S/N

Idiom

Book

Unit

Page

1.

to horse

JSS 1

12

106

2.

clad

3.

perchance

4.

a mountain of homework

13

116

5.

It has been ages (since I wrote)

6.

(I feel )terribly lucky

7.

(I really) feel at home

8.

neck and neck

JSS 2

6

49

9.

took up their positions

10.

was catching up

11.

fed up with

JSS 3

7

72

12.

get on with it

13.

put up with it

14.

keen on

15.

to no avail

9

93

16.

in fact

17.

in secret

18.

at once

19.

in debt

20.

to my surprise

21.

at least

22.

in my opinion

23.

at last

24.

by the way

25.

went up in smoke

12

123

26

set fire to

27.

open fire

28.

play with fire

29.

burn the midnight oil

30.

not hold water

31.

covered a lot of ground

SSS1

5

35

32.

turned over a new leaf

33.

reap where we have not sown

34.

(I warned him not) to put all his eggs in one basket

35.

kept waiting

11

92

36.

don’t keep asking (questions)

37.

kept (wanting)

38.

keep (destroying)

39.

keep (reminding)

40.

keep (watering)

41.

Mudslinging

16

141

42.

black market

43.

are taking the bread and butter out of the mouths of small traders

44.

Bullish

45.

men of straw

46.

get through

17

148

47.

set about

48.

go about

49.

applied for

50.

turned me down

51.

took me on

52.

save up

149

53.

looking after

54.

look down on

55.

cut off from

56.

turn to

57.

applied for

150

58.

went in for

59.

saved up

60.

fall back on

61

looked down on

62.

stepped up

63.

turned me down

151

64.

took me on

65.

in the same boat

66.

white-collar job

67.

blue-collar job

68.

things so far have run smoothly

69.

stepped up

70.

more power to your elbow

71.

clinch ( a medal)

SSS2

1

5

72.

steal the show

73.

occupied centre stage

74.

deep down in her heart

2

16

75.

in her heart of hearts

76.

broke her heart

77.

very kind-hearted

78.

set his heart on

79.

from the bottom of his heart

80.

straight from his heart

81.

the heart of the problem

82.

turns a deaf ear to

4

35

83.

up in arms

5

46

84.

(turned out) in force

85.

stuck to my guns

86.

came to blows

87.

fights shy of

88.

had got the wrong end of the stick

8

81

89.

put the cat among the pigeons

90.

added fuel to the fire

91.

sold a pup

92.

took the wind out of his sails

93.

weren’t his cup of tea

94.

making a mountain out of a molehill

95.

carry out

14

141

96.

carry on

97.

following a red herring

17

175

98.

born with a silver spoon in his mouth

99.

a bit of a rough diamond

100.

wouldn’t touch (that offer) with a barge pole

101.

puts her foot in

102.

cut our coat according to our cloth

103.

on the fiddle

104.

dash your hopes

176

105.

is taking us all for a ride

106.

a wolf in sheep’s clothing

107.

had burnt his boats

108.

twist everyone round his little finger

SSS3

5

62

109.

little love lost

110.

throw his heart into the ring

111.

bitten off more than he can chew

112.

take the rough with the smooth

113.

keeps our noses to the grindstone

114.

weathered the storm

115.

toe the line

116.

like an open book to me

6

72

117.

were brought to book

118.

take a leaf out of the book

119

throws the book at him

120.

bad books

121.

not worth the paper it’s written on

122.

look alright on paper

123

to paper over the cracks

124.

burn the midnight oil

7

81

125.

broke the ice

126.

added fuel to the flames

127.

hold a candle

128.

worlds apart

129.

vanished into thin air

130.

count his chickens before they are hatched

131.

light at the end of the tunnel

132.

let the grass grow under her feet

133.

couldn’t see the wood for the trees

134.

once in a blue moon

82

135.

with a pinch of salt

136.

far and away

137.

has a heart of gold

138.

a piece of my mind

139.

One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

8

99

140.

Money doesn’t grow on trees.

141.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

142.

Make hay while the sun shines.

143.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

144.

took off

9

110

145.

pulled through

146.

‘ll let (you) off

147.

laid down

148.

make out

149.

break up

150.

take in

151.

show off

152.

turned up

153.

pick out

154.

get through

155.

runs out of

156.

(for) donkey’s years

10

118

157.

from pillar to post

158.

bark was worse than his bite

159.

gave (Hart) a wide berth

160.

kept his nose to the grindstone

161.

could hold a candle to him

162.

to hold the fort for him

163.

throw a new fellow in at the deep end

164.

a feather in his cap

165.

he was pushing his luck

166.

has drawn up his battle ground

16

143

167.

ironing out (the misunderstandings of)

144

168.

let’s bury the hatchet

169.

…take a leaf out of your brother’s book

170.

not to get all steamed up

171.

throwing away the baby with the bathwater

172

I called her bluff

173.

read between the lines

174.

(…it is Mrs Lobula who) wears the trousers

145

175.

have a go at (poetry)

176.

(he is) out of pocket

146

177.

(The zoo-keeper) was making his rounds

147

178.

(dependent for company on) cats and dogs

179.

was being too clever by half

180.

on the edge of a precipice

18

165

181.

a bone of contention

182.

to be in the doldrums

166

183.

Some eyebrows are being raised

184.

to come round