Question:easy

Select the correct meaning of the italicized idiom or phrase out of the four choices given.
He burnt his fingers by interfering in his neighbor's affair.

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Picture a hand reaching into a fire. The saying is used for anyone who meddles or takes a risk and comes off badly.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • got himself into trouble
  • burnt himself
  • got himself insulted
  • got rebuked
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
An idiom is printed in italics and we have to pick its meaning. The rest of the sentence, "by interfering in his neighbor's affair", tells us the cause of what happened, so it can be used to test each option.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Read the idiom whole, then check the option against the cause given in the sentence. An idiom's meaning cannot be worked out by adding up its words, so the first move is always to reject the literal choice unless the context really supports it.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Start with the image. Somebody puts a hand where a fire is and gets burnt. English turned this into a general saying for anyone who takes a risk or pokes into a matter and comes away hurt. Traders who lose money on a bad share are said to have burnt their fingers.
Now use the cause clause. The man interfered in a neighbour's affair. That is meddling, not fire, so the literal option "burnt himself" cannot be right.
Check "got himself insulted". Meddling might end in an insult, but it might just as easily end in a quarrel, a police complaint or a lost friendship. The idiom does not name insulting as the outcome.
Check "got rebuked". This needs someone to tell him off. The idiom does not need any second person at all, only a bad result.
Check "got himself into trouble". This is broad enough to cover every bad result that meddling can bring, which is what the idiom means.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The idiom names the general harm that follows meddling, so the answer is option (A), got himself into trouble.
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