50 idiomatic expressions examples meaning
Table of Contents
| Come rain or shine | Whatever happens |
| On cloud nine | Very happy |
| Brainstorm | To generate many ideas quickly |
| Take sth by storm | to overwhelm s.one or s.thing by becoming famous quickly |
| Stealing my thunder | Making people pay attention to you |
| A cold day in July | Something that will never happen |
| Take a rain check | Decline an invitation but maybe you will accept it another time |
| A ray of sunshine | Something that brings happiness to someone |
| Once in a blue moon | Very rarely |
Red tape
Official or bureaucratic tasks
To be yellow
To be cowardly
To see red
To be very angry
Black out
Faint
Black and blue
Describe something that is badly bruised
Golden opportunity
The perfect chance
Have the blues
Be sad or depressed
Black sheep
A person who is a disgrace to a family or group
All ears
Fully listening
Keep an eye on
Take care of, watch in order to protect
Joined at the hip
To be exceptionally close to someone
Pat on the back
Recognition or a thank-you
See eye to eye
Agree
On the nose
Precisely, at an exact time
A sight for sore eyes
Someone that you’re pleased to see
Cost an arm and a leg
Be very expensive
Pick his brain
You should pick Mary’s brain sometime; she knows all about math.
Be common knowledge
It’s common knowledge that she is a beautiful girl.
As far as anyone knows
As far as anyone knows, this is the last of the great herds of buffalo.
Knowledge is power
In this situation, knowledge is power.
As easy as ABC
Very easy
Cover a lot of ground
Complete a lot of material in a class
Eager beaver
Someone who works hard and is very enthusiastic
Copycat
Someone who copies the work of another person
Bookworm
Someone who reads a lot
Brainstorm something
To think of new ideas
Skip class
To not go to school when you should
Teacher’s pet
The teacher’s favorite student
Two heads are better than one
My son, don’t forget; Two heads are better than one
Learn the ropes
It didn’t take her new assistant long to learn the ropes.
Doing your homework
You can’t play game any more until you do your homework!
Under one’s belt
She has almost a year as minister under her belt.
Pick his brain
You should pick Mary’s brain sometime; she knows all about math.
Be common knowledge
It’s common knowledge that she is a beautiful girl.
As far as anyone knows
As far as anyone knows, this is the last of the great herds of buffalo.
Knowledge is power
In this situation, knowledge is power.
About time: An idiom that describes the upcoming and even passing time.
Example: About time to buy a new house and car.
Easy-going: It means tolerant, easy to understand and naive.
Example: Arya is easy-going person I have ever seen. He is never happy and upset for any event.
Enough is enough: This statement means that it should not be enough and more. It is generally said when a certain situation is sufficient.
Example: You just eat enough is enough. If you eat more, you will gain excess weight.
Money talks: In a case, it means a statement stating that the money has more money.
Example: Money talks from this football game.
| Have a heart | Be merciful |
| Have you heart set on something | To want something very much |
| Eat your heart out | We say this when we make someone jealous |
| In a heartbeat | Very quickly withous any hesitation |
| A heart of stone | No feelings |
| Lose one’s heart to | Fall in love |
| Cross my heart | Tell the truth |
| Heart and soul | Completely; entirely |
| Wears heart on his sleeve | Always lets feeling be known |
| Broken heart | To lose love |
| Know by heart | Memorize |
| As fit as a fiddle | To be heathy and physically fit |
| At death’s door | Very near death |
| As pale as a ghost | Extremely pale |
| Bitter pill to swallow | An unpleasant fact that one must accept |
| Get a charley horse | To develop a cramp in the arm or the leg |
| Have one foot in the grave | To be near death |
| Run in the family | To be a common family characteristic |
| Under the weather | Not feeling well |
| Sick and tired of | Extremely annoyed by something that occurs repeatedly |
| Go under the knife | Undergo surgery |
Accident Of Birth
Luck in something due to family good fortune
One big happy family
A group of people who live or work together or in close proximity
Family man
A man devoted to taking care of his wife and children
Spitting Image
Have a strong resemblance, often familiar
My Old Man, My Old Lady
My spouse
Pop the Question
Propose marriage
Up the Duff
Pregnant
Like Taking Candy from a Baby
Very easy
strike up a friendship
to become friends
to see eye to eye with someone
to agree with someone
Friends in high places
has friends who have important or influential positions
to know someone inside out
to know someone very well
to build bridges
to promote friendly relations between people or groups
like two peas in a pod
very similar
to be as thick as thieves
to be very close or friendly
to bury the hatchet
to end a conflict
to clear the air
to defuse the tension
a shoulder to cry on
someone who listens to your problems
To cut your losses
To stop doing something for avoid loosing money
To make a killing
To earn a lot of money
As sound as a dollar
Very secure and dependable
Cash-and–carry
Selling something for cash only and with no delivery
Get a run for one’s money
to receive a challenge, to receive what one deserves
Money talks
Rich people can get what they want
Be made of money
If you are made of money, you are rich man
Banner Year
A year marked by strong successes
Money to burn
Extra money to spend however one likes
Come Out Swinging
Respond to something very aggressively
Ball’s in Your Court
It’s your turn to make an offer or decision
Take the Gloves off
Negotiate in a more aggressive way
Play ball
Cooperate, agree to participate
Hit the Ground Running
To begin a job or project with no learning period needed
Heavy Hitter
A powerful, influential person
Against The Run Of Play
Atypical of the way a game has been going
Ballpark figure
A rough estimate
Throw in the Towel
To give up, admit defeat
Loaded for bear
Prepared for problems, well prepared for a challenge
Flew the coop
Escape, left
Get someone’s goat
To irritate someone deeply
Fat cat
A highly placed, well-paid executive
Hold your horses
Wait and be patient
Cash cow
A good way to make money
Cat nap
A short sleep
Get the lion’s share
Get the greatest percentage
Kill two birds with one stone
Get two things done at once
Cool as a cucumber
Calm even in difficult or frustrating situations
The apple of someone’s eye
At the present moment; for now
As red as a cherry
Very red
To go bananas
To go crazy
Go pear-shaped
To fail; to go wrong
Second banana
A person in a subservient position
The cherry on the cake
The final thing that makes something perfect
A bite at the cherry
An opportunity to achieve something
A plum job
An easy, pleasant job that also pays well
Peaches and cream
A situation that has no trouble or problems
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