Match the idioms given in List-I with their meanings given in List-II
| List-I | List-II | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Idiom | Meaning | ||
| (A) | Eke out | (I) | tendency to delay decisions |
| (B) | Fabian policy | (II) | in disorder |
| (C) | Hobson's choice | (III) | no alternative |
| (D) | At sixes and sevens | (IV) | consuming it frugally to make it last longer |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (A) - (IV), (B) - (I), (C) - (III), (D) - (II)
| List-I | List-II | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| (A) Eke out | (IV) consuming it frugally to make it last longer | To eke out a supply is to make a small amount last longer by using it carefully. | The family eked out their savings during the long strike. |
| (B) Fabian policy | (I) tendency to delay decisions | A Fabian policy is a policy of caution and delay that avoids direct action, named after the Roman general Fabius, who wore down Hannibal by avoiding battle. | The committee followed a Fabian policy and kept postponing the decision. |
| (C) Hobson's choice | (III) no alternative | Hobson's choice is a choice that is no real choice: take what is offered or nothing. It is named after Thomas Hobson, a seventeenth-century Cambridge stable-keeper who made every customer take the horse nearest the door or none at all. | With only one bus that day, the travellers had Hobson's choice. |
| (D) At sixes and sevens | (II) in disorder | At sixes and sevens means in a state of confusion or disorder. | With the manager away, the office was at sixes and sevens. |
The following words have also been asked in other CUET (UG) English papers:
| Word | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| fabian policy | 12-05 S2 | – | – | – | – |
| hobson's choice | 15-05 S1 18-05 S2 | – | – | 10-06 S3 | – |
| at sixes and sevens | – | – | – | 30-05 S3 | 17-08 S1 |