3.

In prosperity and adversity

4. In despair and failure

Idioms asked in SS CGL
Select the most appropriate
2022
meaning of the given idiom.
A green horn
Select the most appropriate
1. Uneducated person
meaning of the given idiom.
2. Inexperienced person
Like a cakewalk
3. Clever person
1. Smooth surface
4. Skilled person
2. Pleasant experience
3. Easy task 4. Active
Choose the correct meaning of the
Select the most appropriate
given idiom.
meaning of the given idiom.
Bag and baggage
All eyes
1. With burden
1. Watching with anger
2. Without any aim
2. Watching eagerly
3. Without happiness
3. Watching with no interest 4.
Not watching at all 4. With all of one’s possessions
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom
Choose the correct meaning of the
that can be substituted in the
given idiom.
following sentence.
In weal and woe
He was murdered in cold blood.
1. In sad and gloomy days
1. in cold weather
2. In happiness and good times
2. deliberately 1. Make people meeting first time
feel uncomfortable
3. when blood was cold
2. Make people meeting first time
4. regretfully
feel sad
3. Make people meeting first time
Choose the correct meaning of the feel more detached
given idiom.
4. Make people meeting first time
A skeleton in the cupboard feel more comfortable
1. A popular fact which is not Select the most appropriate
hidden meaning of the given idiom.
2. A popular fact to be kept secret Beat around the bush
3. An embarrassing fact not to be 1. Avoid praising someone and
kept secret demean
4. An embarrassing fact to be kept 2. Avoid the main point by talking
secret in a roundabout way
3. Avoid saying what you mean,
usually because it is not funny
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom. 4. Avoid using foul words to make
someone uncomfortable
Fly into a passion
1. To be aggressive at times
Select the most appropriate
2. To become aggressive often
meaning of the given idiom.
3. To become angry suddenly 4.
To smell a rat
To be always angry
1. To have reason to know the
Select the most appropriate
presence of a rat
meaning of the given idiom.
2. To have reason to suspect
Break the ice
3. To know the smell of a rat 1. In a poor state
4. To learn the smell of a rat 2. To put a good impression
Select the most appropriate 3. To put a bad impression
meaning of the given idiom.
4. Bad physical form
Fair and square
Select the most appropriate
1. Honestly meaning of the given idiom.
2. Fair-skinned Bear the palm
3. Being vague 1. To bring joyful news
4. Good looking 2. To lose a game
3. To advocate peace
Select the most appropriate 4. To be a winner
meaning of the underlined idiom
Select the most appropriate
in the given sentence.
meaning of the underlined idiom
Being an ardent professional, the in the given sentence.
lawyer always kept his clients at
“Just add a bit of cheese to your
an arm’s length.
pasta and Bob’s your uncle!”
1. Away from each other Reena suggested to me over
== dinner last night.
2. At a distance 1. It becomes easily and quickly
achievable
3. Under wraps
2. It changes the appearance
4. Alert and prepared
3. It ruins everything 4. It
changes nothing
Select the most appropriate
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom.
meaning of the underlined idiom
Cut a poor figure in the given sentence.
When the District Attorney asked 2. minding one’s p’s and q’s
the convict about details of the
3. picking holes in one’s cot
day of the crime, he started
beating about the bush. 4. Himalayan blunder

1. Being excessively aggressive Select the most appropriate idiom

2. Accusing others of the crime that can substitute the italicised
words in the given sentence.
3. Speaking in a confusing manner
without giving a correct answer I have been a vegetarian for a very
long time.
4. Trying to invoke sympathy
1. donkey’s years
Select the idiom that can correctly
replace the underlined part of the 2. duck in the thunderstorm
given sentence.
3. die in harness
I know she really wants the
4. Damocles’ sword
promotion, but she really hit me
below the hand by telling the boss Select the most appropriate
about my personal problems. meaning of the given idiom.

