CAKE
A PIECE OF CAKE:something very easy. winning the race is not a
piece of cake.
TAKE THE CAKE: win the prize. mr madan's idea that we might buy
a plan and fly to calcutta takes the cake.
YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT: obtain two contradictory
advantages from the same thing. you say you want to win at the races
and at the same time you do not wish to hazard your money on any
horse. i remind you that you cannot both have your cake and eat it.
CALL
TO CALL NAMES: abuse. he called me names and said that he would
never see my face again.
TO CALL ON: to pay a brief visit. i called on mohan at three
o'clock today.
CALL FOR:demand. the police called for more men.
CALL OUT: raise one's voice shout. please call out the name of
the winner.
CALL UP:to remember. i know his face but cannot call up his name.
CALL UPON: to invoke the help of. in bad days you can always call upon me.
CALL FORTH:bring out. the child helplessness called forth all
the best to him.
CALL IN: recall; something has been issued. your mother is very
ill:you should call in a doctor at once.
CALL TO MIND: recalll; remember. i cannot call to mind where i
met you before.
CALL OFF: to summon away; to divert. the crash called off my
attention from the burning house.
TO CALL IN QUESTION: express doubt about. his conduct was called
in question in parliament.
CALL TO: to address him in a loud voice. the dove calls to her mate.
TO CALL AT: to pay visit to some one's house.i called at
surinder's place yesterday.
CANDLE
BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS: to waste money or health. he looks
half dead he is been burning the candle at both ends.
CANDLE POWER: unit of light. this is a fifty candle power bulb.
NOT FIT TO HOLD A CANDLE: not to be compared with. china iss not
to fit to hold a candle against india.
SELL BY THE CANDLE: to offer for sale as long as a small piece
of candle burns itself out. the old scooter was sold by the candle .
CAP
CAP IN HAND: humbly;like a beggar. he went to the minister cap
in hand, to ask for work.
IF THE CAP FITS: if the remark applies to you, take to heart,
he called a liar: well,you should know of the cap fits.
CAP AND BELLS:submissively. she bears cap and bells.
SET ONE'S CAP AT: to captivate. she has set her cap at him.
CAPITAL
CAPITAL SENTENCE: death as punishment. the judge has
pronounced the capital sentence upon the murderer.
CAPITAL ERROR: fatal mistake. to murder of gandhi ji was a
capital error.
CARDS
PUTS ONE'S CARD ON THE TABLE:be absolutely candid. i told him
i was putting my cards on the tablre, and hopped he would put his.
ON THE CARDS: possible; likely to happen. it's on the cards
that i may go to bombay.
PLAY ONE'S CARDS WELL:make the best of chances. you must play
your cards well to win success.
TO SPEAK BY THE CARD: to speak well or to seak to the point.
lala bahadur shastri always spoke by the card.
SURE CARD:sure means to succeed. money is a sure card in the
word now-a-days.
CARE
CARE FOR NOTHING:take no interest in. she cares nothing for dancing.
HAVE A CARE: be careful. have a care of your health.
TAKE CARE: to be careful. take care lest you fall.
TAKE CARE OF: look after. mother takes care of her children.
CARPET
ON THE CARPET: under discussion.. the manager has just called
mohan to his office. i expect he is on the carpet for arriving late.
CARRY
CARRY ONE'S POINT: advance on argument successfully. raj
wanted sita to marry him, and carried his point.
CARRY OFF: to bear away; to kill. small pox has carried off
half the people of the village.
TO CARRY OUT: to execute direction given. india willl surely
carry out the third five year plan.
TO CARRY OUT: to obey. he must carry out your order.
CARRY THE DAY: to gain victory. john's arguments carried the
day for us.
CARRY THE DAY: to be successful. it is not easy to carry the
day in elections.
CARRY THROUGH: complete. she carried through the work in a week.
TO CARRY AWAY: to move the feeling. women are easily carried
away by sentiments.
TO CARRY ON: to promote. what business does this man carry on?
CARRY ALL BEFORE ONE: successful. at college he carried all
before him.
CARRY WEIGHT: to have influence. his opinion carries a lot of
weight around here.
CART
TO PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE: to do something the wrong
way. working at night and sleeping during the day seems very much case
of putting the cart before the horse.
CASE
IN ANY CASE: in all events. in any case i must go.
AS THE CASE MAY BE: may happen . suppose your son becomes a
doctor , or engineer, as the case may be.
TO MAKE OUT A CASE FOR: to defend to find excuses for. donot
always try to make out a case for him.
IN CASE: in case you do not go to bombay , please come here.
IN GOOD CASE: well off. he is in good case now.
IN EVIL CASE: badly off. he is in evil case, these days.
A CASE IN POINT: a relevant example. talking of wasting
money, my buying this car is a case in point.
IN CASE: in the event of; lest. call me in case you need my help.
CASH
HARD CASH:ready money. i always buy things hard cash.
OUT OF CASH: without money. he is out of cash now-a-days.
IN CASH: with money. mohan is always in cash.
CAST
CAST ANCHOR: anchor a ship. the ship cast anchor in chennai.
CAST AN EYE: look. donot cast an eye on beauties.
CAST AWAY: to waste. now i am rich i shall cast away all my
old cloths.
CAST FORTH: rejected. thee clerk was cast forth form ther company.
