Question

Choose the alternative which expresses the meaning of the given idiom/phrase.
An axe to grind
a. Grinding stone
b. Selfish purpose
c. An axe for cutting trees
d. To take revenge

Answer 1

Hint: Idioms/ phrases share meanings that are not literal but metaphorical and have been established through time. They indicate some popular sayings or moral messages.

 Complete solution: Now, if we consider the fact that idioms/phrases have metaphorical meaning rather than literal meaning then you must understand that the phrase – ‘an axe to grind’ has nothing to do with grinding axes or cutting. The context in which the phrase is used is - to have a strong personal opinion about something that you want people to accept and that is the reason why you do something. For e.g. - I know he has an axe to grind otherwise he would not have come here tonight.
What does this tell us? It implies that option ‘a’ and ‘c’ would be incorrect and will not express the right meaning of the idiom/phrase.
So, we can eliminate these two, which leaves us with option b and d. Now, let us look into these two options –
Option d is also incorrect as the idiom has never been used in such a context. Now, as you can see it leaves us with one last option b, i.e. option b

Option b, means to have a strong opinion about something that you want people to accept and that is the reason why you do something. Hence, this is the correct answer.

Note: You cannot find the meaning of an idiom/phrase if you start looking for the meaning of each word in the phrase.