1. A chip off the old block
Meaning: very much like the father
2. A close shave
Meaning: a narrow escape
3. A cock-and-bull story
Meaning: an absurd and unbelievable story
4. A hard nut to crack
Meaning: a difficult problem
5. A skeleton in the cupboard
Meaning: a dreadful family secret
6. A storm in a teacup
Meaning: much excitement about something small
7. A wet blanket
Meaning: a discouraging person
8. A white elephant
Meaning: something useless and expensive to keep
9. An eye for an eye
Meaning: retaliation, revenge
10. Armed to the teeth
Meaning: completely armed
11. At loggerheads with
Meaning: quarrelling
12. At the eleventh hour
Meaning: at the last moment
13. Bite one’s head off
Meaning: answer sharply or angrily
14. Blow one’s trumpet
Meaning: boast
15. Bring one to one’s sense
Meaning: cause one to stop foolish or wild behavior
16. Burn the candle at both ends
Meaning: overwork
17. Bury the hatchet
Meaning: make peace
18. Butter someone up
Meaning: flatter
19. By hook or by crook
Meaning: by fair and soul means
20. By leaps and bounds
Meaning: with remarkable speed
21. Can’t make head or tail of
Meaning: can’ understand at all
22. Carried away
Meaning: very excited
23. Cat-and-dog life
Meaning: life full of quarrels
24. Close fisted
Meaning: miserly
25. Completely at sea
Meaning: puzzled
26. Crocodile tears
Meaning: false tears
27. Dirt cheap
Meaning: extremely cheap
28. Do away with
Meaning: get rid of
29. Down to earth
Meaning: practical
30. Draw the line
Meaning: fix the limit
31. Easier said than done
Meaning: easier to talk about than to do
32. Eat one’s word
Meaning: take back something said earlier
33. Ends of the earth
Meaning: remote faraway places
34. Face the music
Meaning: take punishment
35. Fair and square
Meaning: with justice and honesty
36. Fall on deaf ears
Meaning: ignored
37. Feel in one’s bones
Meaning: have a strong feeling about something
38. Fit as a fiddle
Meaning: in very good health
39. Get along with
Meaning: be friendly and in harmony with
40. Get away with
Meaning: be successful in something which usually results in punishment or misfortune
Idiomatic Expressions