CAST UP: calculate; add. will you please cast up this
column of figures for me.
CAST DOWN: humble depress, is to throw down. god has power
to cast down and to raise up.
CAST ASPERSIONS ON: comment unfavourably upon. she is a
women who always cats aspersians on her friend's character.
CAST IN ONE'S LOT WITH: is to resolve to share with him. i
intend to cast in my lot with him.
CAST OFF:repudiate. he has cast off his son, and never wish
to see him again.
TO CAST A GLANCE AT: to see. the whole college casts a
glance at mamta.
CASTLE
TO BUILD CASTLES IN THE AIR: to imagine a fine future for
oneself. he spent all his time building castles in the air.
CAT
THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: the secret is out. the woman
was very careful in keeping her secrets but the cat soon out of the
bag.
WHICH WAY THE CAT JUMPS: what events indicate as a
probability. let us see which way the cat jumps.
RAIN CATS AND DOGS: to rain very hard. it is raining cats
and dogs the streets are flooded.
CATS AND DOG LIFE: full of quarrels. most of the couple
lead a cats and dog life.
SEE WHICH WAY THE CAT JUMPS: to wait and see what is going
to happen before making any definite decision or statement about one's
own position. let us see which way the cat jumps in the matter.
ROOM TO SWING A CAT: the smallest amount of space
necessary. there is not room enough to swing a cat in my house.
CATCH
CATCH UP: seize suddenly. he caught up his gun and dashed out.
CATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN: wrestling. it was a catch-as-catch-can affair.
CATCH FIRE: become ignited.petrol soon catches fire.
CATCH ON: become fashionable or popular. the new style of hair
dressing seems to have caught on.
:
TO CATCH IT: to get into trouble. do not you know school boys
are now allowed to come here? go away before your teacher sees you
will catch it.
:
CATCH AT: is to endeavour to snatch. a drowing man will catch at a straw.
CATCH BY THE HEELS: chase and capture. the thieves ran off but
were soon caught by the heels.
CATCH SIGHT OF: see. i could not catch sight of my friend in the crowd.
CAUSE
FIRST CAUSE:creator of all. god alone is the first cause of life.
FORMAL CAUSE: the essence or idea of a thing. what is the
formal cause of your formal invitaion.
TO MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH: to support to uphold. "all friends
seem to be foresasking you, he said," even ram has made common cause
with your enemies.
SHOW CAUSE: give reason for a certain kind of action. when he
filed a case, he was asked to show cause.
CHALK
BY LONG CHALK: thoroughly, by a great deal. the girl will win
the race by long chalk.
TO CHALK OUT: to plan. let us chalk out programme of work.
NOT BY A LONG CHALK: by no means. you havenot finished yet
by a long chalk.
CHANCE
BY CHANCE: as it falls. by chance he met me in the street.
WITH AN EYE TO THE MAIN CHANCE: thinking about one's own
chances of getting profit. he became a millionaire by making every
decision with an eye to the main chance.
CHANCE UPON: find out by chance. how did you chance upon my address.
SPORTING CHANCE: a chance though not a great one. there is
sporting chance that the boy will win.
CHANCE ONE'S ARM: accept a risk. i wll chance my arm, and
offer rs980/- for the horse.
THE MAIN CHANCE: the gret object. election is the main chance
of a politician.
CHANGE
THE CHANGE OF LIFE: the menopause. the change of life makes
some women very moody.
SMALL CHANGE: coin of small value. i had to give the bus
conductor a five rupee note; i had no small change.
CHANGE ONE'S MIND: idea; adopt new opinion. i changed my
mind several times a day.
CHANGE HANDS: change owners. that house has changed hands
only once in a hundred years.
CHARACTER
OUT OF CHARACTER: the reverse. when she took bribe, she was
out of his character.
IN CHARACTER: action in accord with a person. she gave the
poor woman money and cloths; an action entirely in character.
PUBLIC CHARACTER: a known person. he is a public character.
CHARGE
GIVE IN CHARGE:formally give aperson into the charge of a
policeman. the man caught the thief, and gave him into the police.
CHARGE WITH:formally accuse of some crime.i charge this man
with receiving stolen goods.
IN CHARGE OF: under care of. the child is in the charge of nurse.
CHEAP
DIRT CHEAP: very cheap. the swimming machine is selling dirt cheap.
CHEEK
CHEEK BY JOWL: very near. rich and poor, were sitting cheek
by jowl in the whole room.
CHEER
GOOD CHEER: feast. at lunch they made good cheer.
CHEESE
CHEESE-PARING:meanness. i think it would simply be
cheeseparing to stop buying a weekly news paper.
MAKE CHEESE: to spin round and sink suddenly. the college
girls are making cheese.
CHEESED OFF: bored or depressed. he left his job because he
was cheesed off with it.
CHICKEN
NO CHICKEN: no longer young. miss shakuntle is no ckicken.
she is at least forty five.
CHICKEN FEED:of small value. ten rupees is mere chicken feed
to a man as rich as he is.
NO SPRING CHICKEN: no longer young. he's very young to get
married, but she is no spring chicken.
CHILD
CHILD'S PLAY:something very easy. climbing that hill is
child's play to the experienced mountainer.
WITH CHILD: pregnant. she is with child.
FROM A CHILD:since the days of childhood. i know you from a child.
