Read the contextual sentence below and identify the word required to form the correct idiomatic phrase. Which word accurately completes the expression?
Answer:Faced with mounting scrutiny over the misallocated developmental funds, the committee chairman attempted to 【muddy】 the waters by introducing several irrelevant topics during the public hearing.
Answer
The word required to complete the idiomatic expression is 'muddy' (or 'cloud'). The established idiom 'to muddy the waters' means to make a issue or situation confusing, obscure, or harder to understand, especially by introducing irrelevant information.
The correct idiomatic phrase is 'to muddy the waters' (or 'to cloud the waters'), which metaphorically means to make a matter obscure, confusing, or complicated—often deliberately to prevent people from discovering the truth. In the given sentence, the chairman uses irrelevant topics to distract from financial misallocation, which directly aligns with this idiomatic meaning.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions - Contextual Completion
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