Daily Idioms & Phrases From The Hindu: 19-08-2017

1: Chalk out

Meaning: to explain something carefully to someone, as if one were talking about a chalk drawing.
Example: Directing status quo in the matter till August 22, which is also the next date of hearing, the apex court ordered the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the State government to chalk out a balancing plan, one by which both students who have got through NEET and rural students ill-equipped for NEET can be “adjusted” in the medical admission list.

2: Mow someone or something down

Meaning: to violently cause someone or something to fall.
Example: The car skidded along the side of the road and mowed down several mailboxes before coming to a stop

3: Plough into someone/something

Meaning: to crash into someone or something with force, especially because you are moving or driving too quickly or in a careless or uncontrolled way
Example: On Thursday afternoon, Oukabir and his associates drove a van along Barcelona’s crowded Las Ramblas thoroughfare, ploughing into tourists leaving 13 dead and more than 100 injured.

4: Wearing off

Meaning: lose effectiveness or intensity.
Example: With the impact of the slowdown on the city’s residential market wearing off, inventory levels are now gradually decreasing

5: Have/take a crack at something

Meaning: to try something
Example: He didn't win the tennis championships, but he plans to have another crack at it next year.
I would love to have another crack at the pro game, says Staffordshire's, Sam Kelsall

6: Brushed aside

Meaning: to refuse to accept that something is important or true
Example: PCB has announced that it would serve Umar Akmal with a show cause notice even as head coach Mickey Arthur brushed aside the allegations leveled against him by the middle order batsman.

7: Knockout

Meaning: defeat
Example: Conor Mc Gregor believes he will knock out Floyd Mayweather inside two rounds but is ready for all scenarios when the two fighters clash in their eagerly anticipated superfight next week.

8: Picked up

Meaning: become better; improve, to come down with
Example: Tests carried out on Thursday morning confirm that the Uruguayan has a distension in the posterior articular capsule in his right knew picked up in the second half of the Clasico in the Santiago Bernabeu

9: Ruled out

Meaning: to prevent, disqualify, overrule, or cancel someone or something
Example: Juventus on Thursday ruled key defender Giorgio Chiellini out of the Champions League final against Barcelona after he suffered a muscle tear in training

10: Hit the right note

Meaning: if something you say or do hits the right note, it is suitable and has a good effect
Example: It was an optional session where Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah looked like hitting the right notes ahead of what will be the start of a long limited-over engagement for the Men in Blue.

11: Fend off

Meaning: prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening;
Example: The spotlight, though, was on the 36-year-old Dhoni, who now has to fend off questions about his future with alarming regularity.

12: Pale shadow

Meaning: Less impressive or not as good as before or when compared with someone or something similar
Example: Yet, there is no denying that the former skipper has looked a pale shadow of his past glorious self on many occasions, the last of which was in the West Indies recently, when he scored a painful 54 off 114 in the fourth ODI at Antigua, again as India lost the game by 11 runs.

13: Dig in

Meaning: to prepare yourself for a difficult situation
Example: Both sides are digging in for a long and bitter dispute.