August 7, 2026
Discover practical techniques to learn Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT 2027. Refer to this guide to improve your skills with mnemonics, context insights, and free study resources.
Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT form a small but scoring part of the Verbal Ability section, historically contributing around 2–4 questions per paper across IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak, and JIPMAT.
An idiom carries a figurative meaning you can't guess from individual words (e.g., "spill the beans" = reveal a secret), while a phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb pair.
The fastest way to master both is contextual learning, thematic clustering, and daily practice with previous-year questions.
Techniques like mnemonics and contextual understanding can also help you learn complex idioms and phrases in a matter of seconds.
Read through the post to thoroughly understand the idioms and phrases for IPMAT 2027 and IPM Aptitude Questions and Answers based on idioms.
Table of Contents
An idiom is a phrase, saying, or group of words with a metaphorical (not literal) meaning that has become accepted in common usage.
On the other hand, phrases are collections of words that function as a unit in a sentence.
However, it has no verb and no subject.
Learning Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT becomes much easier when they're grouped by themes instead of memorised randomly.
This section categorises commonly asked idioms to help you strengthen your IPMAT Verbal Ability preparation and revise more efficiently before the exam.
Questions based on challenging situations and hardships frequently appear in Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT.
Practising these expressions will improve your vocabulary, comprehension, and overall IPMAT English Preparation, making it easier to interpret passages and answer contextual questions.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Idiom | Meaning |
| In deep water | In serious trouble |
| Between a rock and a hard place | Facing two equally difficult choices |
| Bite off more than you can chew | Take on more than you can manage |
| Out of the frying pan into the fire | From a bad situation into a worse one |
| On thin ice | In a risky or precarious position |
| Barking up the wrong tree | Working in the wrong direction |
Time-related expressions are among the most commonly tested Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT, especially in sentence completion and contextual usage questions.
Understanding these idioms will strengthen your IPMAT Vocabulary and help you answer Verbal Ability questions with greater confidence.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| At the drop of a hat | Immediately, without delay |
| In the nick of time | Just before it's too late |
| Against the clock | Under severe time pressure |
| Around the clock | Continuously, all day and night |
| Once in a blue moon | Very rarely |
| At the eleventh hour | At the last possible moment |
Many Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT revolve around determination, perseverance, and hard work.
Learning these commonly used expressions not only improves your English proficiency but also enhances your performance in the IPMAT Verbal Ability section.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Burn the midnight oil | Work late into the night |
| Go the extra mile | Put in additional effort |
| Put your best foot forward | Start with full effort and confidence |
| Learn the ropes | Learn the basics of something new |
| Keep your nose to the grindstone | Work hard continuously without distraction |
Success, failure, and results are popular themes in Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT because they frequently appear in contextual and meaning-based questions.
You can master these idioms by practising IPMAT full-length mocks, which will help you identify the correct usage during the exam.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Piece of cake | Something very easy |
| Hit the nail on the head | Describe something exactly and accurately |
| A blessing in disguise | Something good that initially seemed bad |
| Cut both ways | Has both a good and a bad effect |
| Turn the tide | Reverse the direction of a situation |
| Kick the bucket | To die (used in casual/informal contexts) |
Idioms Related to Communication and Secrecy
Communication-based expressions are an essential part of Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT and are often tested to assess contextual understanding.
Knowing these idioms will strengthen your IPMAT Vocabulary and improve your ability to interpret conversations and written passages accurately.
| Idioms | Meaning/th> |
|---|---|
| Beat around the bush | Avoid saying something directly |
| Spill the beans | Reveal a secret, often unintentionally |
| Cut to the chase | Get to the point without delay |
| Straight from the horse's mouth | From a direct and reliable source |
| Read between the lines | Understand a hidden or implied meaning |
| Let the cat out of the bag | Reveal a secret unintentionally |
| Skeletons in the closet | Hidden, often embarrassing, facts from the past |
Emotion-based Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT are widely used in everyday English and frequently appear in competitive exams.
Learning these expressions will enrich your IPMAT Verbal Ability and help you understand the tone and intent of passages more effectively.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Under the weather | Feeling slightly unwell |
| In stitches | Laughing uncontrollably |
| Full of oneself | Excessively self-confident or arrogant |
| Over the moon | Extremely happy |
| On cloud nine | Extremely happy or elated |
| Down in the dumps | Feeling sad or low |
| Butterflies in one's stomach | Feeling nervous |
Understanding relationship-based Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT helps you recognise figurative meanings and improves contextual interpretation.
These idioms are useful for strengthening your IPMAT English Preparation and building a richer vocabulary.
| Idioms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blood is thicker than water | Family bonds matter more than other relationships |
| Bend over backwards | Make a great effort to help someone |
| See eye to eye | Fully agree with someone |
| Break the ice | Ease tension in an unfamiliar or awkward situation |
| Two peas in a pod | Two very similar people |
| Chip off the old block | Very similar to one's parent |
Questions based on confidence, luck, and decision-making are common in Idioms and Phrases for IPMAT.
