit the nail on the head in blaming weak governance.
Hold water	be valid	The defence's argument did not hold water.
In black and white	in writing	Get the agreement in black and white.
In cold blood	deliberately and cruelly	The hostages were killed in cold blood.
In the doldrums	in a state of stagnation / low spirits	The textile sector has been in the doldrums for years.
In the limelight	the centre of public attention	The young batsman is in the limelight after his century.
Keep the wolf from the door	earn enough to avoid hunger	He works two jobs to keep the wolf from the door.
Leave no stone unturned	try every possible means	The police left no stone unturned to trace the child.
Let the cat out of the bag	reveal a secret	His careless remark let the cat out of the bag.
Lion's share	the largest part	Debt servicing takes the lion's share of the budget.
Live from hand to mouth	barely survive	Daily-wage workers live from hand to mouth.
Lock, stock and barrel	completely	The company was sold lock, stock and barrel.

M – R

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
Make both ends meet	live within one's income	With rising prices, salaried people struggle to make both ends meet.
Man of letters	a scholar, a writer	Sir Syed was a reformer and a man of letters.
Nip in the bud	stop at an early stage	The unrest was nipped in the bud by timely talks.
Null and void	legally invalid	The court declared the appointment null and void.
Off and on	occasionally	It rained off and on throughout the day.
On the horns of a dilemma	facing two unpleasant choices	The central bank is on the horns of a dilemma: raise rates or let inflation run.
On the spur of the moment	impulsively	He resigned on the spur of the moment and regretted it later.
Once in a blue moon	very rarely	He visits his village once in a blue moon.
Pay lip service	support in words only	Many parties pay lip service to women's rights.
Pour oil on troubled waters	calm a quarrel	The elder poured oil on troubled waters between the tribes.
Pull one's weight	do one's fair share	Every member must pull his weight in a team project.
Put the cart before the horse	reverse the natural order	Building the stadium before the roads is putting the cart before the horse.
Red tape	excessive bureaucracy	Investors complain of red tape at every office.
Rank and file	ordinary members	The party leadership ignored the rank and file.
Rule the roost	be in control	In that district, the feudal lords still rule the roost.
Run amok	behave uncontrollably	The mob ran amok after the verdict.
Rest on one's laurels	stop trying after success	Having won once, the team cannot rest on its laurels.
Rise to the occasion	meet a challenge well	The rescue services rose to the occasion during the floods.

S – Z

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
Sail in the same boat	share the same situation	All developing countries sail in the same boat on climate finance.
Show the white feather	show cowardice	The soldier refused to show the white feather under fire.
Sit on the fence	stay neutral / undecided	On the reform bill, several members sat on the fence.
Smell a rat	suspect something wrong	The auditor smelt a rat when the figures did not match.
Spill the beans	reveal a secret	A junior clerk spilled the beans about the scam.
Steal a march on	gain an advantage by acting first	Bangladesh stole a march on us in garment exports.
Take the bull by the horns	face a difficulty boldly	The new chief took the bull by the horns and tackled circular debt.
The last straw	the final trouble that makes a situation unbearable	The fuel price hike was the last straw for transporters.
The writing on the wall	a sign of coming disaster	Falling exports were the writing on the wall for the industry.
Throw down the gauntlet	issue a challenge	The opposition threw down the gauntlet with a no-confidence motion.
Throw in the towel	give up	Despite repeated failures, he refused to throw in the towel.
Tooth and nail	with full force	The workers fought privatisation tooth and nail.
Turn a deaf ear	refuse to listen	The authorities turned a deaf ear to the residents' complaints.
Turn over a new leaf	reform one's conduct	After his release, he turned over a new leaf.
Under a cloud	under suspicion	The officer left the service under a cloud.
Up in arms	strongly protesting	Traders are up in arms against the new tax.
Wash one's dirty linen in public	discuss private quarrels publicly	The party washed its dirty linen in public on television.
With a heavy heart	sadly	With a heavy heart, he left his village for the city.
Within an ace of	very close to	The climber came within an ace of reaching the summit.
Yeoman's service	excellent, valuable work	Edhi rendered yeoman's service to humanity.

Common Literal-Meaning Traps

Bell the cat is about courage, not cats. Crocodile tears → insincerity. White elephant → costly and useless, not rare.
Don't change the idiom's words: ❌ beat around the bushes, ❌ burn the midnight lamp, ❌ the lion share.

Practice — Use in sentences

Hang in the balance · Take to one's heels · A far cry · Add fuel to the fire · Bury the hatchet · Go to the dogs · Hold one's own · Make a clean breast of · A storm in a teacup · Turn the tables

Model sentences

Hang in the balance (be undecided): The fate of the bill hangs in the balance until the Senate votes. · Take to one's heels (run away): The robbers took to their heels when the alarm rang. · A far cry (very different): Today's Karachi is a far cry from the quiet port of 1947. · Add fuel to the fire (worsen a situation): His provocative speech added fuel to the fire. · Bury the hatchet (make peace): The rival families finally buried the hatchet. · Go to the dogs (be ruined): Without maintenance, the railway went to the dogs. · Hold one's own (not be defeated): The young lawyer held her own against senior counsel. · Make a clean breast of (confess fully): The clerk made a clean breast of his role in the fraud. · A storm in a teacup (fuss about a trivial matter): The row over the seating plan was a storm in a teacup. · Turn the tables (reverse a position): Pakistan turned the tables in the final overs.

📜 CSS 2020 Q6 — Idioms in Sentences (10 marks) Solved

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2020 is the last year Q6 asked idioms (2021–2026 asked pairs of words). Idioms still carry marks in translation (Q7) and can return here. Format: idiom (meaning): a sentence whose context makes the meaning unmistakable.

To break the ice (to ease initial tension or shyness): The host broke the ice by joking about his own first interview.
Nip in the bud (to stop something at an early stage): Police nipped the riot in the bud by arresting the ringleaders before the rally.
See eye to eye with (to agree fully with): The coalition partners seldom see eye to eye with each other on provincial autonomy.
For good (permanently): After retirement he left Karachi for good and settled in his village.
Tamper with (to interfere with something harmfully): The candidate was disqualified for tampering with the ballot papers.
The small hours (the early hours after midnight): She revised until the small hours before her exam.
Keep up appearances (to maintain an outward show, especially of prosperity): Though bankrupt, the family kept up appearances by hosting lavish dinners.
Prima facie (at first sight; on the face of it): Prima facie, the evidence suggests the fire was started deliberately.