Important Idioms, Phrases & Phrasal Verbs starting with letter ‘D’
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 25th, 2023
Table of content
In our series of ‘Important Idioms, Phrases & Phrasal Verbs for bank exams’, we are sharing with you the important idioms, phrases as well as phrasal verbs which start with the alphabet ‘D’. Go through this post and understand the meaning of the phrases/idioms given, both in English and in Hindi.
Important Idioms, Phrases & Phrasal Verb with Letter ‘D’
1. Darken someone’s door
Meaning – to be an unwelcome visitor.
Meaning (Hindi) – अवांछित आगंतुक होना
Example – He darkened our door and stayed for hours, even though I clearly wanted him to leave!
2. Dark Horse
Meaning – a usually little-known person who unexpectedly wins or succeeds, especially in a competition of some sort.
Meaning (Hindi) – अप्रत्याशित विजेता
Example – Jane turned out to be a dark horse. Although she had suffered from a severe illness this year, she managed to win the race.
3.Dash something off
Meaning – write something hurriedly and without much premeditation.
Meaning (Hindi) – फुर्ती से लिख डालना
Example – I plan to dash off a letter before I go to work.
4. Dollars to doughnuts
Meaning – to suggest that something is very likely to be true or that one is certain about something/An outcome that is almost assured; a certainty.
Meaning (Hindi) – कोई चीज़ जो लगभग तय है
Example – Seeing his interest in medicine, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that he will opt for a career in medicine.
5. Days of grace
Meaning – Extra time allowed for payment
Meaning (Hindi) – भुगतान के लिए अतिरिक्त समय की अनुमति
Example – – Private Banks are to give five days of grace to their customers.
6. Dead duck
Meaning – This expression refers to a project or scheme which has been abandoned or is certain to fail/said about someone or something that is doomed to failure or death.
Meaning (Hindi) – एकदम बेकार
Example – The new cinema hall is going to be a dead duck because it’s too far away from the town centre.
7. Dead to the world
Meaning – Said about someone who is sound asleep or unconscious.
Meaning (Hindi)- गहरा सोना या बेहोश जैसा होना
Example – Don’t worry. You won’t disturb him. He’s dead to the world!
8. Deliver the goods
Meaning – provide that which is promised or expected.
Meaning (Hindi) – काम पूरा कर के दिखाना
Example – He’s the best graphic designer we have, so I’m confident that he can deliver the goods for this ad campaign.
9. Dice with death
Meaning – take serious risks.
Example – Going mountain-climbing alone is dicing with death.
10. Die down/Die away
Meaning – Decrease/To become less virulent
Meaning (Hindi) – घटना / कम प्रभाव होना
Example – When the sound of the music died down we were able to go to sleep.
11. Die in harness
Meaning – Continue to the last in one’s business or profession/die before retirement/keep working to the end
Example – She doesn’t want to retire – she’d rather die in harness.
12. Dig in your heels
Meaning – refuse to do something, especially if someone is trying to convince you to do so/resist stubbornly; refuse to give in.
Meaning (Hindi) – ज़िद पर अड़ा रहना
Example – My grandfather dug in his heels and refused to move to an apartment.
13. Dim view
Meaning – to dislike or disapprove something.
Meaning (Hindi) – कुछ नापसंद या अस्वीकार करना
Example – My previous boss took a dim view of wearing casual wear to work.
14. Discretion is the better part of valour
Meaning – To avoid a dangerous situation than to confront it
Meaning (Hindi) – वीरता से बेहतर विवेक है
Example – I know you want to try that risky skateboard jump, but remember that discretion is the better part of valour.
15. Doom and gloom
Meaning – A general feeling of pessimism or despondency/a feeling that the situation is not going to improve
Meaning (Hindi) – निराशावाद
Example – Fortunately it’s not doom and gloom for all businesses, in spite of the economic situation.
16. Down at heel
Meaning – A person who is down-at-heel is someone whose appearance is untidy or neglected because of lack of money.
Meaning (Hindi) – गंदा एवं लापरवाह, फटीचर
Example – The down-at-heel student I first met became a successful writer.
17. Down the drain
Meaning – To say that money, time or effort has gone down the drain, means that it has been wasted or lost.
Meaning (Hindi) – बरबाद
Example – His years of research went down the drain when the company went bankrupt.
18. Draw a line in the sand
Meaning – a limit or point beyond which a certain situation or activity will not be accepted.
Meaning (Hindi) – एक सीमा या बिंदु जिसके अलावा एक निश्चित स्थिति या गतिविधि को स्वीकार नहीं किया जाएगा
Example – The banks drew a line in the sand: there was to be no additional help.
19. Dressed up to the nines
Meaning – To describe someone as dressed up to the nines means that they are wearing very smart or fashionable clothes.
Meaning (Hindi) – बन ठन कर
Example – Caroline must be going to a party – she’s dressed up to the nines!
