Idioms with it's explanation

Beat it-7
Meaning:
Go away immediately.
If you say "Beat it" to someone, you tell him/her to leave quickly because he/she is annoying. This is an impolite command.
Example:
I guess we should beat it before she comes back.
"This is not your place. Beat it!" (This is not a polite way to ask someone to leave.)

8- Bend over backwards

Meaning:
Do as much as you can to help or please someone.
If you bend over backwards, you do your best or try harder than you need in order to please someone or do something he/she wants.
Example:
The manager bent over backwards to help new employees.
I bent over backward, trying to defend her. I don't know what else I can do for her.

9- Bookworm
Meaning:
Someone who loves reading very much
If you describe someone as a bookworm, he/she likes reading very much and reads a lot.

Example: My daughter was a real bookworm when she was a child.
I found the joys of reading when I read that book. I became a bookworm after that.
10- 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?
11- Bite off more than one can chew
Meaning:
To try to do something that is too difficult
If you bite off more than you can chew, you try to do more than you are able to.

Example:
She has bitten off more than she can chew again. She has agreed to finish 3 very difficult projects by the end of this year.
Do your best. Do whatever you can, but don't bite off more than you can chew.
12- Be broke
Meaning:
Without money
If you are broke, you don't have money.
Example:
"Do you want to go to the movies tonight?" "I can't go. I'm broke. Tomorrow is payday."

13- Bring the house down

Meaning:
Make people (audience) excited, laugh, or enjoy a lot while performing or making a speech
If you, your performance, or your speech brings the house down, your performance or speech is so good that the audience enjoys it a lot, becomes excited, applauds (clap their hands), or laughs a lot.

Example:
Sarah is a musical genius. Her performances always bring the house down.
The Prime Minister brought the house down when he made his monumental speech in 1965.
He's a very poor actor. Instead of bringing down the house, he always empties it.
14- Bug someone
Meaning:
Bother someone
If someone/something bugs you, he/she/it annoys you.
Example:
That's enough! Stop bugging me. Don't ask me anymore.
He's always talking too loud in the office. It really bugs us.
15- (Have / Get) Butterflies in someone's stomach
Meaning:
Very nervous or excited before doing something important such as giving a speech and taking a test.
If you have butterflies in your stomach, you are very nervous and/or excited about something you are going to do soon.
Example:
He always gets butterflies in his stomach before taking a test.
16- Can't make head nor tail (out) of something / someone
Meaning:
Not be able to understand
If you can't make head nor tail (out) of something or someone, you can't understand it/him/her at all.
Example:
Could you show me how to use this machine? I can't make head nor tail out of the instructions in the manual.
Bob is a very strange guy. Everything he says and does is very strange. I cannot make head nor tail of him.

17- Cast pearls before swine

Meaning:
Offer or show something valuable, good, or beautiful to someone who does not understand its value
If you are casting pearls before swine, you are wasting your time showing or offering something very helpful or valuable to someone who does not understand or appreciate it.
Example:
Don't bother explaining Shakespeare to Bob. It would be like casting pearls before swine.
Tom wouldn't listen to Sarah's wise advice. She was just casting pearls before swine.

18- Catch someone's eye

Meaning:
Attract someone and make him/her look at something.
If someone or something catches your eye, you look because of interest.

Example:
While driving on the freeway, an interesting billboard caught my eye.
Suddenly something flying in the sky caught his eye. It was a big bird he had never seen before.
19- Be chicken
Meaning:
Coward.
If you are chicken, you are not brave enough to do something.
Example:
"Why won't you dive in? Are you chicken? (Don't be chicken!)"

20 - Get (have) cold feet

Meaning:
Suddenly become (be) very nervous about doing something that you were going to do.
If you get cold feet, you become afraid to do something that you planned to do or agreed to do.