CHILD WIFE:very young wife. my friend aditya was married to a
child wife.
CHIME
CHIME IS WITH: harmonise with. those red curtains will chime
in with carpet.
CHIME IN:add in support of something already said. "and
mother", chimed in mohan, is certain to agree with father.
CIRCUMSTANCES
IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES:state of affairs. in the
circumstances, we have decided to dismiss the servant.
CLAP
CLAP UP:conclude suddenly. the secretary clapped up his speech.
CLAP EYES ON: to catch sight of . he clapped his eyes on the grils.
CLAP ON: place on energetically and quickly. mohan
clapped his hat on his head, and ran out of the house.
CLAP TRAP:a trick to gain applause. politics is a clap-trap.
CLEAN
CLEAN HANDS:freedom from guilt of corruption. no richman
has clean hands these days.
CLEAN SLATE: a fresh start. let us have a clean slate once more.
CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH: an official document, exists,
ramesh have all recoverd from measles, and have a clean bill of
health.
MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP: to get rid of everything unnecessary
or unwanted. the new manager made a clean sweep of all the lazy people
in the department.
CLEAR
CLEAR OFF: go away. i told the beggar to clear off atonce.
CLEAR OUT: clearly defined. she is pretty with clear out features.
CLEAR UP: make plain and clear. when the weather cleared
up. we went up out for a walk.
CLEAR AWAY: to remove disperse or dissolve. the clouds
cleared away and the stars shone very brightly.
CLEAR THE WAY: remove obstruction. the police cleared the
way for the king.
IN THE CLEAR: having been freed from suspicion. his wife
was suspectede of his murder, but now she's in the clear.
CLOCK
ROUND THE CLOCK: the whole day and the whole night. if we
are to get this book published we will have to work round the clock.
CLOCK OUT: to register time of going. please clock out
when you leave office.
LIKE CLOCK WORK: regularly. the shop runs like clock work.
AGAINST THE CLOCK: trying to overcome a shortage of time.
they worked against the clock to get the newspaper out on time.
CLOSE
CLOSE CALL: narrow escape. the brother of rajesh had a close call.
CLOSE FRIENDS: miser. mohan and ramesh are close friends.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: in private. the trial will take place
behind closed doors.
CLOUD
UNDER A CLOUD: regard with disfavour. the company has been
under a cloud ever since those questions were asked in parliament.
IN THE CLOUDS: in the word of imaginations. his lives in the
clouds these days.
CLOUD CASTLE: day dream. she passes her time in cloud castles.
COAL
HAUL OVER THE COALS: to reprimand or scold very severely. the
headmaster really hauled the child over the coals for being absent
without permission.
BLOW THE COALS:to excite asspions. please do not blow the
coals in the meeting.
CARRY COALS TO NEWCASTLE:take a thing where it is in
abundance. taking her flowers is taking coals to newcastle- her garden
in full of flowers.
COCK
A COCK AND BULL STORY: on unbelievable story. what he has
related is simply a cock and bull story.
COCK SURE:very certain. he was cock sure that the weather
would be fine.
COCK OF THE WALK: the most important person in a group. he is
finding it difficult to adjust to his school after being cock of the
walk at his old one.
GO OFF AT HALF-COCK: not to be successful because of lack of
preparation. the goverment's new schemes went off at half-cock.
COIN
COIN MONEY:produce riches very rapidly. they stop at the
side is coining money.
COLD
IN THE COLD BLOOD:deliberately. the man was murdered in cold blood.
TO CATCH COLD:to get influenza. every body is likely to
catch cold in winter.
COLD COMFORT: no consolation at all. i could tell you that
he is as miserable as you are, but that would be cold comfort.
GET COLD FEET: to lose courage and abandon a plan etc. i
was going to apply for the job but i got cold feet.
COLOUR
WITH FLYING COLOUR: to be successful, win. he passed the
B.A. examination with flying colour.
IN ONE'S TRUE COLOUR: as a person reallyis. for the first
time i saw my brother in his true colour.
UNDER FALSE COLOURS: falsely, colour-flags. the visitor
introduced himself under false colours.
COLOUR BLIND: a person with normal. his old father was
colour blind.
FEAR NO COLOURS: fear no one. i fear no colours except god.
COME
TO COME ROUND: to agree. i hope he will come round to my point.
TO COME OF: to belong to. she comes of a respectable family.
COME AFTER:is to follow as in a line of succession. what
king george3 of england.
COME BY : to come by way of. this parcel came by post not by rail.
COME NEAR: is to approach, to get within reach of. as
soon as i came near him, i saw what he was doing.
COME ON:move more quickly. it came on to rain soon after midnight.
COME WHAT MAY: whatever may happen in the future. come
what may, she will always love me.
COME OVER: become affected by emotion or illness. she
came over dizzy. i donot know what came over me.
COME ACROSS: cross. he came across the road to speak to me.
COME RIGHT: prove itself to be correct. i cannot make
this addition sum come right.
COME UP TO: reach the level of. the water came up to the
top of the bath.
COME ABOUT: to happen ,take place. how did this state of
thing come about?
COME AT: to get within reach of, to attain to. nothing
could come at me from without.
COME DOWN:descend-humbled. woollen came down at calcutta
yesterday.
COME IN :coming to once hand; to enter. the mail has
come in early.
