Idioms examples and their meaning

IDIOMS EXAMPLES (A-G)

• A little bird told me

Meaning: receive the information from a source not to be overtly exposed

• An arm and a leg

Meaning: a lot of money

• A blessing in disguise

Meaning: a good thing that seemed bad at first

• A dime a dozen

Meaning: Something common

• Add insult to injury

Meaning: worsen an unfavorable situation

• Against The Clock

Meaning: Rushed and short on time.

• A stone’s throw

Meaning: a short distance

• A short fuse

Meaning: the personality trait of being quick to anger

• A penny for your thoughts

Meaning: used to inquire into the thoughts

• A thumbs up

Meaning: that’s good

• Be all ears

Meaning: carefully listen, eager

• Blow smoke

Meaning: speak with a lack of credibility, sense

• Bite the bullet

Meaning: force yourself to do something difficult or unpleasant

• Beat around the bush

Meaning: Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable

• Better late than never

Meaning: Better to arrive late than not to come at all

• Bite the bullet

Meaning: To get something over with because it is inevitable

• Break a leg

Meaning: Good luck

• Call it a day

Meaning: Stop working on something

• Chip on his shoulder

Meaning: Angry today about something that occured in the past.

• Cut somebody some slack

Meaning: Don’t be so critical

• Cutting corners

Meaning: Doing something poorly in order to save time or money

• Down in the dumps

Meaning: very sad and without much interest in life

• Easy does it

Meaning: Slow down

• Far cry from

Meaning: Very different from.

• Get out of hand (body idioms)

Meaning: Get out of control

• Get something out of your system

Meaning: Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on

• Get your act together

Meaning: Work better or leave

• Give someone the benefit of the doubt

Meaning: Trust what someone says

• Go bananas

Meaning: to become extremely angry

• Go back to the drawing board

Meaning: Start over

IDIOMS EXAMPLES (H-P)

• Have a bone to pick with someone

Meaning: to want to talk to someone about something annoying they have done

• Hang in there

Meaning: Don’t give up

• Hit the sack

Meaning: Go to sleep

• In touch 

Meaning: in contact, or in communication

• It’s not rocket science

Meaning: It’s not complicated

• It’s not rocket

Meaning: science something is not difficult

• Let the cat out of the bag

Meaning: To share information that was previously concealed

• Let your hair down

Meaning: to enjoy yourself and start to relax

• Let someone off the hook

Meaning: To not hold someone responsible for something

• Make a long story short

Meaning: Tell something briefly

• Miss the boat

Meaning: It’s too late

• No pain, no gain

Meaning: You have to work for what you want

• Not playing with a full deck

Meaning: Someone who lacks intelligence.

• On the ball (sports idioms)

Meaning: be alert, active

• Once in a blue moon

Meaning: very rarely, unusual or very infrequently

• Piece of cake

Meaning: a job, task or other activity that is easy or simple

• Pull someone’s leg

Meaning: To joke with someone

• Pull yourself together

Meaning: Calm down

IDIOMS EXAMPLES (Q-Y)

• Ring a bell

Meaning: seem familiar

• Run on fumes

Meaning: operate with few resources

• Sit tight

Meaning: wait patiently

• Sit on the fence

Meaning: to delay making a decision

• So far so good

Meaning: Things are going well so far

• Speak of the devil

Meaning: The person we were just talking about showed up!

• Take it easy

Meaning: relax, rest

• That’s the last straw

Meaning: My patience has run out

• The best thing since sliced bread

Meaning: a new invention that is likely to improve people’s lives importantly

• The best of both worlds

Meaning: An ideal situation

• Time flies when you’re having fun

Meaning: You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun

• To get bent out of shape

Meaning: To get upset

• To make matters worse

Meaning: Make a problem worse

• Twist someone’s arm

Meaning: to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do

• Up in the air

Meaning: not yet finished

• Under the water

Meaning: somewhat ill or gloomy

• We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it

Meaning: Let’s not talk about that problem right now

• Whole nine yards

Meaning: Everythings

• Wrap your head around something

Meaning: Understand something complicated

• You can say that again

Meaning: That’s true, I agree

• Your guess is as good as mine

Meaning: I have no idea