Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase. To let off steam, my friend started murmuring.

Question

Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase.

To let off steam, my friend started murmuring.

1. A. to release his tension
2. B. to show his anger (Correct answer)
3. C. to show his approval
4. D. to show his displeasure

Correct Answer

Option B — to show his anger

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is to show his anger.

Key Points

• The idiom "to let off steam" means to release pent-up emotion — most often anger or frustration — through some harmless outlet.
• In this sentence the outlet is murmuring: the friend grumbles under his breath instead of confronting anyone, and that grumbling is the anger finding its way out.
• Since the sentence asks what the friend was *doing by* murmuring, the answer is that he was showing his anger.
• Approval is the opposite of what murmuring conveys, so Option C is ruled out immediately.

Additional Information

• Option A, *to release his tension*, is the broader dictionary sense of the idiom and is very close in meaning; the JKSSB key marks Option B because the specific emotion vented here is anger rather than general stress.
• The image comes from a steam engine or pressure cooker, where a valve releases built-up steam to prevent an explosion — exactly what venting emotion is meant to achieve.
• Related idioms: blow off steam (the same sense), fly off the handle (lose one's temper suddenly) and bottle up (the opposite — keep emotion in).