IDIOMATIC
EXPRESSIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Find the meaning of the following idioms and learn how to use
them correctly.
1.
At the head of the class-someone
knowledgeable or an expert at something
2.
Head and shoulders above – someone or
something who is a lot better than others being compared to
3.
A head start – an advantage granted or
gained at the beginning of something
4.
Have a good head on one’s shoulder – to
have common sense
5.
Off the top of one’s head – in an impromptu
way; without much thought
6.
Put one’s heads together – (usually by a
group ) to think about something in order to get ideas or to solve a problem
7.
Use one’s head – to think; have common
sense
8.
Make one’s head spin – cause one to be
giddy, dazed, or confused
9.
Over one’s head – beyond one’s depth
10.
Scratch one’s head – express puzzlement or
perplexity
11.
Head over heels – completely; thoroughly
12.
Lose one’s head – lose self-control; panic
13.
Out of one’s head – crazy
14.
Soft in the head – stupid
15.
Heads will roll – people will get into
severe trouble
16.
Talk someone’s head off – to speak too much
17.
Laugh someone’s head off – to laugh too
much
18.
Hard-headed – tough; not moved by sentiment
19.
Thick-headed – stupid
20.
Hot-headed – hot-tempered; impetuous or
rash
21.
Cool-headed – not easily excited; calm
22.
Knucklehead – a stupid person
23.
Bonehead – a dunce
24.
Sleepyhead – one who is in need of or
groggy from sleep
25.
Pothead – one who habitually smokes
marijuana
26.
Head off – to go
27.
Head on – with or involving direct
confrontation
28.
Head in – to move into something
29.
Turn heads – to be so interesting or
attractive that people turn to look
30.
Keep one’s head above water – avoid
succumbing to difficulties
31.
At the eleventh hour – almost too late
32.
In the dead of the night – during the
middle of the night
33.
A nightcap – an alcoholic or hot drink
taken at the end of the day or before going to bed
34.
A night-bird – a person who is habitually
active or wakeful at night
35.
On the spur of the moment – on impulse;
without planning in advance
36.
One’s Sunday best – your best clothes which
you wear on special occasions
37.
To do something at the last minute – to do
something just before the deadline
38.
It’s all in day’s work – a part of what is
expected
39.
To have seen better days – have declined
from former prosperity or good condition
40.
To call it a day – to stop a particular
activity for the rest of the day
41.
To fight tooth and nail – to use a lot of
effort to oppose someone or achieve something
42.
To have the time of one’s life – to have a
very good time
43.
To kill time – pass time aimlessly
44.
To learn something by heart – to learn
something so well that it can be written or recited without thinking; to
memorize
45.
To have one’s heart in one’s mouth – to
feel strongly emotional about someone or something
46.
To pull someone’s leg – play a joke on;
tease
47.
Not to have a leg to stand on – to have no
support for your position
48.
To be on its last leg – about to stop
working
49.
To pay through the nose – pay an excessive
amount for something
50.
To stick one’s neck out – to take a risk
51.
To give someone the cold shoulder – to
behave towards someone in a way that is not at all friendly
52.
To run shoulders with someone – to meet and
spend time with someone
53.
To toe the line – to conform to a rule or
standard
54.
To hold one’s tongue – to avoid speaking
55.
To make a slip of the tongue – an error in
speaking in which the speaker says something unintentionally
56.
To let one’s hair down – to relax and enjoy
yourself without worrying what other people will think
57.
To escape by a hair’s breadth – to barely
escape
58.
To have one’s hands full – to be busy or
totally occupied with something
59.
To be a handful – to be difficult to deal
with
60.
To be an old hand – to be skilled at something
through long experience
61.
To get the upper hand of something – to
have power and control over someone or a situation
62.
To say something off-hand – to say
something without preparation
63.
To have a finger in the pie – to have a
role in something
64.
To keep one’s fingers crossed – to wish for
luck for someone
65.
To see eye to eye – to agree on something
or view something the same way
66.
To keep a straight face – to not show one’s
feelings
67.
