Q20
EnglishVocabulary: Meaning, Synonyms & Antonyms
Give one word substitution/meaning of the underlined word. The game is afoot.
- a.new case or investigation
- b.final reality
- c.noisy and expressive
- d.continuous
Answer: (D) continuous
'Afoot' means in progress, under way, going on. 'The game is afoot' therefore says that something has begun and is currently happening, and among the options this is best matched by 'continuous', the answer in PSC's final key. Option A is the tempting distractor because Sherlock Holmes uses the line when a new case starts, but the word 'afoot' itself does not mean a case or an investigation; B and C are unrelated. The expression is from Shakespeare (Henry V), where 'game' is the hunted animal, and Conan Doyle later made it famous. Similar adverbs: under way, in motion, astir.