Idioms of disclosure, conflict and adversity

C2 · 100 entries · Five themes

Idioms of disclosure, conflict and adversity

Created by , British English teacher.

Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.

1. Revealing and concealing information (20 entries)
  1. read someone like a book
  2. lay one's cards on the table
  3. keep something under wraps
  4. play one's cards close to one's chest
  5. have a trick up one's sleeve
  6. come out in the wash
  7. keep something under one's hat
  8. take a claim with a grain of salt
  9. be economical with the truth
  10. come out of the woodwork
  11. let the mask slip
  12. blow the lid off something
  13. tip one's hand
  14. hear something straight from the horse's mouth
  15. give the game away
  16. see through a pretence
  17. smell a rat
  18. shed light on a discrepancy
  19. let the cat out of the bag
  20. put the pieces of the puzzle together
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2. Conflict and cooperation (20 entries)
  1. pour oil on troubled waters
  2. patch up one's differences
  3. talk past one another
  4. draw opposing sides together
  5. lock horns with
  6. work at cross purposes
  7. cross swords over a proposal
  8. find a face-saving compromise
  9. nip a dispute in the bud
  10. close ranks around someone
  11. call off hostilities
  12. open a fresh line of communication
  13. seek an amicable settlement
  14. be at each other's throats
  15. have words with someone
  16. reopen old wounds
  17. have a run-in with
  18. dig in one's heels
  19. rivalry
  20. reach an uneasy accommodation
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3. Fortune and adversity (20 entries)
  1. snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
  2. be thrown in at the deep end
  3. come unstuck
  4. be on one's last legs
  5. come within a whisker of
  6. ride out the storm
  7. come into one's own
  8. fall by the wayside
  9. fall at the final hurdle
  10. turn the tide in one's favour
  11. rest on one's laurels
  12. be out of one's depth
  13. hit one's stride
  14. prove one's mettle
  15. pull something out of the bag
  16. go down to the wire
  17. be a hostage to fortune
  18. keep one's head above water
  19. miss out by a hair's breadth
  20. come a cropper
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4. Judgement and perspective (20 entries)
  1. misguided
  2. probative
  3. unimpeachably
  4. unimpeachable
  5. unfounded
  6. unassailable
  7. implausible
  8. defeasible
  9. unexceptionable
  10. ungrounded
  11. incontrovertibly
  12. contestable
  13. an unfalsifiable premise
  14. irreproachable
  15. circumstantial
  16. misleadingly plausible
  17. beggar belief
  18. weigh in the balance
  19. have a ring of truth
  20. the onus is on
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5. Control, pressure and resistance (20 entries)
  1. frustrate
  2. stymie
  3. take the wind out of someone's sails
  4. act under duress
  5. abdicate
  6. ride roughshod over
  7. play into someone's hands
  8. overrule
  9. withhold
  10. beat someone at their own game
  11. reflection
  12. arrogate to oneself
  13. fall between two stools
  14. mutinous
  15. a rearguard action
  16. be caught between two stools
  17. be in a cleft stick
  18. succumb
  19. prostrate
  20. relinquish
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