Elbow room - space which allows you to move around
68.
To get something off one’s chest – to
confess, or speak about something that has
been bothering you, especially when it this comes as a relief
69.
To play music by ear – to reproduce a piece
of music one heard
70.
To be within earshot – to be close enough
to something to hear it
71.
To pick someone’s brains- to seek
information to someone knowledgeable
72.
A bone of contention- the subject or point
of an argument
73.
To have one’s back against the wall-to have
very serious problems
74.
To be up in arms- in armed rebellion; very
angry
75.
To break the back of something- to end the
domination of something
76.
To see red- someone to be angry
77.
To see the red light-to stop what one is
doing
78.
To catch someone red-handed-apprehend
someone in the course of wrong doing
79.
To have green fingers- to be good at
keeping plants healthy
80.
To turn grey-extreme anxiety or grief can
turn someone’s hair grey
81.
To see pink elephants- euphemism for drunken hallucination, caused by alcoholic allusions
or delirium tremens
82.
To feel blue- to be depressed
83.
To be dressed in black- to mourn or be sad
for an unfortunate event
84.
To beat someone black and blue- hit someone
until they are bruised
85.
A feather in one’s cap- a symbol of honor
or achievement
86.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing- a dangerous
person pretending to be harmless
87.
To clip someone’s wings- to reduce
someone’s privileges as a punishment
88.
To take the bull by the horns- confront a
problem head on
89.
To have butterflies in one’s stomach- to
get nervous or tense
90.
To rain cats and dogs- to raining in great
amounts
91.
To count one’s chickens before they hatch-
make plans based on events that may or may not happen
92.
To have other fish to fry-to have other
things to do
93.
To go to the dogs- go to pot; go to hell
94.
To wait till the cows come home- for a long
but indefinite time
95.
To err on the safe side- to err on the side
of caution
96.
To set the ball rolling- maintain a level
of activity in and enthusiasm for a project
97.
To talk down to someone- to speak to
someone in a patronizing manner
98.
To clear the air- to get rid of doubts or
hard feelings
99.
To throw someone’s weight around- put on
weight
100. A saving grace- A redeeming quality, especially one that
compensates for one's shortcomings
101. To affect ignorance (of something)-
to enlighten; share knowledge
102. To be asking for trouble- to do
something that would cause trouble
103. To be barking up the wrong tree- a
mistaken emphasis in a certain context
104. To beat the air-to strike violently
repeatedly
105. To blow one’s own trumpet- blow out
of proportion
106. It all boils down to- to emphasize
the importance of something
107. To buck one’s ideas up- to summon
one’s courage
108. To buckle down to something- to
settle down
109. To burn one’s bridges- to cut off
the way back where you came from
110. To burn a hole in one’s pocket- to
cause someone to be tempted on money
111. To burn the candle at both ends-
getting up early in the morning
112. To burn one’s fingers- to get one’s
self in an unexpected trouble
113. To burn the midnight’s oil- to work
late into the night
114. To butter someone up- to flatter
someone
115. To buy a pig in a poke-something
that is bought without the buyer knowing its true value
116. To call the tune- a musical setting
of a hymn, poem, psalm etc.
117. To catch someone napping- catch
someone who is unprepared
118. To catch someone red-handed- to
catch someone doing an wrong act
119. To chop and change- to keep changing
what you do or plan to do
120. To cross the Rubicon- to do
something that inevitably commits one to following a certain course of action
121. To curry favor with someone- to try
to make someone like you or
support you by doing or saying things to
122. To cut one’s coat according to one’s
cloth- to plan one's aims and activities in line with
one's resources and
circumstances.
