IELTS Vocabulary

A Hundred And Ten Percent: More than what seems to be the maximum.

Sentence – Alright guys, we all need to dig deep for the second half of the game. Go out there and give a hundred and ten percent and bring home a win!

A Lame Duck: A person or enterprise (often a business) that is not a success and that has to be helped.

Sentence – The company started as a lame duck that was saved by an innovative entrepreneur who decided to take some risks and go in a new direction.

A Leg Up: An advantage, a boost.

Sentence – I knew I had a leg up on my opponent when I saw that he was struggling to counter my opening moves.

A Lemon: A vehicle that does not work properly

Sentence – It sounded like a good deal at the time, but this car he sold me is a total lemon!

A Life Of Its Own: An indepdendent existence.

Sentence – The accusations in the political race began to take on a life of their own, growing meaner and more elaborate every day.

A Little Bird Told Me: I don’t wish to divulge where I got the information.

Sentence – How did you learn they were getting a divorce?-Oh, a little bird told me.

A Lone Wolf: Someone who is not very social with other people.

Sentence – Shannon should have known Brad would break her heart—he’s a lone wolf who doesn’t like getting close to anybody.

A Lot on One’s Plate: A lot to do.

Sentence – I just have a lot on my plate right now while I’m finishing up my degree and doing this huge project for work.

A Million and One: Very many.

Sentence – I’ve got about a million and one clients to meet with today, so if you need anything from me, you’d better make it snappy!

A Notch Above: Superior to; higher in quality.

Sentence – The sequel is a notch above its predecessor in terms of its direction and production values, but as far as the plot goes it is just as atrocious.

A Penny for Your Thoughts: What are you thinking?

Sentence – You’ve been awfully quiet tonight, honey—a penny for your thoughts?

A Penny Saved is A Penny Earned: Every small amount helps to build one’s savings.

Sentence – I’m trying not to spend much money right now because, you know what they say, a penny saved is a penny earned.

A Plum Job: An easy and pleasant job that also pays well.

Sentence – The good news was he had landed a plum job on the mortgage trading desk.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: A visual presentation can communicate something very effectively.

Sentence – I know I’m doing a bad job of capturing the scene by describing it, so just look at this picture from their website—a picture is worth a thousand words, isn’t it?

A Rare Bird: Somebody or something of a kind that one seldom sees.

Sentence – The woman’s beauty made her a rare bird indeed.

A Scaredy-Cat: Someone who is excessively scared or afraid.

Sentence – Greg called Joanne a scaredy-cat because she didn’t want to go exploring in the woods after dark.

A Second Bite At The Cherry: A Second chance to do something.

Sentence – Since a large percentage of her students failed the calculus exam, the teacher decided to give them a second bite at the cherry by allowing them to take the test again.