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 younger brother is the apple of my eye.
are very fond of or like

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

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

Walk on eggshells To 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 putting off discussing the
unsatisfying or unpleasant it is / Get financial management of the company but
something over with decided to bite the bullet and talk to Sid today.

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

To be at loggerheads To quarrel or disagree Jithin’s parents seem to be at loggerheads over

with someone something or the other all the time.

Pretty penny Expensive The dress she wants for her birthday will cost
a pretty penny.
Break a leg Used instead of good luck The teacher asked us to break a leg at the
annual day dance.

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

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

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 my brother.
easily / reduce expenses

Steal someone’s Directing the 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 never To do something rather than not Well, we thought it was better late than never,
doing but where are the others?

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

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

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

A blessing in disguise Something that you think is bad but Me catching a cold was a blessing in disguise.
 turns out to be a blessing

Blue in the face To be exhausted due to strain or Usha looked blue in the face after the marathon.
anger

Make a long story To say something in simple words in We decided to cut the long story short and tell
short a brief manner them what actually happened at the mall.

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

Beating a dead horse Overdoing something or an action She was just beating a dead horse in thinking
that is pointless she 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 lie To stop discussing something that is The police had warned us to let sleeping dogs
already over or sorted out lie and move ahead with our lives.

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

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

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

A piece of cake An easy task Solving the Wordle everyday was just a piece of
cake.
Get your act together To stop fooling around and do It is time you get your act together and do
something in the way it should be something useful.
done

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

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

Time is money To work quickly in the time that is The manager encouraged the employees to
left realise that time is money and work harder.

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

Know which way the To understand what is happening As a detective, you are always obliged to
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 Harish hit the nail on the head with his decision
head which it should be done / Also refers to buy this piece of land.
to giving a direct answer

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

Let someone off the Releasing someone or letting The court decided to let the guy off the hook as
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.

Blame one’s tools Blaming something on someone else When he understood he had no way out of the
problem, he blamed his tools.
It’s not rocket science Not that difficult to comprehend Cooking sambar is easy; I will figure it out. After
all, it is not rocket science.

Spill the beans Reveal a secret Remya spilled the beans about her sister coming
to her mom.

Get the show on the Start something or begin an The circus company had completed its trail run
road enterprise and was ready to get the show on the road.

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

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

It is always the darkest Something good is coming / Things Do not be worried about what is going on in
before dawn will get better your life right now; it is always the darkest
before 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 Zeke was on thin ice; he had to figure out a way
or a person who is in trouble to help his brother.

Give a cold shoulder Act rudely to someone Nobody knows why Dias gave Rayon a cold
shoulder.

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

Once bitten, twice shy Being extremely cautious as you Nitheesh has been extremely careful with
have been hurt already making 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.

When it rains, it pours When everything goes wrong at They not only left home late but also got stuck in
once 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 It is better you start learning now. It will be
required to achieve something difficult 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
same point of view eye if you want this resolved.

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

Takes two to tango Two persons are equally responsible It is not possible Sandhya is the only one
for what is happening or has involved. 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 Everything so far has been so good.
out well until that point

Comparing apples to To compare two things that are Comparing a doctor’s profession to a teacher’s
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.
impossible happens

Curiosity killed the cat Asking too many questions or It is better we don’t dig more into this
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

Burn bridges Do something to spoil relationships Susan did not realise she would be burning
bridges when she took up the job.

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

Grass is greener on Never being satisfied with what one For her, grass is always greener on the other
the other side gets side.

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

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

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

Adding fuel to the fire Aggravating the problem She was just adding fuel to the fire telling Tom’s
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 frying Refers to a situation becoming He did not know he was jumping off the frying
pan into the fire worse pan into the fire when he decided to speak
about the 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 fact, Everyone thinks he is crazy, but he sure has a
one’s madness clever method to his madness.

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

Get wind of To have information about It is so hard to get wind of what is going on here.
something something secret

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 with a Refers to being sceptic and not My mom always asks to believe everyone with a
pinch of salt believing blindly pinch of salt.

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

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

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

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

Having a monkey on To have a problem that you cannot Not completing my degree is a monkey on my
your back solve or get rid off 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 moon Very rarely We met each other only once in a blue 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.

Have the ball in one’s One can make a call / decide on their Rahul finally had the ball in his court.
court own

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

The devil is in the Refers to something that seems to Haven’t you heard the devil’s in the details?
details be good only from a distance

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

A snowball’s chance in No chance at all at surviving You will require a snowball’s chance in hell to
hell clear this exam.

Something ain’t over It is not over yet / there is more to For all we know, this will not end until the fat
until the fat lady sings the situation lady sings.

Bounce off the walls To be extremely excited and The children were bouncing off the walls the
energetic 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 offence, to be My cousins have been bent out of shape after
shape angry my uncle passed away.

Every cloud has a There is always some good in every Do not be worried about your current situation;
silver lining thing 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 the To take a risk Gaurav threw caution to the wind in trying to
wind save 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 you To do more than you can My mom thinks that my brother is biting off
can chew more than he can chew by taking up a night job
and a day job.

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

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

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

Put all your eggs in Doing something risky Rounak’s parents think that he is putting all his
one basket eggs in one basket.

Put something on ice To hold off something We decided to put the case on ice until we had
some clue of what had happened.

Cannot have a cake Cannot have everything for yourself It is not at all that you have the cake and eat it
and eat it too too.