123. To draw a blank-to get no response
124. To err on the safe side- doing the
thing that is safe rather than risking
125. To feather one’s nest- to decorate
one’s home in style and comfort
126. To fish in troubled waters- to
involve self in a difficult situation
127. To flog a dead horse- to insist in
talking about something that no one is interested in
128. To fly in the face of someone- to
challenge someone
129. To fly off the handle- losing one’s
temper
130. To follow the crowd- go along with
the majority
131. To follow in someone’s footsteps- to
do the same things in your life as someone else
132. To gild the lily- to over embellish
133. To hand out bouquets- to give out or
confess one’s love
134. To handle someone with kid gloves-to
deal with someone very gently
135. To harp on the same string- to play
the same note over and over
136. To hear something over the
grape-vine- to hear news from someone who heard the news from someone else
137. To hold the olive branch-to offer to
make peace with an enemy or rival
138. To hit below the belt- an unfair
blow
139. To iron out differences- resolve differences;
settle disputes
140. To join forces-to work together in a
common enterprise
141. To jump on the bandwagon – to
support something because of its popularity
142. To kill two birds with one stone –
achieving 2 things with only one activity
143. To know where the shoe pinches – the
true cause of the trouble
144. To know which side one’s bread is
buttered - to know who to be nice to and what to do in order to get an
advantage for yourself
145. To lead a charmed life – a life in
which one is always lucky and safe
146. To lead someone a dance – lead
someone around in your point of view
147. To lead someone a dog’s life – very
unhappy or unpleasant life
148. To lead someone up the garden path –
deceive someone
149. To leave much to be desired – be
imperfect or unsatisfactory
150. Let by-gones be by-gones – leave
whatever happened in the past
151. To let sleeping dogs lie – not talk
about a bad situation that most people forgot
152. To let something drop – casually
reveal a piece of information
153. To let the cat out of the bag –
reveal facts previously hidden
154. To let the grass grow under one’s
feet – to not waste time by delaying
155. To meet one’s Waterloo – to
encounter a big obstacle and be defeated by it
156. To meet someone half-way – to agree
in a condition
157. To mend one’s ways – to change
someone
158. To mince one’s words – traitor
159. To mind one’s p’s and q’s – practice
good manners
160. To move heaven and earth – do
everything you can to achieve something
161. To nip something in the bud – put an
end to something before it becomes larger
162. To pat someone on the back – to
congratulate
163. To pocket one’s pride – to hide your
pride in certain situations
164. To pour oil on troubled waters – to
calm two talking person who are fighting
165. To rain cats and dogs – hravy rains
166. To rest on one’s laurels – to stop
trying because of satisfied achievements
167. To ring a bell – to remember
something
168. To rise to the occasion – to stand
up to what you believe
169. To rob Peter to pay Paul – to take
something from someone for the benefit of another person
170. To roll one’s sleeves up – to be
serious in a situation
171. To throw in the towel – to stop
something
172. To tighten one’s belt – spend less
than before
173. To wash one’s dirty linen in public
– discuss something that should be private
174. To weather the storm – to be able to
continue doing something despite problems
175. To whistle for the wind – to take
purposelessly
176. To make one’s feet wet – get a
little first time in something
177. To stick one’s neck out – take a
risk
178. To stretch a point – do something
unacceptable
179. To smell a rat – to suspect that
something is wrong
180. To speak volume – giving out opinion
181. To steal someone’s thunder – lessen
someones force or authority
182. To spill the beans – give away
private information
183. To split hairs – to argue about a
trivial aspect of an issue
184. To stick around – to stay a little
longer
185. To run in the blood – a unique
characteristic in your family
186. To be six feet under – to be dead
187. To die by one’s own hand - suicide
188. To come to an untimely death – death
at an early age
189. To be on piece-work – paid a fixed
rate regardless of time
190. To cook someone’s goose – to ruin
someone
191. Straight from the horse’s mouth –
comes from an original source
192. To hold one’s horses – to calm down
193. To look a gift-horse in the mouth –
not to refuse something good that is being offered
194. The lion’s share – the owners share
195. The leopard can’t change its spots –
one can’t change essential nature
196. To put the cat among the pigeons – a
disturbance caused by an undesirable person
197. To have a bee in one’s bonnet -
obsession
198. To take the bull by the horns – to
deal with a difficult situation
199. To have other fish to fry – to have
other important things to do
200. To keep the wolf from the door – to
maintain oneself at a minimal level
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