Example:
It's normal for young people to get cold feet before their wedding.
He agreed to go bungee jumping with his friends, but he got cold feet when they arrived at the jump

Go / Quit Cold Turkey-21
Meaning:
Quit a bad habit such as smoking or drinking alcohol suddenly, without any gradual adjustment.
If you quit something (smoking, etc.) cold turkey, you stop it suddenly and completely.

Example:
Tom was a heavy drinker for more than 15 years; then he quit drinking cold turkey. He's never drunk again since then.
22- Cook Someone's Goose
Meaning:
Get someone in trouble. Keep someone from succeeding.
If you cook someone's goose, you get him/her into trouble or prevent him/her from succeeding at something.

Example:
Ted stayed up late yesterday at a party and missed an important meeting in the morning.
He told his boss he was sick, but one of his colleagues cooked his goose. She saw him dancing at the party last night.
When the president made a wrong decision about the country's economic policy, his political goose was cooked.
23- Be (as) cool as a cucumber
Meaning:
very calm and relaxed even in a difficult situation
If someone is (as) cool as a cucumber, he/she is very relaxed and/or calm when you expect him/her to be nervous or upset.
Example:
He had very bad news last night, but he came to the office as cool as a cucumber this morning as if nothing had happened.
She was cool as a cucumber even right after she was fired.
24- Cool someone's heels
Meaning:
Wait for a long time.
If you cool your heels, someone makes you wait for a long time with nothing to do, so you get bored or impatient.

Example:

While they were having a long meeting, Mary was cooling her heels waiting for the results.
The show was so popular that I had to cool my heels in a long line at the box office.

25 - Couch potato
Meaning:
A person who spends a lot of idle time sitting and watching television.
If a person is a couch potato, he/she is not active and spends most of his/her time sitting and watching TV.
He/she doesn't do anything productive.
Example:
School children don't play outside as much as before. Many of them are overweight couch potatoes.
Don't be a couch potato! You're just wasting your time.

26- Be cut from the same cloth
Meaning:
Be very similar, act in a very similar way
If you say two or more people are cut from the same cloth, you mean they are very alike or act in a very similar way.

Example: When you teach children, remember that they are not cut from the same cloth. Each child has his/her own personality.
27- Dear John letter
Meaning:
A letter from a woman to her boyfriend or husband telling him that she doesn't love him anymore.
If a woman writes a Dear John letter to her boyfriend (or husband), she tells him that she wants end their relationship.

Example:

His girlfriend wrote him a Dear John letter and moved to Japan.
28- Don't let the grass grow under your feet.
(Not let the grass grow under someone's feet)

Meaning:
Act now without any delay.
If you say "Don't let the grass grow under your feet" to someone, you tell him/her not to waste time and to do something immediately.
If someone doesn't let the grass grow under his/her feet, he/she does something right now without waiting.
Example:
Now that you know what to do, act right away. Don't let the grass grow under your feet.
A: Do you think the manager's already started to do something to solve the problem?
B: I believe so. He's the kind of guy who doesn't let the grass grow under his feet.

29- Be down in the dumps

Meaning:
Be very sad and depressed.
If you are down in the dumps, you feel very sad and miserable. You don't have much interest in life.

Example:
Mary has been down in the dumps since her mother's death.
He looks a bit down in the dumps these days. Let's cheer him up.
She failed her exam and is down in the dumps.

30- Drive someone up the wall

Meaning:
1. Annoy or irritate someone very much.
2. Put someone into an extreme position or situation. (= force someone up the wall)
If someone or something drives you up the wall, he/she/it annoys you very much or
pushes you to an awkward or extreme position.

Example:
The heat in this apartment drives me up the wall!
The company didn't fix the problem until the government forced it up the wall.
31- Eat out
Meaning:
Eat a meal in a restaurant.
If you eat out, you go out and eat a meal in a restaurant instead of eating at home.