Practising these expressions will improve your IPMAT Vocabulary, boost your verbal reasoning skills, and prepare you for a variety of Verbal Ability questions.
| Idioms | Meaning/th> |
|---|---|
| The ball is in your court | You are responsible for the next decision |
| Cross that bridge when we come to it | Deal with a problem only when it actually arises |
| Back to square one | Having to start all over again |
| Hit the jackpot | Get an extremely lucky outcome |
| Weather the storm | Endure a difficult period with patience |
| Storm in a teacup | Something unimportant made to look serious |
| It never rains but it pours | Bad (or busy) events tend to happen together |
| Bite the bullet | Face a difficult situation bravely |
| Throw in the towel | Give up |
Unlike idioms, these phrases carry a largely literal or grammatical meaning and are commonly tested in fill-in-the-blank and sentence-correction questions.
| Phrases | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In accordance with | As required by; following a rule |
| With reference to | Regarding; concerning |
| By virtue of | Because of; due to |
| In the wake of | As a result of; following an event |
| In light of | Considering; taking into account |
| On behalf of | Acting as a representative of |
| For the sake of | For the purpose or benefit of |
| On the other hand | Introducing a contrasting point |
| By and large | Generally speaking |
| At the outset | At the very beginning |
| In due course | At the appropriate time, eventually |
| In the long run | Over an extended period of time |
| As a matter of fact | In reality; actually |
| With a view to | With the intention of |
| In terms of | With regard to; considering |
| On the verge of | Very close to (a state or event) |
Directions: Choose the correct meaning of the idiom underlined in each sentence.
Q1. The prices are going up by leaps and bounds.
Answer: b. Rapidly
Q2. His dealings are all above board.
Answer: d. Open
Q3. To play foul.
Answer: b. To do something wrong
Q4. In deep water.
r c. To act like a coward
Answer: d. In real trouble
Q5. Flesh and blood can bear it no longer.
Answer: d. Human nature
Q6. Apple of discord.
Answer: a. A source of quarrel
Q7. A white elephant.
Answer: b. A very costly possession
The following are the idioms and phrases questions asked in the IPMAT question paper:
Q1. If you ask me to give a rough estimate for the project cost, ___________, I would say thirty lakhs.
Answer: c. Off-the-cuff
Q2. The nasty comments made by strangers on social media about the actor made him __________.
Answer: d. Ill at ease
Q3. The new car has disappointed its buyers in many ways, and good mileage is its only ___________.
Answer: a. Saving grace
Q4. Meena is very arrogant and class-conscious; she refuses to acknowledge Sunil because she feels he is a man ___________.
Answer: a. Of no importance
Q5. Some big shots know how to escape the law even after violating it. It is, however, the ___________ who are more often apprehended and punished.
Answer: a. Small fry
Q6. A few brands tailor their pants so that people with prosthetic legs can wear them easily. This is how they __________.
Answer: c. Go the extra mile
You'll find more practice sets like these in the IPMAT idioms and phrases questions with solutions bank and in the full IPMAT PYQs.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is different from the collective meaning of its constituent words.
Generally, 2-3 questions are asked about this topic.
To make the most of this section, you should strengthen your understanding of Idioms and phrases for IPMAT.
It is one area where students frequently struggle.
You cannot answer these questions unless you properly understand Idioms. Below are some of the best ways to learn Idioms.
The best way to prepare for essential idioms and phrases for IPMAT exams is to understand the context or situation where a particular idiom is used.
Whenever you read an idiom and go through its meaning, try to link it with a specific problem or context in your knowledge so that whenever that word comes up again, you have a glimpse of the situation.
For example, "storm in a teacup" means something that is not very important but is given importance by many people.
You can link this to the wedding of a Bollywood star.
In this method, we associate idioms with a mnemonic device to help us remember their definition and proper use. "Do a Devon Loch" means "fail when you're almost there.
For example, "Devon Loch, the horse that collapsed just before the finish line.” and “It was shocking how Nadal did a Devon Loch in the last minute of the match against Federer.”
Learning idioms in groups or clusters, like clusters of idioms meaning almost the same but differing in intensity or referring to a similar situation, like Cut From The Same Cloth, Like Two Peas In A Pod, The Mirror Image Of, and Much Of The Muchness.
They all refer to similarities, basically how two things have similar attributes.
We, as humans, can recall those things that we have seen visually and for a longer length of time.
You will always recall phrases that make you think of anything aesthetically beautiful.
Interestingly, information and expertise given via those items would have been kept in our memory to this day.
As a result, visual learning is a valuable and successful technique.
You can refer to some of the best examples of learning idioms and phrases for IPMAT through IPMAT 2027 live classroom batches.
Learn more about the Important topics for the IPMAT exam to ace your preparations. Mastering idioms and phrases for IPMAT is essential for excelling in the exam.
By adopting strategic learning methods and utilising available resources, candidates can significantly enhance their understanding and recall of idiomatic expressions.
This not only boosts exam performance but also sharpens language skills in a broader sense.
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