TO COME TO BLOWS: to fight. they soon come to blow.
TO COME UPTO: to reach. the train has come upto light signal.
COMMON
COMMON PARLANCE: in simple,ordinary speech. the german
words are used freely in common parlance.
IN COMMON:shared; possessed by even. they should be
happy, for they have much in common.
COMMON ORIGIN: an origin in common, the same beginning."
many french and english words have common origin."
COMPANY
PART IN COMPANY:separate; part. mohan and i have decided
to part company.
TO KEEP COMPANY: to go together. a man is known by the
company he keeps.
KEEP (SOMEONE) COMPANY: to go,stay et. with(someone). i
will come too and keep you company.
KNOW A MAN BY HIS COMPANY:determine the character of a
man from the quality of his friends. you can know dr gupta from his
company.
COMPARE
BEYOND COMPARE:(very formal) so great, good etc, as to
have no rival. her heauty is beyond compare.
CONCERT
IN CONCERT:all together. the audience shouted in
concert," go home"!
CONDUCT
LINE OF CONDUCT:behaviour. his line of conduct has, from
the first, been that of a man who means to be a master.
CONTEMPT
TO HOLD IN CONTEMPT:scorn,regard with contempt. i hold in
contempt anyone who is afraid to fight for liberty.
CONVERT
CONVERT INTO: change into. all the bank notes were
converted into cash.
COST
AT ALL COSTS: in any case. he would save the life of his
child at all costs; i will help him at all costs.
COUNT
COUNT UPON: to depend upon. you can count upon me for
financial help.
DOES NOT COUNT: does not make any difference. personal
friendship does not count in politics.
COURSE
IN DUE COURSE:ultimately. they fell in love, and in due
course were married.
COW
TILL THE COWS COME HERE: an indefinite period. if we wait
for madan, we shall want till the cows come home.
CRACK
AT CRACK OF DOWN: very easily in the morning. we shall
have to set out for the airport at crack of down.
CRACK A JOKE: to tell a funny story. please do no crack a joke.
CRACK DOWN ON :to take strong action against. the police
are cracking down on vandals in this area.
IN A CRACK: in a moment. i shall be there in a crack.
CRACK OF DOOM: last day; the day of judgement. the house
is built of last till the crack of doom.
CRACK UP:break. poor old ramu is beginning to crack up.
CREDIT
GIVE CREDIT TO: give praise where it should be given .
i must give credit to my wife for the decorations.
CROP
COME A CROPPER:to meet misfortune. that child's so
cheeky he is bound to come a cropper soon.
CROP UP: appear unexpectedly above the surface. weeds
always crop up in our flower bed.
CRY
TO CRY FOR THE MOON: to cry for something impossible. you
have neither money nor influence;so your efforts become a minister is
only cry for the moon.
CRY TO : to call aloud, a loud voice. the people cried to
the king for bread.
CRY FOR: to cry for a thing to desire. you shall cry for
sorrow of heart.
:
CRY DOWN: deprecate,decry, he cries down everything his wife does.
A CRYING SHAME:a very great shame. it is a crying shame
that noone will give the poor child a home.
AFTER CRY: a great distance. calcutta is after cry from bombay.
CRY OFF: to cancel. after promising to come to the party,
she cried off at the last moment.
A FAR CRY FROM: a long way from. this job is a far cry
from the last one, i had.
IN FULL CRY:enthusiastically pursuing something. the women
rushed into the sale in full cry after the bargains.
CUD
CHEW THE CUD: to think deeply to oneself. he sat chewing
the cud for hours, but never wrote anything down.
CUFF
OFF THE CUFF: without planning; unprepared. he spoke
entirely off the cuff, with no notes.
CUP
CUP WAS FULL: misery was complete. after the death of his
father, his cup was full.
IN ONE'S CUPS: drunk. the man was quarrelsome, as he always
was in his cups.
CUT
CUT THE TEETH:to have the teeth grow. the child is cutting
the teeth.
CUT AND COME AGAIN: help oneself freely and repeately.
there were thousands of books to choose from; you can cut and come
again.
CUT A DASH: fashionable person. doesnot ram cut adash in
his new dress.
CUT AND DRIED: already arranged. his plans for leaving the
country were all cut and dried.
CUT AND THRUST: competition. the cut and thrust of big
business frightened him.
CUT IT OUT: to stop(doing something wrong). he kept
interrupting me until i told him to cut it out.
CUT DEAD: refuse to recognise.when she talked to him, he
cut her head.
CUT IN:interpose. please do not cut in when i am taking.
CUT NO ICE:impress. the salesman's arguments cut no ice at all.
CUT OUT: is to shape by cutting. a tailor cuts out a pant
from a web of a cloth.
CUT SHORT: to be brief. you should try to cut short your speech.
TO CUT OFF: to stop. india may not cut off her relation with china.
TO CUT A SORRY FIGURE: to fail badly. he cuts a sorry figure
in his speech.
CUT UP: unhappy; distressed. he was terribly cut up when he
heard the bad news.
CUT AND RUN:hurry away. you will have to cut and run, if you
want to catch the train.
CUT DOWN: reduce. he cut down a tree.
SHORT CUT: a short way. take a short cut to the railway station.
CUT OUT FOR: fit for. he is cut out for a minister.
