List-16
1. To upset the apple cart
Meaning: –to disturb the peace
Use:-His tricks have upset the apple can of his rival.
2. Apple pie order
Meaning: –in perfect order)
Use:- keep all my things in an apple pie order.
3. To be tied to his mother’s apron strings
Meaning: –Â to be under the control and influence of his mother
Use:–As he is tied to his mother’s apron strings, he cannot take any decision by himself.
4. Arcadian life
Meaning: –A blissfully happy rural and simple life
Use:-People living in big cities are not acquainted with the Arcadian life.
5. To keep a person at arm’s length
Meaning: –Â to avoid coming in contact with a person
Use:-Â I always keep selfish friends at arm’s length.
6. To take up arms
Meaning: –to fight; to go to war
Use:-Bhagat Singh took up arms against the British Rule.
7. To receive with open arms
Meaning: –to welcome cordially
Use: –Â My friend in Mumbai received me with open arms.
8. Attic salt [refined subtle wit
Meaning: –for which the Athenians were famous
Use:-Among the scholarly circles, he is known as a man of attic salt.
9. To cleanse the Aegean stables
Meaning: –to effect great improvements in government, or to abolish great abuses
Use:- To remove corruption is like cleansing the Augean stables.
10. To have an axe to grind
Meaning: –to have some selfish objective in view
Use:-Behind his offer of help, he has an axe to grind.
11. Not to know B from a bull’s foot
Meaning: –to be ignorant of even the simplest things
Use:-He cannot succeed in life as he does not know B from bull’s foot.
12. A Babel
Meaning: –A confused noise
Use:-I was disturbed by a Babel of voices from the next room.
13. lb break the back of anything
Meaning: –to perform the most difficult part of it
Use:-Â I have broken the backbone of the problem.
14. To backbite a person
Meaning: –to slander or to speak ill of someone
Use:-He is in the habit of backbiting others.
15. To get one’s back up
Meaning: –to rouse one’s anger
Use:-By making a noise, the students got the teacher’s back up.
16. He is the backbone of his team
Meaning: –he is the one on whom his team mainly relies for its successes
Use:-Viral is the backbone of our cricket team.
17. He has no backbone
Meaning: –he has no will of his own
Use: –A henpecked husband has no backbone.
18. Backstairs influence
Meaning: – the influence exerted in an underhand or clandestine manner
Use:-He went scot-free it the case because of his backstairs influence.
19. To cause bad blood
Meaning: –to cause strife and enmity
Use:-The land dispute has caused bad blood between the two brothers.
20. A bad egg
Meaning: –a bad penny a worthless fellow
Use:-He has proved a bad egg/penny in his family.
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