IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS

LET’S PLAY WITH IDIOMS!

Do you want to learn and practice some idiomatic expressions? Try to fill in the blanks below by using the context and the given definitions for each.

 

    1.   There is no g________saying (*meaning “to argue, oppose, question, disprove, negate …”) the importance of education.

 

    2.   (*In a negative context) The press was all _____________ the politician after the scandal, asking intrusive questions. (*meaning “to berate, upbraid, or verbally attack someone”)

 

    3.   Early this morning, the dense fog dis____________ the silhouette of all the passing cars on the road. (*meaning “to make something indistinct or unclear, often by obscuring it with a mist or fog”)

 

    4.   Nasty politicians are using money to bu_______________ their image and reputations. (*meaning to “polish ….)b

 

    5.   Are you seriously calling this shabby collection of br__________-a-brac your cherish box? (*meaning “little objects without any purpose except decoration”)

 

    6.   When her condescending parents found out about their daughter’s boyfriend who was financially challenged, they harr_____________. (*meaning “To clear one's throat in a deliberate, often self-important or disapproving way”)

 

    7.   Despotism, tyranny, and injustice have had to retreat, in order to make way for the unali____________________ rights of man. (*meaning “a right that cannot be taken away or surrendered”)

 

    8.   As the U.S. President Trump threatens the world by significantly increasing the tariff, many countries are bracing themselves and getting ready to adopt the tit for __________ kind of retaliation. (*meaning “the infliction of an injury or insult in return for one that one has suffered”)

 

    9.   As the fav_______________ breeze was whispering through the leaves of a huge tree in the backyard, Ted was falling asleep in his favorite hammock. (*meaning of “mild, gentle, or favorable, often used to describe a gentle breeze or pleasant weather”)

 

    10. Janette doesn’t like her new coworker and his cont__________ attitude. (*meaning “causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial)

 

 

Answer Keys  

    1.  gainsay

    2.  all over

    3.  dislimned

    4.  burnish

    5.  bric-a-brac

    6.  harrumphed

    7.  unalienable

    8.  tit for tat

    9.  favonian

    10. contentious