A PIECE OF CAKE:something very easy. winning the race is not a
piece of cake.
TAKE THE CAKE: win the prize. mr madan's idea that we might buy
a plan and fly to calcutta takes the cake.
YOU CAN'T KEEP YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT: obtain two contradictory
advantages from the same thing. you say you want to win at the races
and at the same time you do not wish to hazard your money on any
horse. i remind you that you cannot both have your cake and eat it.
CALL
TO CALL NAMES: abuse. he called me names and said that he would
never see my face again.
TO CALL ON: to pay a brief visit. i called on mohan at three
o'clock today.
CALL FOR:demand. the police called for more men.
CALL OUT: raise one's voice shout. please call out the name of
the winner.
CALL UP:to remember. i know his face but cannot call up his name.
CALL UPON: to invoke the help of. in bad days you can always call upon me.
CALL FORTH:bring out. the child helplessness called forth all
the best to him.
CALL IN: recall; something has been issued. your mother is very
ill:you should call in a doctor at once.
CALL TO MIND: recalll; remember. i cannot call to mind where i
met you before.
CALL OFF: to summon away; to divert. the crash called off my
attention from the burning house.
TO CALL IN QUESTION: express doubt about. his conduct was called
in question in parliament.
CALL TO: to address him in a loud voice. the dove calls to her mate.
TO CALL AT: to pay visit to some one's house.i called at
surinder's place yesterday.
CANDLE
BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS: to waste money or health. he looks
half dead he is been burning the candle at both ends.
CANDLE POWER: unit of light. this is a fifty candle power bulb.
NOT FIT TO HOLD A CANDLE: not to be compared with. china iss not
to fit to hold a candle against india.
SELL BY THE CANDLE: to offer for sale as long as a small piece
of candle burns itself out. the old scooter was sold by the candle .
CAP
CAP IN HAND: humbly;like a beggar. he went to the minister cap
in hand, to ask for work.
IF THE CAP FITS: if the remark applies to you, take to heart,
he called a liar: well,you should know of the cap fits.
CAP AND BELLS:submissively. she bears cap and bells.
SET ONE'S CAP AT: to captivate. she has set her cap at him.
CAPITAL
CAPITAL SENTENCE: death as punishment. the judge has
pronounced the capital sentence upon the murderer.
CAPITAL ERROR: fatal mistake. to murder of gandhi ji was a
capital error.
CARDS
PUTS ONE'S CARD ON THE TABLE:be absolutely candid. i told him
i was putting my cards on the tablre, and hopped he would put his.
ON THE CARDS: possible; likely to happen. it's on the cards
that i may go to bombay.
PLAY ONE'S CARDS WELL:make the best of chances. you must play
your cards well to win success.
TO SPEAK BY THE CARD: to speak well or to seak to the point.
lala bahadur shastri always spoke by the card.
SURE CARD:sure means to succeed. money is a sure card in the
word now-a-days.
CARE
CARE FOR NOTHING:take no interest in. she cares nothing for dancing.
HAVE A CARE: be careful. have a care of your health.
TAKE CARE: to be careful. take care lest you fall.
TAKE CARE OF: look after. mother takes care of her children.
CARPET
ON THE CARPET: under discussion.. the manager has just called
mohan to his office. i expect he is on the carpet for arriving late.
CARRY
CARRY ONE'S POINT: advance on argument successfully. raj
wanted sita to marry him, and carried his point.
CARRY OFF: to bear away; to kill. small pox has carried off
half the people of the village.
TO CARRY OUT: to execute direction given. india willl surely
carry out the third five year plan.
TO CARRY OUT: to obey. he must carry out your order.
CARRY THE DAY: to gain victory. john's arguments carried the
day for us.
CARRY THE DAY: to be successful. it is not easy to carry the
day in elections.
CARRY THROUGH: complete. she carried through the work in a week.
TO CARRY AWAY: to move the feeling. women are easily carried
away by sentiments.
TO CARRY ON: to promote. what business does this man carry on?
CARRY ALL BEFORE ONE: successful. at college he carried all
before him.
CARRY WEIGHT: to have influence. his opinion carries a lot of
weight around here.
CART
TO PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE: to do something the wrong
way. working at night and sleeping during the day seems very much case
of putting the cart before the horse.
CASE
IN ANY CASE: in all events. in any case i must go.
AS THE CASE MAY BE: may happen . suppose your son becomes a
doctor , or engineer, as the case may be.
TO MAKE OUT A CASE FOR: to defend to find excuses for. donot
always try to make out a case for him.
IN CASE: in case you do not go to bombay , please come here.
IN GOOD CASE: well off. he is in good case now.
IN EVIL CASE: badly off. he is in evil case, these days.
A CASE IN POINT: a relevant example. talking of wasting
money, my buying this car is a case in point.
IN CASE: in the event of; lest. call me in case you need my help.
CASH
HARD CASH:ready money. i always buy things hard cash.
OUT OF CASH: without money. he is out of cash now-a-days.
IN CASH: with money. mohan is always in cash.
CAST
CAST ANCHOR: anchor a ship. the ship cast anchor in chennai.
CAST AN EYE: look. donot cast an eye on beauties.
CAST AWAY: to waste. now i am rich i shall cast away all my
old cloths.
CAST FORTH: rejected. thee clerk was cast forth form ther company.
