Geiner Mora Beita

English Idioms

Idiom Meaning Sentence Example

Under the weather Feeling ill / Getting a cold My mom was feeling a bit under the weather.

Cold feet Becoming nervous It was her chance to speak and she was
getting cold feet.

Apple of my eye Used to refer to someone whom you My friend is the apple of my eye.
are very fond of or like

Set the record To reveal the truth / To clarify In order to set the record straight, the guards
straight checked the camera to review the previous
incident.

Kill two birds with a Achieve two results by doing one None of us understood that he was trying to kill
stone thing two birds with a stone when he joined the military
forces.

Snowed under To be busy My father seems to have been snowed under for
the last few weeks.

To break To do or say something that proves Glint just broke my bubble when he said that he
someone’s bubble someone else’s beliefs are not true was a part of it.

Walk on eggshells Be very careful with your actions Talking to my mom about my grades made me
and words feel like I was walking on eggshells.

Bite the bullet Finish something no matter how Danny had been hiding the issue of the
unsatisfying or unpleasant it is / Get company’s financial management but decided to
something over with bite the bullet and told it to Sid today.

Make two ends To have just enough money for all Harry and Hani are finding it really difficult to make
meet your needs two ends meet.

Pretty penny Expensive The dress she wants for her birthday will cost
a pretty penny.

Through thick and At all times – both good and bad My friends are always there for me – through thick
thin and thin.

Beat around the Not saying directly Jason’s neighbor kept beating around the
bush bush and did not give a direct answer.
 Geiner Mora Beita

Hang in there Stay strong in a difficult situation Hang in there! Everything will be okay before you
know it.

Cut corners Purchase something in the least I often cut corners in order to buy something for
expensive way or do something easily my brother.
/ Reduce expenses

Steal someone’s Directing attention and doing Monica claimed that Rachel tried to steal her
thunder something to gain praise and thunder.
preventing another person from
gaining praise

Call it a day To stop doing something After the movie, we had planned to go to the
beach, but we decided to call it a day as everyone
was tired.

Better late than To do something rather than not doing Well, we thought it was better late than never, but
never where are the others?

Stick to your guns Stay morally strong or be firm in The lawyer asked Rebeca to stick to his guns if
decisions especially when being she wants to win the case.
opposed

Leave no stone To look everywhere without missing a The police were determined not to leave any
unturned spot or to take every effort possible to stone unturned.
achieve something

Clouds on the Problems/ Trouble Victoria sensed that there were multiple clouds
horizon onthe horizon.

A blessing in Something that you think is bad but My catching a cold was a blessing in disguise. I did
disguise turns out to be a blessing not go to work yesterday and I saw the soccer
match.
To cut a long To say something in simple words in a We decided to cut the long story short and tell
story short brief manner them what actually happened at the mall.

Cup of tea Not something that a person would do Cooking has never been Rachel’s cup of tea.

Beating a dead Overdoing something or an action She was just beating a dead horse in thinking she
horse that is pointless could change his mind.

Speak of the devil A phrase used to refer to a person Speak of the devil! Here he comes.
who appears as soon as they are
being mentioned

Let sleeping dogs To stop discussing something that is The police had warned us to let sleeping dogs
lie already over or sorted out lie and move ahead with our lives.
 Geiner Mora Beita

Let the cat out of Reveal a secret carelessly Allen just let the cat out of the bag by revealing
the bag the gender of the baby.

Elephant in the A controversial problem or a major We had to identify the elephant in the room before
room issue we made a decision.

in a nutshell To sum up the points and be brief The teacher asked us to quote the findings in a
nutshell.

Worth its weight in To be highly valuable Every word of what you say is worth its weight in
gold gold.

To weather the To go through something difficult My mom taught me how to stand strong
storm and weather the storm.

Get your act To stop fooling around and do It is time you get your act together and do
together something in the way it should be something useful.
done

Cost an arm and a Used to refer to something that is I think it will cost an arm and a leg to get the car
leg extremely expensive my brother wants.

On top of the world A state of extreme happiness Nicole seemed to be on top of the world since
she heard the news of her son’s promotion.

Get out of hand Not in one’s control anymore The situation has gotten out of hand and there is
nothing anyone here can do to help.

Like two peas in a Be together always My cousin and I are always like two peas in a pod.
pod

Know which way To understand what is happening As a detective, you are always obliged to
the wind blows learn which way the wind blows and then make a
statement.

