Match the Idioms given in LIST-I with the most appropriate meanings g…

The correct answer is Option (3) → A - III, B - IV, C - II, D - I

List-I	List-II	Explanation	Example
(A) Hand in glove	(III) Working together	To be hand in glove with someone is to work in very close partnership, often in something dishonest.	The clerk was hand in glove with the smugglers.
(B) Gordian Knot	(IV) Solve a difficult problem	In the legend, no one could untie King Gordius's knot until Alexander the Great cut it with his sword. A Gordian knot is a very difficult problem, and "to cut the Gordian knot" means to solve it in a bold, direct way.	The new minister cut the Gordian knot of the water dispute.
(C) Catch 22	(II) A paradoxical situation from which it's difficult to escape	From Joseph Heller's novel "Catch-22": a situation in which each way out depends on the other, so there is no escape.	It is a Catch-22: you need experience to get a job, but a job to get experience.
(D) Lily-livered	(I) Weak and cowardly	From the old belief that a pale, lily-white liver showed a lack of courage: lily-livered means cowardly.	The lily-livered guard ran away at the first sign of danger.

Note: "Gordian knot" itself means a very difficult problem; "solve a difficult problem" is the meaning of "cut the Gordian knot". Pair (B)-(IV) fits only by elimination; (A), (C) and (D) fix the answer as Option (3).

The following words have also been asked in other CUET (UG) English papers:

Word	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022
hand in glove	26-05 S1 06-06 S1	–	–	–	–
gordian knot	18-05 S1	–	–	–	–