CAST UP: calculate; add. will you please cast up this
column of figures for me.
CAST DOWN: humble depress, is to throw down. god has power
to cast down and to raise up.
CAST ASPERSIONS ON: comment unfavourably upon. she is a
women who always cats aspersians on her friend's character.
CAST IN ONE'S LOT WITH: is to resolve to share with him. i
intend to cast in my lot with him.
CAST OFF:repudiate. he has cast off his son, and never wish
to see him again.
TO CAST A GLANCE AT: to see. the whole college casts a
glance at mamta.
CASTLE
TO BUILD CASTLES IN THE AIR: to imagine a fine future for
oneself. he spent all his time building castles in the air.
CAT
THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: the secret is out. the woman
was very careful in keeping her secrets but the cat soon out of the
bag.
WHICH WAY THE CAT JUMPS: what events indicate as a
probability. let us see which way the cat jumps.
RAIN CATS AND DOGS: to rain very hard. it is raining cats
and dogs the streets are flooded.
CATS AND DOG LIFE: full of quarrels. most of the couple
lead a cats and dog life.
SEE WHICH WAY THE CAT JUMPS: to wait and see what is going
to happen before making any definite decision or statement about one's
own position. let us see which way the cat jumps in the matter.
ROOM TO SWING A CAT: the smallest amount of space
necessary. there is not room enough to swing a cat in my house.
CATCH
CATCH UP: seize suddenly. he caught up his gun and dashed out.
CATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN: wrestling. it was a catch-as-catch-can affair.
CATCH FIRE: become ignited.petrol soon catches fire.
CATCH ON: become fashionable or popular. the new style of hair
dressing seems to have caught on.
:
TO CATCH IT: to get into trouble. do not you know school boys
are now allowed to come here? go away before your teacher sees you
will catch it.
:
CATCH AT: is to endeavour to snatch. a drowing man will catch at a straw.
CATCH BY THE HEELS: chase and capture. the thieves ran off but
were soon caught by the heels.
CATCH SIGHT OF: see. i could not catch sight of my friend in the crowd.
CAUSE
FIRST CAUSE:creator of all. god alone is the first cause of life.
FORMAL CAUSE: the essence or idea of a thing. what is the
formal cause of your formal invitaion.
TO MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH: to support to uphold. "all friends
seem to be foresasking you, he said," even ram has made common cause
with your enemies.
SHOW CAUSE: give reason for a certain kind of action. when he
filed a case, he was asked to show cause.
CHALK
BY LONG CHALK: thoroughly, by a great deal. the girl will win
the race by long chalk.
TO CHALK OUT: to plan. let us chalk out programme of work.
NOT BY A LONG CHALK: by no means. you havenot finished yet
by a long chalk.
CHANCE
BY CHANCE: as it falls. by chance he met me in the street.
WITH AN EYE TO THE MAIN CHANCE: thinking about one's own
chances of getting profit. he became a millionaire by making every
decision with an eye to the main chance.
CHANCE UPON: find out by chance. how did you chance upon my address.
SPORTING CHANCE: a chance though not a great one. there is
sporting chance that the boy will win.
CHANCE ONE'S ARM: accept a risk. i wll chance my arm, and
offer rs980/- for the horse.
THE MAIN CHANCE: the gret object. election is the main chance
of a politician.
CHANGE
THE CHANGE OF LIFE: the menopause. the change of life makes
some women very moody.
SMALL CHANGE: coin of small value. i had to give the bus
conductor a five rupee note; i had no small change.
CHANGE ONE'S MIND: idea; adopt new opinion. i changed my
mind several times a day.
CHANGE HANDS: change owners. that house has changed hands
only once in a hundred years.
CHARACTER
OUT OF CHARACTER: the reverse. when she took bribe, she was
out of his character.
IN CHARACTER: action in accord with a person. she gave the
poor woman money and cloths; an action entirely in character.
PUBLIC CHARACTER: a known person. he is a public character.
CHARGE
GIVE IN CHARGE:formally give aperson into the charge of a
policeman. the man caught the thief, and gave him into the police.
CHARGE WITH:formally accuse of some crime.i charge this man
with receiving stolen goods.
IN CHARGE OF: under care of. the child is in the charge of nurse.
CHEAP
DIRT CHEAP: very cheap. the swimming machine is selling dirt cheap.
CHEEK
CHEEK BY JOWL: very near. rich and poor, were sitting cheek
by jowl in the whole room.
CHEER
GOOD CHEER: feast. at lunch they made good cheer.
CHEESE
CHEESE-PARING:meanness. i think it would simply be
cheeseparing to stop buying a weekly news paper.
MAKE CHEESE: to spin round and sink suddenly. the college
girls are making cheese.
CHEESED OFF: bored or depressed. he left his job because he
was cheesed off with it.
CHICKEN
NO CHICKEN: no longer young. miss shakuntle is no ckicken.
she is at least forty five.
CHICKEN FEED:of small value. ten rupees is mere chicken feed
to a man as rich as he is.
NO SPRING CHICKEN: no longer young. he's very young to get
married, but she is no spring chicken.
CHILD
CHILD'S PLAY:something very easy. climbing that hill is
child's play to the experienced mountainer.
WITH CHILD: pregnant. she is with child.
FROM A CHILD:since the days of childhood. i know you from a child.