Example:
I don't want to cook tonight. Why don't we eat out?
He is a single student and eats out a lot.
32- Easy as pie / As easy as pie
Meaning:
Very easy.
If something is (as) easy as pie, it is very easy to do.
Example:
The midterm should be easy as pie if you prepare well.
Baking great bread is as easy as pie with this brand-new breadmaker.
33- Eat one's words
Meaning:
Admit that what you said was wrong.
If you eat your words, you admit that the statements or predictions you made were wrong.
Example:

Tom said Nancy would never succeed in her business, but after seeing her business grow, he had to eat his words.
I taught a grammar rule in my ESL class, and one of my students said I was wrong. After I checked it in dictionaries and asked other teachers, I found she was right. I had to eat my words in the next class.

Fall in love with someone / something-34
Meaning:
Start to love someone or something very much.
If you fall in love with someone, you get attracted to him/her and start to love him/her.

Example:
Tom fell in love with Jennifer when they first met.
Mark fell in love with baseball when he was in the 3rd grade and became a professional baseball player later.
35- Feel like a fish out of water
Be like a fish out of water

Meaning: Feel uncomfortable because you are in an unfamiliar situation.
If you feel like a fish out of water, you feel awkward or uncomfortable because you are in an unusual or unfamiliar situation.
Example:
I don't like going to the big parties they have. I always feel like a fish out of water there.
Todd is a country boy raised in a small town in Idaho and was like a fish out of water when he visited New York City.
36- Be fishy

Meaning:
Seem not to be true / honest; be suspicioius
If a situation or something/someone is fishy, you mean it seems someone is not completely honest or someething is not true.

Example:
I was offered an unbelievably good business opportunity, but there was something fishy about it.
A lot of strange people are coming in and out of the house recently. There's something fishy going on.
37- Food for thought
Meaning:
Ideas that make you think carefully.
If something gives you food for thought, it gives you insights or new information, and makes you think about something carefully.
Example: Today's reading assignment will give you enough food for thought to prepare for next week's class discussion.
Dr. Smith's speeches always offer much food for thought.
38- A frog in someone's throat Meaning:
If you have a frog in your throat,
because you want to cough.

Example:
In a speech contest last year, she suddenly got a frog in her throat and had a hard time speaking.
A: Why don't you sing with us in our next concert this Friday?
B: I wish I could, but I caught a cold and have a frog in the throat you have a sore throat, or your throat is dry, and have difficulty speaking .
39- Get over something
Meaning:
to begin feel better again after being sick or having an unhappy experience.
If you get over sickness or a sad experience, you start to feel better again after that.
Example:
She was just getting over the flu when she had a stomachache.
It took him years to get over the death of his wife.

40- Give someone a hand
Meaning:
Help someone when he/she is doing something difficult.
If you give a person a hand, you give him/her assistance because he/she is trying to do something difficult.
Example:
Let me give you a hand with your baggage.
Don't worry about your garden. Ten young people will come over today and give you a hand.
41- Get up (Wake up) on the wrong side of the bed Meaning:
Feel a little angry and annoyed.
If you got up (woke up) on the wrong side of the bed, you feel a bit angry and irritated for no particular reason right from the start of the day.
Example:
Don't talk to the boss today. It looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Tom's really grouchy today. He must've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed
42- Go nuts Meaning:
1. Become very excited because a very good thing happened.
2. Become very angry
If you go nuts, you behave in an excited, crazy, or angry way.

Example: The spectators went nuts when she got 10.0 on her performance.
My dad would go nuts if he saw this mess.
43- Grab a bite (to eat)
Meaning:
Get and eat food quickly
If you grab a bite (to eat), you buy or get food and eat quickly because you are busy.
Example:
We have five minutes before the show. Let's grab a bite.
Tim often grabs a bite to eat between meetings.

44- Great minds think alike.
Meaning:
This is a humorous expression that is used when you found out someone else was thinking about the same thing as you were.
If you say, "Great minds think alike," you say, jokingly, that you and someone else must be very intelligent or great because both of you thought of the same thing or agree on something.

