1. Eat one’s salt
Meaning – To be someone's guest
Usage – I feel bad eating Kim's salt for a week, but her house is closer to the meeting site than any hotel.
2. Give a hand
Meaning – To help someone with something
Usage – Billy is coming to my house today to give me a hand in cooking.
3. Take to heart
Meaning – To treat something as significant or important and be moved, affected, influenced, or upset by it at a personal level
Usage – Don't take his comments to heart—he's that hard on everyone in the office.
4. Had better
Meaning – Should
Usage – You had better listen to what I'm saying before you get yourself into more trouble.
5. Strike a bargain
Meaning – To successfully achieve a deal or agreement, especially regarding an acceptable price or exchange for something
Usage – The president struck a bargain with industrial lobbyists, promising to reduce taxes in exchange for jobs returning to the country.
6. Point blank
Meaning – Direct and to the point
Usage – She made a point-blank accusation, without softening it in any way.
7. Scapegoat
Meaning – A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency
Usage – They made Tom the scapegoat for the whole affair.
8. Kicking heels
Meaning – They made Tom the scapegoat for the whole affair
Usage – Sorry to have you kicking your heels for so long—the doctor is ready to see you now.
9. End in smoke
Meaning – To produces no concrete or positive result
Usage – All our efforts to stop Vimal from divorcing his wife ended in smoke.
10. Die in harness
Meaning – To die while still actively working
Usage – With medicine and healthcare improving at such vast rates, far fewer people die in harness than ever before.
11. On the horns of the dilemma
Meaning – Struggling to choose between two problematic or unappealing options
Usage – I’m not on the horns of a dilemma very often.
12. Hold one’s tongue
Meaning – To stay quiet despite wanting to say something
Usage – I felt like scolding her, but I held my tongue.
13. Hard and fast
Meaning – Strictly or rigidly adhered to; strong, binding, and clearly defined
Usage – The duties you're responsible for are hard and fast, so don't become lax in your role.
14. Live from hand to mouth
Meaning – To be extremely poor
Usage – I had to live from hand to mouth during most of the college years.
15. Turn a deaf ear
Meaning – To ignore or refuse to listen to someone or something
Usage – The government has been turning a deaf ear to the pleas of its most vulnerable citizens.
Verifying, please be patient.