CHILD WIFE:very young wife. my friend aditya was married to a
child wife.
CHIME
CHIME IS WITH: harmonise with. those red curtains will chime
in with carpet.
CHIME IN:add in support of something already said. "and
mother", chimed in mohan, is certain to agree with father.
CIRCUMSTANCES
IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES:state of affairs. in the
circumstances, we have decided to dismiss the servant.
CLAP
CLAP UP:conclude suddenly. the secretary clapped up his speech.
CLAP EYES ON: to catch sight of . he clapped his eyes on the grils.
CLAP ON: place on energetically and quickly. mohan
clapped his hat on his head, and ran out of the house.
CLAP TRAP:a trick to gain applause. politics is a clap-trap.
CLEAN
CLEAN HANDS:freedom from guilt of corruption. no richman
has clean hands these days.
CLEAN SLATE: a fresh start. let us have a clean slate once more.
CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH: an official document, exists,
ramesh have all recoverd from measles, and have a clean bill of
health.
MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP: to get rid of everything unnecessary
or unwanted. the new manager made a clean sweep of all the lazy people
in the department.
CLEAR
CLEAR OFF: go away. i told the beggar to clear off atonce.
CLEAR OUT: clearly defined. she is pretty with clear out features.
CLEAR UP: make plain and clear. when the weather cleared
up. we went up out for a walk.
CLEAR AWAY: to remove disperse or dissolve. the clouds
cleared away and the stars shone very brightly.
CLEAR THE WAY: remove obstruction. the police cleared the
way for the king.
IN THE CLEAR: having been freed from suspicion. his wife
was suspectede of his murder, but now she's in the clear.
CLOCK
ROUND THE CLOCK: the whole day and the whole night. if we
are to get this book published we will have to work round the clock.
CLOCK OUT: to register time of going. please clock out
when you leave office.
LIKE CLOCK WORK: regularly. the shop runs like clock work.
AGAINST THE CLOCK: trying to overcome a shortage of time.
they worked against the clock to get the newspaper out on time.
CLOSE
CLOSE CALL: narrow escape. the brother of rajesh had a close call.
CLOSE FRIENDS: miser. mohan and ramesh are close friends.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: in private. the trial will take place
behind closed doors.
CLOUD
UNDER A CLOUD: regard with disfavour. the company has been
under a cloud ever since those questions were asked in parliament.
IN THE CLOUDS: in the word of imaginations. his lives in the
clouds these days.
CLOUD CASTLE: day dream. she passes her time in cloud castles.
COAL
HAUL OVER THE COALS: to reprimand or scold very severely. the
headmaster really hauled the child over the coals for being absent
without permission.
BLOW THE COALS:to excite asspions. please do not blow the
coals in the meeting.
CARRY COALS TO NEWCASTLE:take a thing where it is in
abundance. taking her flowers is taking coals to newcastle- her garden
in full of flowers.
COCK
A COCK AND BULL STORY: on unbelievable story. what he has
related is simply a cock and bull story.
COCK SURE:very certain. he was cock sure that the weather
would be fine.
COCK OF THE WALK: the most important person in a group. he is
finding it difficult to adjust to his school after being cock of the
walk at his old one.
GO OFF AT HALF-COCK: not to be successful because of lack of
preparation. the goverment's new schemes went off at half-cock.
COIN
COIN MONEY:produce riches very rapidly. they stop at the
side is coining money.
COLD
IN THE COLD BLOOD:deliberately. the man was murdered in cold blood.
TO CATCH COLD:to get influenza. every body is likely to
catch cold in winter.
COLD COMFORT: no consolation at all. i could tell you that
he is as miserable as you are, but that would be cold comfort.
GET COLD FEET: to lose courage and abandon a plan etc. i
was going to apply for the job but i got cold feet.
COLOUR
WITH FLYING COLOUR: to be successful, win. he passed the
B.A. examination with flying colour.
IN ONE'S TRUE COLOUR: as a person reallyis. for the first
time i saw my brother in his true colour.
UNDER FALSE COLOURS: falsely, colour-flags. the visitor
introduced himself under false colours.
COLOUR BLIND: a person with normal. his old father was
colour blind.
FEAR NO COLOURS: fear no one. i fear no colours except god.
COME
TO COME ROUND: to agree. i hope he will come round to my point.
TO COME OF: to belong to. she comes of a respectable family.
COME AFTER:is to follow as in a line of succession. what
king george3 of england.
COME BY : to come by way of. this parcel came by post not by rail.
COME NEAR: is to approach, to get within reach of. as
soon as i came near him, i saw what he was doing.
COME ON:move more quickly. it came on to rain soon after midnight.
COME WHAT MAY: whatever may happen in the future. come
what may, she will always love me.
COME OVER: become affected by emotion or illness. she
came over dizzy. i donot know what came over me.
COME ACROSS: cross. he came across the road to speak to me.
COME RIGHT: prove itself to be correct. i cannot make
this addition sum come right.
COME UP TO: reach the level of. the water came up to the
top of the bath.
COME ABOUT: to happen ,take place. how did this state of
thing come about?
COME AT: to get within reach of, to attain to. nothing
could come at me from without.
COME DOWN:descend-humbled. woollen came down at calcutta
yesterday.
COME IN :coming to once hand; to enter. the mail has
come in early.