Example:
A: I'm going to the concert tonight.
B: Oh, really? Me too. I heard the performers are excellent.
A: Great minds think alike.
(A and B meet in a restaurant unexpectedly.)
A: How did you know I am here?
B: This restaurant is a very nice place to spend an evening. Great minds think alike.
45- Hat trick Meaning:
A series of three wins, successes, or accomplishments especially in sport.
When someone wins three times in a row, you call it a hat trick.
Example:
Jordan has already won 2 games in this series. We are wondering if he can make it a hat trick today.
After 2 successful terms, the mayor is hoping for a hat trick. (He wants to be elected mayor again.)
46- (Somebody's) heart sinks
Meaning:
Feel disappointed and hopeless
If your heart sinks, you become sad and unhappy because you have lost hope.
Example:
My heart sank when I heard I still had to take 5 more exams.
Her heart sinks every time she sees the sad situation in the country.

47- Hit the books
Meaning:
Study very hard.
If you hit the books, you start to study hard seriously with determination.
Example:
I'm going to hit the books this weekend to prepare for the final exam.
If you want to get an A in this class, you should start hitting the books right now.

48- Hit the nail on the head
Meaning:
Say exactly a right thing. Answer to a question in exactly the right way. Be exactly right about something.
If yousay someone has hit the nail on the head, you mean he/she has answered to a question or described something in exactly the right way.

Example:
She hit the nail on the head when she proposed her plan at the last meeting. It's exactly the thing we need to do now!
A: I think education is the most important thing we need to work on if we want to make this city a better place.
B: You've hit the nail on the head! I completely agree with you!
49- Hit the sack/hay
Meaning:
Go to bed
If you hit the sack, you go to bed in order to get some sleep.

Example:
It's getting very late. It's time to hit the sack.
I hit the hay before 11:00 p.m. every day
50- Hold One's Horses Meaning:
Wait; Be patient and careful; Wait and listen to what someone's saying.
You say "Hold your horses" to someone when he/she is impatient
or wants to do something immediately without thinking about his/her action and consequences carefully.
You tell him/her to be patient and wait.
Example:
Hold your horses. We are not ready to go yet.
Hold your horses. You might find a better one for the same price in another store.

51- Holy cow
(Holy smoke, holy moly, etc.)
Meaning:
An expression of surprise.
You say "Holy Cow!" when you are surprised at something very much.
Example:
Holy cow! How did she get the full score on such a difficult exam!
Holy smoke! Nobody expected such a big mistake in such a big competition
52- Be in a pickle
Meaning:
Be in a difficult situation.
If you are in a pickle, you are in a situation that is awkward and/or difficult to solve.

Example:
Last night Sam was in a pickle. After having a dinner at an expensive restaurant, he found he had neither enough money nor a credit card.
Now Janet is in a pickle. She had made two very important appointments at the same time
53- Be in the same boat Meaning:
Be in the same situation or have the same problem as another person.
If you and I are in the same boat, we are in the same bad or unpleasant situation.
Example:
Nobody has any money to go out tonight. We're in the same boat.
During the Great Depression, we were all in the same boat. Many people lost their jobs all over the world.

54- It's (That's) easier said than done.
Meaning:
It's easy to suggest, but hard to do.
You say "It's easier said than done" when someone suggests something, and you think it would actually be hard to do.

