Read the two sentences below. One uses an idiom and one uses literal language. The flu had me feeling tired and sickly. Here are some other examples of idioms and their meanings.
Read the two sentences below. One uses an idiom and one uses literal language. The flu had me feeling tired and sickly. Here are some other examples of idioms and their meanings.
Read the two sentences below. One uses an idiom and one uses literal language. The flu had me feeling tired and sickly. Here are some other examples of idioms and their meanings.
Read the two sentences below. One uses an idiom and one uses literal language. The flu had me feeling tired and sickly. Here are some other examples of idioms and their meanings.
An idiom is an expression that has a meaning different from the meaning of its individual words. Read the two sentences below. One uses an idiom and one uses literal language. The flu had me feeling under the weather. The flu had me feeling tired and sickly. Here are some other examples of idioms and their meanings: Idiom
Meaning
all thumbs get cold feet on the ball blow ones stack
very clumsy, especially with ones hands
become timid; be afraid of doing something new alert; intelligent; efficient get very angry
A. Idioms in Action Read the words and phrases below and the sentences that follow. Complete each sentence by writing a literal word or phrase that has the same meaning of the idiom shown below the blank. A. were correct B. make him conceited C. irritates me D. write or call
E. fail or succeed F. ran G. learning how to ride
H. overjoyed I. bankrupt J. visit
1. After we won the game, most of the fans were walking on air. _______ 2. All this noise gets on my nerves. _______ 3. I hope Jay will stay in touch when he moves to a different town. _______
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4. We will sink or swim with this project; theres no in between. _______
5. The people who started up the new dot-com ended up stone broke. _______ 6. My little sister is finally getting the hang of her new bicycle. _______ 7. The escaped robbers suddenly hightailed it for the woods. _______ 8. All the flattery began to turn his head. _______ 9. I hate it when people drop in without calling first. _______ 10. You hit the nail on the head with your answer to the third question. _______
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More Practice
B. Vocabulary in Action Underline ten different idioms in the sentences below. Then define each one using the context of the sentence to help you. 1. Georgia has a green thumb and shares her vegetables with us. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. Okay, give me your ear because Im only going to say this once! Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. Pull up a chair and take a load off. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. I think you will get your hands dirty if you get involved in that questionable business. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. Get this straight, okay; Im in charge of this project. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. Rosa is really blue since her cat died. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. Dont give me the runaround, just do the work on time. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. It was hard to keep a straight face when Ken imitated the comic. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 9. Alanna got the nod to play shortstop. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________ 10. After a short rest I caught my second wind and continued the climb. Meaning: ___________________________________________________________________________
C. Vocabulary Challenge Rewrite each sentence, replacing the underlined word or phrase with one of the following idioms. Then write a short meaning. on the tip of his tongue
getting my feet wet
1. Martin had the answer ready, but Lily said it first.
Idiom: ________________________________ Meaning: ______________________________ 2. Leslie was spending all her time preparing for the holidays. Idiom: ________________________________ Meaning: ______________________________
under my belt
busy as a bee
3. Im just getting ready, so Id like some tips
about the job. Idiom: ________________________________ Meaning: ______________________________ 4. I felt better when Id gotten a hot meal inside me. Idiom: ________________________________ Meaning: ______________________________
