Quiz

Idiom		Meaning	Example Sentence
at the drop of a hat		without needing any advance notice	My Grandma will babysit for anyone at the drop of a hat.
(have a) bee in one's bonnet		something that is annoying someone	Milan has had a bee in his bonnet all day, but he won't tell me what's wrong.
below the belt		beyond what is fair or socially acceptable	His comment about Manfred's handicap was below the belt.
bursting at the seams		not fitting anymore	I ate too much. I'm bursting at the seams in these jeans.
caught with one's pants down		unprepared	My students caught me with my pants down on Monday. I forgot about the field trip.
(have a) card up one's sleeve		have a secret or reserve plan	I think Josh has a card up his sleeve cause he wants me to wear a dress to the fast-food restaurant.
buckle down		work extra hard	It's almost exam time, so I need to buckle down this weekend.
burn a hole in one's pocket		money that one is tempted to spend	Let's go to the mall after school. There's a hundred dollar bill burning a hole in my pocket.
dress to kill, dress to the nines		dress in nice or sexy clothes	My cousin was dressed to kill on her birthday.
fit like a glove		fit perfectly (tight to one's body)	Anita's prom dress fits me like a glove.
fine-tooth comb		in great detail, extremely carefully	The police looked for fingerprints with a fine-tooth comb.
fly by the seat of one's pants		do by instinct, not by plan	I had never taught art to kids before. I had to fly by the seat of my pants.
handle with kid gloves		treat delicately	Please handle my grandmother's tea set with kid gloves.
hand-me-down		used clothing	We buy hand-me-down skates because the kids' feet grow so quickly.
hat trick		three goals scored by one person	The fans cheered when the hockey player got a hat trick.
in one's birthday suit		in the nude	The swimmers in the lake were in their birthday suits.
keep one's shirt on		try to stay calm	I know you're in a hurry, but please keep your shirt on.
keep something zipped		keep something a secret	We know we're having a boy, but we're keeping it zipped from the grandparents.
off the cuff		said without planning	I didn't have a speech prepared. Everything I said was off the cuff.
pull up one's socks		try harder	Marco will have to pull up his socks if he wants to make the football team.
put a sock in it		stop talking	Put a sock in it! I'm trying to tell a story.
put one's thinking cap on		think hard in order to solve a problem	I can't remember where the Christmas decorations are. I'll have to put my thinking cap on.
put oneself in someone else's shoes		imagine what it would be like to be in someone else's situation	Put yourself in Amber's shoes. She doesn't even have a car to drive.
ride one's coattails		let someone else do all of the work	It was a group project, but everyone rode Andrew's coattails.
roll up one's sleeves		get down to hard work	The celebrities rolled up their sleeves and washed cars for charity.
take one's hat off to someone		recognize or honour someone for something	I take my hat off to Jim. The doctors said he'd never walk, and he just ran a marathon.
wear one's heart on one's sleeve		display emotions openly	My Dad's not afraid to cry. He always wears his heart on his sleeve.
wear the trousers		be in charge, make the rules	By the looks of things, the kids wear the trousers in this household.

Clothing Idioms Quiz

1	The lineup was so long I had to tell my brother to keep his hat shoe shirt coat on.	Click for answer shirt
2	The goalkeeper is going to have to pull up his socks hand me down burst at the seams keep it zipped if he wants to win them the tournament.	Click for answer pull up his socks
3	These are my favourite jeans because they pull up my socks handle with kid gloves wear the trousers fit like a glove .	Click for answer fit like a glove
4	The boss is going to roll up his cuff pants sleeves socks and cook pancakes for all of us.	Click for answer sleeves
5	I wouldn't trust Alain to help you. He always talks through his cuff hat coat socks about favours.	Click for answer hat
6	Jody gets a bee in her knickers shoe scarf bonnet when the kids don't put their toys away.	Click for answer bonnet
7	My father always has a pen card coin rock up his sleeve at Christmas time. Last year he took us to Hawaii.	Click for answer card
8	I was dressed to the nines in someone else's shoes with my thinking cap on bursting at the seams after the buffet dinner.	Click for answer bursting at the seams
9	I'm going to have to ride someone else's coattails handle with kid gloves buckle down keep it zipped if I want to get this essay done in time.	Click for answer buckle down
10	Maria wears the shirt hat sleeves trousers . She tells Steve where and when he can go out.	Click for answer trousers