20. Drink something in
Meaning – Absorb Enthusiastically
Meaning (Hindi) – उत्साह से अवशोषित करना
Example – Tejinder and Abhay drove up to the top of the hill to drink the sights in.
21. Drive at something
Meaning – Aim at getting
Meaning (Hindi) – प्राप्त करने का उद्देश्य
Example – I do not know what the man was driving at in his speech.
22. Drop someone a line
Meaning – Write to someone
Meaning (Hindi) – किसी को कुछ लिखना
Example – If you drop someone a line, you send a letter to them.
23. Ducks and drakes of
Meaning – Squandered
Meaning (Hindi) – गंवाना
Example -: The foolish young man made ducks and drakes of his patrimony.
24. Dumb down
Meaning – To make something become unacceptably simplistic by reducing its intellectual level.
Meaning (Hindi) – बौद्धिक स्तर को कम करना
Example – Television has really dumbed down over the past ten years.
25. Dutch courage
Meaning – Pretended bravery
Meaning (Hindi) – दिखावे वाली बहादुरी
Example – The poor man behaved like a rich man under dutch courage.
26. Dwell on something
Meaning – If someone dwells on something, they think or talk about it all the time.
Meaning (Hindi) – ध्यान केन्द्रित करना
Example – Please, don’t dwell on an argument in the past!
27. Die Off/Die out
Meaning – to become less common and finally stop existing
Meaning (Hindi) – विलुप्त होना
Example – Dinosaurs died out millions of years ago.
27. Duck out of
Meaning – To leave something stealthily/To eschew an obligation/to evade something; to escape doing something
Meaning (Hindi) – छिपकर छोड़ना
Example – Do not try to duck out of your responsibility.
28. Drone on
Meaning – To talk in a boring manner for a long time.
Meaning (Hindi) – एक लंबे समय के लिए एक उबाऊ तरीके से बात करना
Example – The audience got bored because the president droned on for a long time.
29. Doss around
Meaning – Spend time doing very little or being unproductive
Meaning (Hindi) – अनुत्पादक होना
Example – I spent the afternoon Dossing around.
30. Duff up
Meaning – To beat someone repeatedly.
Meaning (Hindi) – बार बार हराना/मारना
Example – The criminals threatened to duff the young lady up if she went to the police.
31. Damp-off
Meaning – To decay and perish through excessive moisture – mostly said of plants.
Meaning (Hindi) – अत्यधिक नमी की वजह से क्षय
Example – Those plants will damp off if you keep on watering them every day.
32. Delve in to
Meaning – to examine something carefully in order to discover more information about someone or something
Meaning (Hindi) – में तल्लीन होना
Example – It’s not always a good idea to delve too deeply into someone’s past.
33. Dawn on
Meaning – to realize something for the first time
Meaning (Hindi) – पहली बार एहसास करना
Example – It was several months before the truth finally dawned on me.
34. Doze off
Meaning – to start to sleep, especially during the day and without intending to
Meaning (Hindi) – सो जाना
Example – I dozed off in front of the television.
35. Drown out
Meaning – to be loud enough to block the sound of something else
Meaning (Hindi) – किसी अन्य आवाज़ को अवरुद्ध करने के लिए पर्याप्त तेज होना
Example – The sound of the telephone was drowned out by the vacuum cleaner.
Word of the day: Drop
1.Drop behind
Meaning – Fall into a position behind others.
Meaning (Hindi) – पीछे छुटना
Example – Our sales have dropped behind those of our competitors.
2.Drop in/Drop by
Meaning – Pay a brief visit, usually on the way somewhere.
Meaning (Hindi) – मुलाक़ात के लिये जाना
Example – I don’t see her often but she promised to drop by one day for a cup of coffee.
3.Drop out
Meaning – To stop at a particular location, as of a ship/To visit a particular place.
Meaning (Hindi) – छोड़ देना
Example – Emily decided to go to art school, then dropped out after the first term.
4. Drop off
Meaning – Deliver someone or something.
Meaning (Hindi) – किसी को कुछ देना
Example – I’ll drop you off at the bus stop if you like. I’m going that way.
6.Drop Back
Meaning – to move into a lower position in a race or competition
Meaning (Hindi) – पीछे रहना
Example – Economic growth will drop back to 3% this year.
7.Drop Away
Meaning – to become weaker or smaller in amount
Meaning (Hindi) – कमजोर या कम मात्रा में होना
Example – Support for the new chief minister of the state has begun to drop away.
7.Drop Around
Meaning – Visit someone, often without making an arrangement
Meaning (Hindi) – किसी व्यवस्था के बिना कही जाना
Example – We dropped around to collect the stuff we’d left there last week.
You can go through previous articles of the series by clicking links given below –
Important Idioms & Phrases with Letter ‘A’
Important Idioms & Phrases with Letter ‘B’
Important Idioms & Phrases with Letter ‘C’
Importance of Idioms and Phrases for Bank Exams
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