TO COME TO BLOWS: to fight. they soon come to blow.
TO COME UPTO: to reach. the train has come upto light signal.
COMMON
COMMON PARLANCE: in simple,ordinary speech. the german
words are used freely in common parlance.
IN COMMON:shared; possessed by even. they should be
happy, for they have much in common.
COMMON ORIGIN: an origin in common, the same beginning."
many french and english words have common origin."
COMPANY
PART IN COMPANY:separate; part. mohan and i have decided
to part company.
TO KEEP COMPANY: to go together. a man is known by the
company he keeps.
KEEP (SOMEONE) COMPANY: to go,stay et. with(someone). i
will come too and keep you company.
KNOW A MAN BY HIS COMPANY:determine the character of a
man from the quality of his friends. you can know dr gupta from his
company.
COMPARE
BEYOND COMPARE:(very formal) so great, good etc, as to
have no rival. her heauty is beyond compare.
CONCERT
IN CONCERT:all together. the audience shouted in
concert," go home"!
CONDUCT
LINE OF CONDUCT:behaviour. his line of conduct has, from
the first, been that of a man who means to be a master.
CONTEMPT
TO HOLD IN CONTEMPT:scorn,regard with contempt. i hold in
contempt anyone who is afraid to fight for liberty.
CONVERT
CONVERT INTO: change into. all the bank notes were
converted into cash.
COST
AT ALL COSTS: in any case. he would save the life of his
child at all costs; i will help him at all costs.
COUNT
COUNT UPON: to depend upon. you can count upon me for
financial help.
DOES NOT COUNT: does not make any difference. personal
friendship does not count in politics.
COURSE
IN DUE COURSE:ultimately. they fell in love, and in due
course were married.
COW
TILL THE COWS COME HERE: an indefinite period. if we wait
for madan, we shall want till the cows come home.
CRACK
AT CRACK OF DOWN: very easily in the morning. we shall
have to set out for the airport at crack of down.
CRACK A JOKE: to tell a funny story. please do no crack a joke.
CRACK DOWN ON :to take strong action against. the police
are cracking down on vandals in this area.
IN A CRACK: in a moment. i shall be there in a crack.
CRACK OF DOOM: last day; the day of judgement. the house
is built of last till the crack of doom.
CRACK UP:break. poor old ramu is beginning to crack up.
CREDIT
GIVE CREDIT TO: give praise where it should be given .
i must give credit to my wife for the decorations.
CROP
COME A CROPPER:to meet misfortune. that child's so
cheeky he is bound to come a cropper soon.
CROP UP: appear unexpectedly above the surface. weeds
always crop up in our flower bed.
CRY
TO CRY FOR THE MOON: to cry for something impossible. you
have neither money nor influence;so your efforts become a minister is
only cry for the moon.
CRY TO : to call aloud, a loud voice. the people cried to
the king for bread.
CRY FOR: to cry for a thing to desire. you shall cry for
sorrow of heart.
:
CRY DOWN: deprecate,decry, he cries down everything his wife does.
A CRYING SHAME:a very great shame. it is a crying shame
that noone will give the poor child a home.
AFTER CRY: a great distance. calcutta is after cry from bombay.
CRY OFF: to cancel. after promising to come to the party,
she cried off at the last moment.
A FAR CRY FROM: a long way from. this job is a far cry
from the last one, i had.
IN FULL CRY:enthusiastically pursuing something. the women
rushed into the sale in full cry after the bargains.
CUD
CHEW THE CUD: to think deeply to oneself. he sat chewing
the cud for hours, but never wrote anything down.
CUFF
OFF THE CUFF: without planning; unprepared. he spoke
entirely off the cuff, with no notes.
CUP
CUP WAS FULL: misery was complete. after the death of his
father, his cup was full.
IN ONE'S CUPS: drunk. the man was quarrelsome, as he always
was in his cups.
CUT
CUT THE TEETH:to have the teeth grow. the child is cutting
the teeth.
CUT AND COME AGAIN: help oneself freely and repeately.
there were thousands of books to choose from; you can cut and come
again.
CUT A DASH: fashionable person. doesnot ram cut adash in
his new dress.
CUT AND DRIED: already arranged. his plans for leaving the
country were all cut and dried.
CUT AND THRUST: competition. the cut and thrust of big
business frightened him.
CUT IT OUT: to stop(doing something wrong). he kept
interrupting me until i told him to cut it out.
CUT DEAD: refuse to recognise.when she talked to him, he
cut her head.
CUT IN:interpose. please do not cut in when i am taking.
CUT NO ICE:impress. the salesman's arguments cut no ice at all.
CUT OUT: is to shape by cutting. a tailor cuts out a pant
from a web of a cloth.
CUT SHORT: to be brief. you should try to cut short your speech.
TO CUT OFF: to stop. india may not cut off her relation with china.
TO CUT A SORRY FIGURE: to fail badly. he cuts a sorry figure
in his speech.
CUT UP: unhappy; distressed. he was terribly cut up when he
heard the bad news.
CUT AND RUN:hurry away. you will have to cut and run, if you
want to catch the train.
CUT DOWN: reduce. he cut down a tree.
SHORT CUT: a short way. take a short cut to the railway station.
CUT OUT FOR: fit for. he is cut out for a minister.
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