1. hit me the bricks 2. hit In hot waters

me below the books 1. To be in trouble 2. To dip in
3. hit me below the bottle 4. hit me hot water
below the belt 3. To be in a hot climate
4. To feel relaxed
Select the most appropriate idiom Select the idiom from the given
that can substitute the italicised options that gives the most
words in the given sentence. appropriate meaning of the
He was sacked from his job highlighted text in the following
because of a grave error on his sentence.
part. The announcement of the new
1. raining cats and dogs tourism policy of the government
has made some people excited or Select the most appropriate
interested. meaning of the given idiom.
1. Pull out all the stops 2. Run On the ball
around in circles
1. To be alert
3. Quicken the pulse
2. Doing a bad job
4. Reach for the moon
3. Doing an average job
Select the most appropriate
4. To be lazy
meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence. Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom.
The lecture by the French
professor seemed Latin and Greek When the war breaks out, all the
to the young students. war mongering social media
activists become yellow bellies.
1. Interesting 2. Lucid
1. Zealots
3. Unbiased
2. Cowards
4. Incomprehensible
3. Sceptics 4. Upset
Select the most appropriate idiom
stomachs
that can substitute the italicised
words in the given sentence. Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom.
Some people still feel that they
have very little freedom to be A rolling stone gathers no moss
innovative in their work.
1. A person who settles for a short
1. elbow room time and runs from place to

2. an old lady place, enjoying his freedom

3. an old head on young shoulders 2. A person who does not settle

anywhere for a short time, and is
4. to make a pile
always searching for gold
3. A person who settles for a long 4. an olive branch
time and leads a boring and
useless life
Select the most appropriate
4. A person who does not settle in
meaning of the underlined idiom
one place for a long time, does not
in the given sentence.
gain wealth, name or fame
Nobody in the conference seemed
Select the most appropriate
to believe the cock and bull story
meaning of the underlined idiom
about such a major movie star.
that can be substituted in the
following sentence. 1. Factual story

The young boy was born with a 2. Wildly exaggerated or falsified

silver spoon in his mouth. story

1. born with a spoon stuck in his 3. Interesting story

mouth
4. Secretive story
2. born to riches and luxury
3. born with a spoon that was not
of gold
Select the most appropriate
4. born to not so rich parents
meaning of the underlined idiom
Select the most appropriate idiom that can be substituted in the
that can substitute the italicised following sentence.
words in the given sentence.
The game is now in full swing.
The world needs a global leader
1. very passive
who can hold out a gesture of
2. very uninteresting
peace
3. playing on the swings
1. mother wit
4. very active
2. halcyon days
Select the most appropriate
3. a grass widow meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence.
The MD of the company let the cat 1. To begin again
out of the bag by telling her
2. To stop finally
secretary, who got the much
coveted promotion. 3. To plant a tree

1. openly confess 4. To take a break

2. Creating a false story

3. To allow a secret to be known, Select the most appropriate
usually without intending to meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence.
4. secretly confide
A fair-weather friend can never be
Select the most appropriate
trusted in the times of exigency.
meaning of the given idiom.
1. A close friend
Take something at face value
2. A pen friend
1. Accept something as it looks
without thinking about whether it 3. A selfish friend
might, in fact, not be quite what it
4. An old acquaintance
appears
Select the most appropriate
2. According to the appearance of
meaning of the given idiom.
something
Cudgel one’s brain
3. Not laugh or change your
expression even though you want 1. Thinking about a debate
to laugh 2. To think hard
4. Show that you do not like 3. Not to think
something by making an
unpleasant expression 4. To overthink

