Daily Idioms & Phrases From The Hindu: 10 August 2017

1: A chip off the old block

Meaning: someone who resembles their parent in character or appearance
Example: Meher has a very little patience-a chip off the old block.

2: To throw up the sponge/throw in the towel

Meaning: to stop trying to do something because you know that you cannot succeed
Example: Three of the original five candidates have now thrown in the towel.

3: Cry down

Meaning: to belittle; disparage, to silence by making a greater noise
Example: Men of dissolute lives cry down religion because they would not be under the restraints

4: Take on

Meaning: become very upset, fight against someone
Example: After a delay in counting, the Election commission announced the names of the winners, while the fourth candidate Balwantsinh Rajput of the BJP, who resigned as Congress leader to take on Mr.patel lost the contest that became a tightrope walk for Congress president Sonia Gandhi

5: Tightrope walk

Meaning: to be in a situation where one must be very cautious.
Example: After a delay in counting, the Election commission announced the names of the winners, while the fourth candidate Balwantsinh Rajput of the BJP, who resigned as Congress leader to take on Mr.patel lost the contest that became a tightrope walk for Congress president Sonia Gandhi

6: Passed himself off

Meaning: pretend to be
Example: He passed himself off as a great and rich man

7: Spick and span

Meaning: neat, clean, and well looked after.
Example: She keeps her house spick and span

8: To take the call on

Meaning: make a decision or a judgment
Example: The supreme court Bench denied any relief to petitioner and advocate, saying that it was for the government to take the call on such issues.

9: Ramp up

Meaning: to increase the amount or size of something
Example: The maker of iconic products like the iPhone and the Mac is looking at a multi pronged strategy to ramp up its presence in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

10: Scaling up

Meaning: to make something larger in size, amount etc than it used to be
Example: This includes scaling up its manufacturing, developing localized features on its OS, setting up self-owned retail outlets and creating an ecosystem for developers to shift from android to the ios platform

11: Narrowing down

Meaning: to reduce the number of possibilities or choices
Example: In this case, for the first time, we were able to identify some key papers and documents. we also spoke to the banks, gathered CCTV footage and collected bank officials statements before narrowing down on the person

12: Roped in

Meaning: to persuade to take part in some activity or to trick or entice into some activity
Example: Despite the smashing success of the show elsewhere, and actor Kamal Haasan being roped in, there were doubts over whether a show that depends on surveillance and an intrusion on privacy would work in Tamil.

13: Notched up

Meaning: to win something, or to achieve something
Example: Jones, who notched up 3631 runs in 52 Tests at 46.55, said “A couple of law firms approached me later for suing Cricket Australia for ‘dismissal from service.

14: Held off

Meaning: to stop an opponent from starting to win or lead
Example: In a fantastic race that erupted on the final lap, Kipyegon held off all-comers, including double-hunting Semenya, down the home straight to clock 4min 02.59sec.

15: Bear the brunt of

Meaning: to receive the worst part of something unpleasant or harmful, such as an attack
Example: Young people are bearing the brunt of unemployment