English Idioms - Meaning & Examples

Idiom Meaning Example

1 Cost an arm and a leg Very expensive That new phone cost me
an arm and a leg.
2 In hot water In trouble He was in hot water for
missing the meeting.
3 Hit the books To study hard I have to hit the books —
finals are next week!
4 Kill two birds with one stone Accomplish two things By shopping on the way
at once home, I killed two birds
with one stone.
5 Pull someone’s leg Joke or tease someone Relax, I’m just pulling
your leg!
6 Back to the drawing board Start over after failure The prototype didn’t
work, so it’s back to the
drawing board.
7 Throw in the towel Give up or quit After several attempts,
she finally threw in the
towel.
8 On the same page In agreement or Let’s make sure we’re on
understanding the same page before we
present.
9 Beat around the bush Avoid saying something Stop beating around the
directly bush and tell me what
happened.
10 Break the ice Start a conversation in a To break the ice, she
social situation complimented his shirt.
11 On cloud nine Extremely happy or She was on cloud nine
joyful after getting the job
offer.
12 Bite the bullet Do something difficult I’ll have to bite the bullet
you've been avoiding and make an
appointment.
13 Hit the nail on the head Describe the exact cause You hit the nail on the
of a situation head when you said she
was upset.
14 Let the cat out of the bag Reveal a secret by He let the cat out of the
accident bag about the surprise
party.
15 The ball is in your court It’s your decision now I've done all I can. Now
the ball is in your court.
16 A blessing in disguise Something bad that Losing that job was a
turns out good blessing in disguise.
17 Under the weather Feeling ill or unwell I'm feeling a bit under
the weather today.
18 Spill the beans Reveal a secret or Don’t spill the beans
 surprise about the gift!
19 Throw caution to the wind Take a risk They threw caution to
the wind and invested in
a startup.
20 Get a taste of your own Experience your own Now she’s getting a taste
medicine bad behavior of her own medicine.
21 A bear with a sore head Irritated/bad mood He was like a bear with a
sore head this morning.
22 A bit of a dark horse A person with hidden She turned out to be a
abilities dark horse in the
competition.
23 A bitter pill to swallow A difficult fact to accept Losing the championship
was a bitter pill to
swallow.
24 A different kettle of fish A completely different Working abroad is a
matter different kettle of fish.
25 A dog’s life A hard or unpleasant life He’s had a dog’s life
since losing his job.
26 A fish out of water Feeling uncomfortable I felt like a fish out of
in unfamiliar water at the party.
surroundings
27 A long shot A very unlikely It’s a long shot, but we
possibility might win.
28 A memory like a sieve A poor memory I forgot again! I have a
memory like a sieve.
29 A night owl Someone who stays up I’m a night owl and love
late working at night.
30 A pain in the neck Someone or something That broken printer is a
annoying real pain in the neck.
31 A piece of cake Something very easy This math problem is a
piece of cake.
32 A red rag to a bull Something that Mentioning politics was
provokes anger like a red rag to a bull.
33 A red-letter day A very important or Graduation was a red-
joyful day letter day in my life.
34 A sitting duck Easy target Without protection, we
were sitting ducks.
35 A storm in a teacup A big fuss over Their argument was just
something unimportant a storm in a teacup.
36 A wild-goose chase A hopeless or pointless Finding the right file
search turned into a wild-goose
chase.
37 Above board Honest and legal The deal was completely
above board.
38 Achilles’ heel A weakness or Her inability to delegate
vulnerable point is her Achilles’ heel.
39 Against all odds Despite great difficulties They survived the crash
against all odds.
40 Agree to disagree Accept that agreement is Let’s just agree to
 not possible disagree on this.
41 All along From the beginning She knew the answer all
along.
42 All but Almost The project is all but
complete.
43 All in Exhausted After the hike, I was all
in.
44 All in all Considering everything All in all, it was a great
trip.
45 Once in a blue moon Very rarely He visits us once in a
blue moon.
46 Actions speak louder than What someone does is Don’t just promise—
words more important than actions speak louder
what they say than words.
47 Go the extra mile To do more than He goes the extra mile
expected for his clients.
48 In the nick of time Just in time He arrived in the nick of
time to catch the train.
49 Let sleeping dogs lie Avoid restarting old Don’t ask about his ex —
conflicts let sleeping dogs lie.
50 Burn bridges Destroy relationships or Don’t burn bridges with
opportunities your former employer.
51 Add fuel to the fire Make a bad situation Yelling back only added
worse fuel to the fire.
52 Hit the sack Go to bed I’m exhausted. I’m going
to hit the sack.
53 Call it a day Stop working for the day We’ve done enough.
Let’s call it a day.
54 The tip of the iceberg A small part of a much The scandal is just the
bigger problem tip of the iceberg.
55 Jump on the bandwagon Follow a popular trend I might jump on the
bandwagon and start
vlogging.
56 Keep an eye on Watch or monitor Can you keep an eye on
closely my laptop?
57 Put all your eggs in one Rely on a single plan or Don’t put all your eggs in
basket opportunity one basket.
58 The early bird catches the Success comes to those Wake up early — the
worm who act early early bird catches the
worm.
59 Rome wasn’t built in a day Important work takes Be patient — Rome
time wasn’t built in a day.
60 Barking up the wrong tree Accusing or blaming the If you think I broke it,
wrong person you're barking up the
wrong tree.