Choose the correct meaning of the Select the most appropriate

given idiom. meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence.
Turn over a new leaf
I bought some extra copies from Select the most appropriate
the stationery shop. These may meaning of the given idiom.
come in handy during exams.
Someone’s heart is in the right
1. Be useful place
2. Cause trouble 1. Suddenly feel so excited or
frightened that your heart beats
3. Be sold
faster
4. Bring luck 2. Change your opinion or the way
you feel
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom. 3. Share secret worries with
someone else
Play it by ear
4. Someone is good even if they
1. To do something without
sometimes behave in a wrong
special preparation
manner
2. To plan
Choose the correct meaning of the
3. To listen carefully given idiom.
4. To improve Down the tubes
1. Minting money
Select the most appropriate 2. Failing completely
meaning of the given idiom.
3. Being informal
On cloud nine
4. Going to swim
1. Flying
Select the most appropriate
2. Floating meaning of the underlined idiom
3. Dreaming that can be substituted in the
following sentence.
4. Very happy
I begged him to reconsider my
application, but he put his foot
down.
1. stamped his foot down Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom.
2. agreed to reconsider
The new intern is a greenhorn and
3. refused to yield
thus his superiors take advantage
4. did not run of him.
1. Inexperienced 2. Jealous
Select the most appropriate 3. Overenthusiastic
meaning of the given idiom.
4. Sick
Fair-weather friends
Select the most appropriate
1. A person who is friends with meaning of the underlined idiom
you during the night in the given sentence.
2. A person who is friends with After several years of cheating on
you every day his PhD work, the candidate finally
had to face the music and lose the
3. A person whose friendship
opportunity.
cannot be relied on in times
1. Accept ignorance
4. A person who is friends with
you in difficult times 2. To accept unpleasant
consequences
Select the sentence that uses the
idiom correctly. 3. Choose another alternative that
is uninteresting
1. Ranita was not selected for the
job as she got cold feet. 4. Be exposed
2. Walking bare feet on grass gave
him cold feet.
Select the most appropriate
3. After too much cycling Arun got meaning of the given idiom.
cold feet.
Lose your marbles
4. One can swim easily with cold
1. To go insane
feet.
2. To handle stress 3. Forward and backward
3. To lower down anger 4. Upward and downward
4. To be patient Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom.
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the given idiom. Eat humble pie
He's sitting on the fence 1. To apologise humbly
1. He can't stop trying 2. To live in penury
2. He can't do anything seriously 3. To live a life of humility
3. He can't hide himself 4. To enjoy life to the fullest
4. He can't take a decision Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom
Select the most appropriate
in the given sentence.
meaning of the underlined idiom.
After the government
The sailor tells great tales of
interventions, the enrolment and
adventure that you should take
retention of female students have
with a grain of salt.
increased by leaps and bounds.
1. Great admiration
1. Systematically
2. Great patriotism
2. Swiftly
3. Not take too seriously
3. Intermittently
4. Be afraid to refrain from
4. Gradually
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom Select the most appropriate
in the given sentence. meaning of the given idiom.
The anxious duke was found Red tape
strolling in the garden to and fro.
1. Catch someone at the moment
1. From north to south 2. they are doing something wrong
From west to east
2. Official rules and bureaucracy Select the most appropriate
that make it difficult to do meaning of the given idiom.
something
Hold water
3. Have a negative amount in your
1. A diluted argument
bank balance
2. Appear to be of no value
4. Something unimportant that
takes attention away from the 3. Stop emphasising a point
main subject
4. Appear to be valid or
Select the most appropriate reasonable
meaning of the underlined idiom
Select the most appropriate idiom
that can be substituted in the
that can substitute the italicised
following sentence.
words in the given sentence.
Let us know what you think in
My mother said, “Make consistent
black and white.
progress for success.”
1. in darkness and light 2. verbally
1. slow and steady 2. make a habit
3. in writing
3. in and outs 4. do’s and
4. in black and white paint don’ts

Select the most appropriate Select the most appropriate

meaning of the given idiom. meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence.
Steer clear of
The intern aspired to understand
1. Show someone how to do a job
the ins and outs of the operating
or activity
systems of the institution.
2. Be very easy
1. Stern regulations
3. Avoid someone or something
2. Prior conditions
because it is dangerous for you
3. Elaborate theories
4. Be mentally and physically
exhausted 4. Detailed description
Select the most appropriate
meaning of the underlined idiom
in the given sentence.
I must tell you that it all went pear-
shaped after you left the meeting
in the middle.
1. Went terribly wrong
2. Became very entertaining
3. Became tragic 4. Turned
out fine
Select the idiom from the given
options that gives the most
appropriate meaning of the
highlighted text in the following
sentence.
A village fair is a place that
contains many interesting objects.
People of all age groups eagerly
wait for this.
1. Road to Damascus
2. Ivory tower
3. Aladdin’s cave
4. Jewel in the crown