SSC CGL: 300 Idioms & Phrases Master List

#	Idiom	Meaning	Usage
1	A bed of roses	Comfortable situation	Life is not a bed of roses.
2	A bird's eye view	General overview	The tower gives a bird's eye view.
3	A blessing in disguise	Hidden good luck	Missing the flight was a blessing.
4	A bone of contention	Cause of dispute	The land is a bone of contention.
5	A burning question	Urgent issue	Global warming is a burning question.
6	A cake walk	Very easy task	The exam was a cake walk.
7	A close shave	Narrow escape	He had a close shave in the accident.
8	A dark horse	Unexpected winner	He proved to be a dark horse.
9	A dime a dozen	Very common	Such apps are a dime a dozen.
10	A far cry from	Very different	This is a far cry from the original.
11	A fish out of water	Uncomfortable	He felt like a fish out of water.
12	A fool's errand	Useless task	Chasing him was a fool's errand.
13	A green horn	Inexperienced	The new clerk is a green horn.
14	A hard nut to crack	Difficult problem	SSC CGL is a hard nut to crack.
15	A hot potato	Controversial issue	The bill is a hot potato for them.
16	A house of cards	Weak plan	Their scheme is a house of cards.
17	A laughing stock	Object of ridicule	He is a laughing stock in class.
18	A leap in the dark	Unknown risk	Resigning was a leap in the dark.
19	A man of letters	Scholarly person	Dr. Radhakrishnan was a man of letters.
20	A man of straw	Weak person	The leader was a man of straw.
21	A red-letter day	Important day	Independence day is a red-letter day.
22	A sacred cow	Uncriticizable	The policy is a sacred cow here.
23	A sitting duck	Easy target	They were sitting ducks for the enemy.
24	A snake in the grass	Hidden enemy	Beware of that snake in the grass.
25	A stone's throw	Very near	My house is a stone's throw away.
26	A thorn in the flesh	Constant irritation	He is a thorn in my flesh.
27	A wild goose chase	Useless search	It was a wild goose chase.
28	Above board	Honest	The business deal was above board.
29	Achilles' heel	Weak spot	Math is his Achilles' heel.
30	Add fuel to fire	Worsen situation	His shouting added fuel to fire.
31	Against the clock	Hurry to finish	They worked against the clock.
32	Against the grain	Against nature	Lying goes against his grain.
33	All and sundry	Everyone	He invited all and sundry.
34	All ears	Listening closely	I am all ears to your story.
35	All in all	Most important	He is all in all in the office.
36	All moonshine	Nonsense	His excuse was all moonshine.
37	Apple of discord	Cause of quarrel	The house is the apple of discord.
38	Apple of one's eye	Very dear	He is the apple of my eye.
39	Arm-chair critic	Theoretical critic	He is just an arm-chair critic.
40	At a loss	Confused	I was at a loss for words.
41	At a snail's pace	Very slowly	The traffic was moving at a snail's pace.
42	At daggers drawn	Bitterly hostile	The neighbors are at daggers drawn.
43	At loggerheads	Strong disagreement	They are at loggerheads over funds.
44	At sixes and sevens	Confused/Disorder	The files were at sixes and sevens.
45	At the eleventh hour	At the last moment	He came at the eleventh hour.
46	Back to square one	Start from beginning	We are back to square one.
47	Bark up wrong tree	Mistaken focus	Police are barking up the wrong tree.
48	Beat about the bush	Avoid the topic	Don't beat about the bush.
49	Beat the air	Useless effort	Arguing with him is beating the air.
50	Beggar description	Impossible to describe	The view beggars description.