Hit the nail on the To do something the exact way in Hanna hit the nail on the head with his decision to
head which it should be done / Also refers buy this piece of land.
to giving a direct answer

Catch more flies Getting what you want by being nice If you ask politely, you may be able to catch more
with honey than flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
you can with
vinegar
 Geiner Mora Beita

Let someone off Releasing someone or letting The court decided to let the guy off the hook as
the hook someone go there was no evidence proving his crime.

Like riding a bicycle A skill that you learn and will never Learning a language is like riding a bicycle; you
forget will never forget it.

It’s not rocket Not that difficult to comprehend Cooking sambar is easy; I will figure it out. After
science all, it is not rocket science.

Spill the beans Reveal a secret Randall spilled the beans about his wife being
pregnant.

Pull the last straw The final point in a series of Sharon decided to pull the last straw and inform
unfortunate events when you feel you the manager about what was happening in the
cannot take it anymore office.

That ship has It is too late to do something Norah said that she won’t be performing live
sailed anymore as she announced to the press, “That
ship has sailed”.

It is always the Something good is coming / Things Do not be worried about what is going on in your
darkest before will get better life right now; it is always the darkest before dawn.
dawn

Have one’s head in To have no concentration at all I knew that you had your head in the
the clouds clouds throughout the ceremony. What happened
to you?

On thin ice Used to refer to a sensitive scenario Zack was on thin ice; he had to figure out a way to
or a person who is in trouble help his brother.

Give a cold Act rudely to someone Nobody knows why Diana gave a cold
shoulder shoulder to Roy

Cannot make an Everything has a cost to pay You just have to understand that you cannot make
omelet without an omelet without breaking some eggs.
breaking some
eggs

Once bitten, twice Being extremely cautious as you have Nate has been extremely careful with making
shy been hurt already new friends. After all, once bitten, twice shy right?

Bolt from the blue Something that happens The news of my friend’s pregnancy was a bolt
unexpectedly or without a warning from the blue.
 Geiner Mora Beita

When it rains, it When everything goes wrong at once They not only left home late but also got stuck in
pours traffic. When it rains, it pours.

Miss the boat To act too slowly and miss an You will miss the boat if you wait any longer.
opportunity

Pull someone’s leg To make fun of someone Kevin’s friends kept pulling his leg all evening.

No pain no gain Suffering or making efforts is required It is better you start learning now. It will be difficult
to achieve something but no pain, no gain.

See eye to eye Have the same opinion or have the It is highly required that you both see eye to eye if
same point of view you want this resolved.

Wear your heart on To be extremely open about what you David wears his heart on his sleeve; he tends to
your sleeve feel and think get hurt very often.

Takes two to tango Two persons are equally responsible It is not possible Sandra is the only one involved.
for what is happening or has After all, it takes two to tango.
happened

Come rain or shine No matter what happens Come rain or shine, I will be there for you.

So far so good Means that everything has turned out Everything so far has been so good.
well until that point

Comparing apples To compare two things that are Comparing a doctor’s profession to a teacher’s
to oranges completely different and cannot be profession is like comparing apples to oranges.
compared

When pigs fly When something uncanny or Pigs would fly if you cooked deliciously.
impossible happens

Curiosity killed the Asking too many questions or It is better we don’t dig more into this
cat involving too much in other people’s case; curiosity killed the cat.
affairs will get you into trouble

The best of both Good in every way Having my best friend is the best of both worlds.
worlds

The whole nine Refer to everything that someone He has to sell the whole nine yards if he wants to
yards possesses buy that house.

The grass is Never being satisfied with what one For her, the grass is always greener on the other
greener on the gets side.
other side
 Geiner Mora Beita

Every dog has its Everyone gets a chance Do not worry about it. Every dog has his
day day. Today, it is his.

Counting your Expecting good results before She started counting her chickens before they
chickens before something is done hatched. That will only disappoint her; I hope she
they hatch understands.

Go down in flames To fail terribly Everything went down in flames when we lost the
lottery.

Adding fuel to the Aggravating the problem She was just adding fuel to the fire telling Tom’s
fire mom about his health.

Wrap your head Try to make sense about what is My mom was finding it hard to wrap her head
around something going on around the fact that I am getting married
tomorrow.

