A List of idioms. This page contains examples of idioms and an ever growing list of idioms. It is a good practice to avoid use of these idioms in poetry unless used in a completely original way.
See also: Proverbs
Idioms are expressions, sayings, or phrases whose meanings cannot be understood from the meanings of the words that make it up.
Take a leaf out of someone's book
Meaning:
Do something in the same way as someone else does to be like him/her or successful as he/she is. If you take a leaf out of someone's book, you behave like him/her because you will gain advantages from it.
Example:
Maybe I should take a leaf out of Jenny's book and start exercising.
(She's always in good shape because she exercises every day.)
I will take a leaf out of his book. It's clear to see how he learned to become a fluent English speaker.
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Take it easyMeaning:Relax; Don't worry; Slow down
If you say "Take it easy" to someone, you tell him/her
1. to relax and not to do very much or
2. not to be upset, angry or worrying
You also say "Take it easy" when you are leaving someone.
Example:
I'm finally finished with my project. I will take it easy this weekend.
Don't worry too much about the exam. Take it easy -- everything will be okay.
Bye, see you next week.
Yeah, take it easy.
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Take the biscuitMeaning:To be particularly bad, objectionable, or egregious.
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Take the cakeMeaning:To be especially good or outstanding.
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Take to something like a duck to water
Meaning: To learn how to do something very easily, quickly, and well when doing it for the first time, especially because of the person's natural ability. If someone takes to something like a duck to water, he/she finds it very easy to do when he/she learns it for the first time. He/She finds that he/she is good at it naturally. Example: Sam is really a natural programmer. He took to programming like a duck to water even before he graduated from elementary school.
A: How's Sandy doing in her new job?
B: Very well. She's taken to it like a duck to water.
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TearjerkerMeaning: A tearjerker is a movie, book, or story that makes you sad and cry. Example: That movie was really a tearjerker.
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That makes two of us.Meaning: Agree with you. I understand what you feel. If you say "That makes two of us," you tell someone that you agree with him/her or that you are in the same situation, or understand his/her situation or feeling. Example: I wish I didn't have to take so many final exams this week.
Yeah, that makes two of us.
I have no idea how to use this machine.
That makes two of us.
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That's thatMeaning: You say "That's that" whenyou want to say: 1. something is ended and you cannot change it. 2. you refuse to do something and nothing will not persuade you to do it. Example: They've sold their house and are moving to Europe, and that's that. (They've already decided to do so. They won't change their plan.)
I won't do that. I'm just leaving now, and that's that.
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The Bottom Line
Meaning:The most important factor in a situation or a decision to consider.
If you say the bottom line is xxxx, you mean xxxx is the most important or critical fact you want others to consider.
Note: The original meaning of the bottom line is the final line of an accounting report of a company or an organization.
That line shows how much money the company/organization has earned or lost during a particular period of time.
Example: After a long heated discussion, the manager finally said, "The bottom line is, we have a limited budget and simply can't continue this project any longer."
I've heard enough of your excuses. What's the bottom line?
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The last/final straw
Meaning: The last in a series of unpleasant or undesirable events that makes you unable to accept a situation any longer. If an event that follows a series of bad events or experience makes you feel you cannot tolerate a situation any more and finally decide to leave it or do something to change it, you call the event the last or final straw. People also call it the last/final straw that broke the camel's back. Example: The low salary and the demanding boss were bad enough, but the rude co-worker was the last straw.
(Then I decided to quit the job.)
I bought a car three months ago, but I had a brake and transmission problems.
Last week's engine trouble was the final straw.
(I decided to sell it or junk it.)
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Tip of the icebergMeaning: Something that shows or suggests a much larger problem. If you say "It is just the tip of the iceberg," you mean that what you see is just a small part of something that is actually much bigger than it seems. Example: I heard 4 government officials were arrested for bribery yesterday.
It's justthe tip of the iceberg. Many more are doing the same thing.
The reporter said today's death toll might be just the tip of the iceberg.
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Through thick and thinMeaning:In both good and bad times.
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Throw in the towelMeaning: Give up doing something because it is too difficult to continue. If you throw in the towel, you stop trying to do something because you have found that you won't succeed. Example: After discussing the matter with him for more than 3 hours, I threw in the towel and gave up persuading him.
There are still a few things you can do before throwing in the towel. Don't give up hope.
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Thumb one's noseMeaning:To express scorn or to disregard.
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Tie one onMeaning:To get drunk.
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Time will tell.Meaning: Something will be clear sometime in the future, not now, whether it is good, bad, successful, a mistake, etc. If you say "Time will tell," you mean that you will not know whether something is good or bad until sometime in the future. People also say "Only time will tell." Example: Only time will tell whether we elected the right person.
Don't worry now; we've done everything we could do. I don't see any problems in our decision, but time will tell.
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Top dog
Meaning:The person or the group that has the most power or authority
If someone or an organization is top dog, he/she/it has the highest authority or power in a group.
Example: Although Tom was very shy at the beginning, he became the top dog in the sales department in his fourth year. Karen has never lost her ambition to be the top dog since her first year in the company.
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Trip the light fantasticMeaning:To dance
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Turn over a new leaf
Meaning:
Start to do someting again in a better way, forgetting past errors.
If you turn over a new leaf, you will start to behave better or become a better person.
Example:
Stephen said he has turned over a new leaf, and that he's going to quit smoking and drinking and start to exercise every day.
She decided to turn over a new leaf after her mother's death.
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Turn your back onMeaning:To tell people that you will not help them even though they need your help very badly Example:Sarah and Jack are friends. Sarah is very good at math, but Jack thinks math is very hard. They have a test coming up tomorrow. Jack is very nervous because he thinks he will fail, and the test is very important. He decides to ask Sarah for help. "Sarah, will you help me study for the math test? I don't understand how to do the problems." "I'm sorry," Sarah answers. "I have to baby-sit my little brother tonight, so I can't help you study." "How can you turn your back on me when I need you so much? I'm going to fail this test if you don't help me," Jack says. "I'm sorry. I can't help you tonight because I am busy."
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Twenty-four seven (24/7)Meaning:Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This idiom means you do something all the time. Example:Sam is crazy about music. He listens to music on the radio 24/7. Their supermarket is open twenty-four seven.
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