Free Vocabulary MCQs with Answers
2865 Vocabulary MCQs from English, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
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2865 questions · page 136 of 287
1351. To set one's face against __________?
- A. To oppose with determination
- B. To judge by appearance
- C. To get out of difficulty
- D. To look at one steadily
Explanation: To set one’s face against something means to oppose it firmly and determinedly. The idiom suggests adopting a resolute attitude against a person, plan, or action.
Correct answer: To oppose with determination1352. To hit the nail right on the head _______?
- A. To say something that is exactly right or completely true
- B. To destroy one's reputation
- C. To announce one's fixed views
- D. To teach someone a lesson
Explanation: To hit the nail right on the head means to state something exactly or identify the precise point. The image comes from striking a nail accurately rather than missing it.
Correct answer: To say something that is exactly right or completely true1353. To smell a rat _______?
- A. To see signs of plague epidemic
- B. To get bad small of a bad dead rat
- C. To suspect foul dealings
- D. To be in a bad mood
Explanation: To smell a rat means to suspect that something dishonest, suspicious, or improper is taking place. It refers to detecting trouble indirectly, not to literally smelling a dead rat.
Correct answer: To suspect foul dealings1354. A man of straw _________?
- A. A man of no substance
- B. A very active person
- C. A worthy fellow
- D. An unreasonable person
Explanation: A man of straw is a person without real ability, influence, or substance. The phrase may also describe a person set up as a weak or nominal representative.
Correct answer: A man of no substance1355. To leave someone in the lurch _________?
- A. To come to compromise with someone
- B. Constant source of annoyance to someone
- C. To put someone at ease
- D. To desert someone in his difficulties
Explanation: To leave someone in the lurch means to abandon them when they are in difficulty or need help. The idiom therefore implies desertion at a critical moment.
Correct answer: To desert someone in his difficulties1356. To pick holes _________?
- A. To find some reason to quarrel
- B. To destroy something
- C. To criticize someone
- D. To cut some part of an item
Explanation: To pick holes means to find and point out faults or weaknesses, usually in someone’s work or argument. Option c is the broad meaning, while finding a reason to quarrel is only a possible consequence.
Correct answer: To criticize someone1357. To put one's hand to plough __________?
- A. To take up agricultural farming
- B. To take a difficult task
- C. To get entangled into unnecessary things
- D. Take interest in technical work
Explanation: To put one’s hand to the plough means to begin or undertake a demanding task or course of action. The agricultural image supplies the idiom, but the intended meaning is not merely farming.
Correct answer: To take a difficult task1358. To cry wolf __________?
- A. To listen eagerly
- B. To give false alarm
- C. To turn pale
- D. To keep off starvation
Explanation: To cry wolf means to raise a false alarm, referring to the boy in the fable who repeatedly claimed that a wolf was present when it was not.
Correct answer: To give false alarm1359. To have an axe to grind ___________?
- A. A private end to serve
- B. To fail to arouse interest
- C. To have no result
- D. To work for both sides
Explanation: A person who has an axe to grind has a private interest or personal purpose to promote, often while pretending to be impartial.
Correct answer: A private end to serve1360. To make clean breast of ________?
- A. To gain prominence
- B. To praise oneself
- C. To confess without of reserve
- D. To destroy before it blooms
Explanation: To make a clean breast of something means to confess it fully and frankly, without concealing details. The phrase is normally followed by “of,” as in “make a clean breast of the matter.”
Correct answer: To confess without of reserve