Food Idioms
It's not my cup of tea.
Here are some common idioms based on food and foods. Each entry includes the
meaning of the idiom and shows the idiom in context in an example sentence. At
the end is a food idioms quiz to check your understanding.
idiom meaning example sentence
apple of one's a person that is Baby Jessica is the apple of her
eye adored by someone father's eye.
(have a) bun in be pregnant I don't think Jan will come to the bar
the oven because she has a bun in the oven.
bad egg a person who is I don't want my little brother hanging
often in trouble around with the bad eggs on the
street.
big cheese very important I thought I was just going to
person (VIP) interview the secretary, but they let
me talk to the big cheese himself.
bread and necessities, the Just explain the bread and butter of
butter main thing your report. You don't have to go into
details.
bring home the earn the income My husband has had to bring home
bacon the bacon ever since I broke my leg.
butter someone be extra nice to We'll have to butter Angie up before
up someone (usually we tell her the news about the broken
for selfish reasons) vase.
(have one's) want more than Rick wants to have his cake and eat
cake and eat it your fair share or it too. He wants to be single but he
too need doesn't want me to date anyone else.
carrot top person with red or Simon is the first carrot top I've ever
orange hair gone out with.
cheesy silly I love reading cheesy romance novels
because I don't have to think.
cool as a very relaxed I thought I was afraid of flying, but I
cucumber was cool as a cucumber all the way
to England.
cream of the the best We hired the cream of the crop to
crop entertain us at the Christmas party.
(don't) cry over get upset over The mirror is broken and we can't fix
spilled milk something that has it. There's no need to cry over spilled
happened and milk.
cannot be changed
cup of joe cup of coffee Let's stop for a cup of joe before we
head to work.
(not my) cup of something you Opera isn't exactly my cup of tea.
tea enjoy (usually used
negatively)
egg someone on urge someone to do The gang tried to egg us on but we
something didn't want to fight.
freeze one's be very cold I froze my buns off at the ice rink.
buns off
full of beans have a lot of (silly) The kids were full of beans after the
energy circus.
gravy train extremely good pay The unionized grocers have been
for minimal work enjoying the gravy train for twenty
years.
(have receive without The professor's daughter had her
something) working for college diploma handed to her on a
handed to something silver platter.
someone on a
silver platter
hard nut to difficult to Angelo is a hard nut to crack when
crack understand (often a something is bothering him like this.
person)
hot potato a controversial or Choosing a location for our new store
difficult subject is a hot potato right now.
in a nutshell simply In a nutshell, I'm having a bad day.
nuts about like a lot I'm nuts about classical music these
something, days.
someone
out to lunch crazy or mad Harry has been out to lunch ever
since he lost his job.
one smart a very intelligent Your daughter is one smart cookie.
cookie person She reads much higher than her grade
level.
peach fuzz small amount of Except for a bit of peach fuzz, the
hair growth baby came out bald.
piece of cake very easy The exam was a piece of cake.
put all of ones rely on one single Even though I'm majoring in Art, I'm
eggs in one thing taking a maths course because my
basket Dad says I shouldn't put all of my
eggs in one basket.
souped up made more The car was souped up with shiny
powerful or stylish rims and a loud stereo.
sell like hot bought by many The new Harry Potter books sold like
cakes people hot cakes.
spice things up make something I wanted to spice things up in the
more exciting office, so I bought some red and gold
paint.
spill the beans reveal the truth On Monday, I'm going to spill the
beans about my travel plans.
take something don't consider Take Mandy's advice with a pinch of
with a pinch something 100% salt. She doesn't always do her
(grain) of salt accurate research.
use your noodle use your brain You're going to have to really use
your noodle on this crossword
puzzle. It's an extra difficult one.
Food Idioms Quiz
Animal Idioms
Body Idioms
Clothing Idioms
Colour Idioms
Food Idioms
Geography Idioms
Sports Idioms
Long list of Idioms
Idioms Quizzes
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/idioms-food.php