Cut the mustard Do a perfectly good job The police cut the mustard in finding the gang that
robbed the bank.

Jump from the Refers to a situation becoming worse He did not know he was jumping off the frying pan
frying pan into the into the fire when he decided to speak about the
fire problems at work.

Cry over spilt milk Worrying or complaining about There is no use crying over spilt milk; you just
something that cannot be have to move on with your life.
fixed/rectified

Have a method to Seeming to be crazy. but in Everyone thinks he is crazy, but he sure has a
one’s madness fact,clever method to his madness.

Do something at Do something unplanned He can plan a whole trip at the drop of a hat.
the drop of a hat

Hear it from the To know something from the person We finally heard it from the horse’s mouth.
horse’s mouth involved

Fit as a fiddle To be in good health My great-grandmother is surprisingly fit as a fiddle.

Take everything Refers to being a skeptic and My mom always asks me to believe everyone
with a pinch of salt notbelieving blindly with apinch of salt.

A pain in the neck Refers to a person who is annoying Dayana was a constant pain in the neck.

The best thing A good and useful invention The smartphone is the best thing since sliced
since sliced bread bread.
 Geiner Mora Beita

Walk in the other’s To understand what the other is going You will not understand unless you walk in their
shoes through shoes.

Break the ice To make people feel comfortable with The communication trainer conducted an activity
those who are unfamiliar to them to break the ice.

Having a monkey To have a problem that you cannot Not completing my degree is a monkey on my
on your back solve or get rid of easily back.

Go on a wild goose Doing something pointless Finding the red and black dress I saw online felt
chase like going on a wild goose chase.

Rain cats and dogs Raining heavily It has been raining cats and dogs since yesterday.

Once in a blue Very rarely We met each other only once in a blue moon.
moon

Bark up the wrong Following a misguided or mistaken He did not know he was barking up the wrong
tree thought or action tree.

Devil quoting the Good things being twisted for selfish A bad person speaking about going to heaven is
Bible and evil purposes like the devil quoting the Bible.

The devil is in the Refers to something that seems to be That house seems to be in a great status, yet, as
details good only from a distance mom always says: “the devil is in the details”

Other fish in the More opportunities My father told me not to worry about the
sea competition as there would be other fish in the
sea.

A snowball’s No chance at all of achieving it You will not pass that test; it is a snowball’s
chance in hell chance in hell.

Bounce off the To be extremely excited and energetic The children were bouncing off the walls the
walls moment they heard about going to an amusement
park this weekend.

As right as rain Something is perfect I don’t know about the others, but I feel that your
decision is as right as rain.

To get bent out of To be upset, to take offense, to be My cousins have been bent out of shape since
shape angry we canceled our trip to Disneyland!
 Geiner Mora Beita

Every cloud has a There is always some good in Do not be worried about your current situation;
silver lining everything that happens / Something after all, every cloud has a silver lining.
good will happen after something
bad

Play the devil’s To argue or fight over something just We had no idea why he was playing the devil’s
advocate for the sake of it advocate when he knew what had happened.

Cross that bridge Deal with the problem when it I know there are decisions to be made about the
when we get to it happens selling of the house but we will cross that bridge
when we get to it. As of now, let us focus on this.

Throw caution to To take a risk Fiorella threw caution to the wind in trying to save
the wind me from the accident.

A penny for your Used to ask someone what they are I would like to give a penny for your thoughts.
thoughts thinking

Bite off more than To do more than you can My mom thinks that my brother is biting off more
you can chew than he can chew by taking up a night job and a
day job.

Judging a book by Judge or form an opinion on someone People are known to always judge a book by its
its cover based on appearances cover.

Rain on one’s To spoil someone’s moment of praise Rachel did not really think she was raining on
parade / To spoil something Monica’s parade when she announced her new
job.

By the skin of your By a very narrow margin, the slightest The doctors said that Marcus had escaped
teeth of chances serious injuries by the skin of his teeth.

Put all your eggs in Doing something risky Lesly’s parents think that she is putting all his
one basket eggs in one basket by studying art.

Put something on To hold off something We decided to put the case on ice until we had
ice some clue of what had happened.
Cannot have a Cannot have everything for yourself You should not take all the Christmas presents and
cake and eat it too leave your sister without anything, you need to know
that you cannot have the cake and eat it too.