Example:
"Forget all your mistakes and start it over!"
"I'll try, but that's easier said than done."
I should just say "No" to him, but it's easier said than done.
55- Be in hot water
Meaning:
Be in trouble.
If you are in hot water, you are in a difficult situation because you have said or done something wrong.
Example:
He has been in hot water with his boss. He might be fired.
Her recent comment on civil rights put Mayor Jones into hot water.
(Mayor Jones is in hot water because of something she said about civil rights.)
56- It's about time.
Meaning:
You say "It's about time" when you think
1. something should happen or should have happened. (It hasn't happened yet.) or
2. something should have happened earlier than it actually happened.
You often use this expression when you are annoyed.
Example:
Do you think Jane has gotten home now?
It's about time.
Mary and Scott are getting married next week.
It's about time! They've been dating for years!
57- Be glued to something Meaning:
Cannot stop watching / looking at something.
If you are glued to something, you cannot stop watching / looking at it because it is very attractive. You look at it
with all your attention. TV is a typical thing you are glued to.
Example:
Soldierswere glued to the TV that was carrying them good news from their home country.
We were glued to the television watching the news about the accident
58- Hit the ceiling / Hit the roof Meaning:
Become extremely angry.
If you hit the ceiling / roof, you get very angry.
Example:
Dad'll hit the ceiling when I tell him I broke his camera.
Nancy hit the roof when she found out someone drove her car without her permission and wrecked it.

Keep one's bed-59
Meaning:
Stay in bed because of sickness or other cause.
If you keep your bed, you keep lying on bed because you are sick.

Example:
Is Nancy sick?
Yes, very. She keeps her bed all day.
60- Kick the bucket
Meaning:
Die
If you say someone kicked the bucket, you mean someone died.
This is an informal expression. (a kind of slang)

Example:
That old guy finally kicked the bucket last week.
When I kick the bucket, bury me on top of that mountain.
61- Kill time Meaning:
Do something that is not very useful to keeps yourself busy while you are waiting for something to happen.
If you kill time, you do something that is not important or interesting you don't want to get bored while waiting for something.
Example:
Ryan sometimes goes to the bookstore to kill time between classes.
We killed time talking and playing games until the bus arrived.

62- Know something by heart
Meaning:
To know something perfectly.
If you know something by heart, you know it very well and remember everything about it.

Example:
Sam is really a walking dictionary. He looks as if he knows the whole dictionary by heart.
Melissa loves Shakespeare. She has seen all of his plays so many times that she knows all the lines by heart.
63- Keep an eye on someone/something
Meaning:
Watch someone/something carefully to make sure everything is all right
If you keep an eye on someone or something, you watch him/her/it carefully because you don't trust him/her or want to see what happens.

Example:
He can be very dangerous. Always keep an eye on him.
They have been keeping an eye on the volcano day and night for more than a year.
64- 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.)
65- Let someone know (something)
Meaning:
Tell someone some information
If you let someone know something, you make sure he/she knows about it.
Example:
Have you decided to come to our meeting next week? Let me know by this Friday.
If you need any help, please let us know.
When you move, let me know your new address.
66- Be like taking candy from a baby
Meaning:
To be very easy to do.
If something is like taking candy from a baby, it is very easy to do.

Example:
A: It was a very impressive video presentation. I imagine it was very difficult to make such a complex work.
B: No, it was very easy with this software -- like taking candy from a baby. It took me only an hour to make it.
67- Be like the cat that got the cream
Meaning:
(about a person) To be pleased with his/her ability or what he/she has done.
If you are like the cat that got the cream, you are very happy because you are happy about or satisfied with your own talent, accomplishment, or what has happened to you.
People also say, "You look like the cat that ate the canary."
Example:
At our high school reunion last week, Sue grinned like the cat that got the cream and told us about her success story.
She got 100% on her final exam yesterday. She looked like the cat that got the cream.

68- Low-key
Meaning:
Quiet, on a small scale, and not attracting a lot of attention.
If something (an event, etc.) is low-key, it is not intended to be big, look important, or involve a lot of activities.
Example: Sam and Jane want to keep their wedding as low-key as possible. They will invite only a handful of people to their wedding.
He spent a lot of money for the last presidential campaign, but this time his campaign for re-election will be low-key.
69- Feel / Look like a million dollars Meaning:
Feel very happy.
Look very attractive.
If you feel like a million dollars, you feel extremely good, often because you are doing something luxurious.
Example:
I felt like a million dollars in the tuxedo at the President's reception yesterday .
Look! She looks like a million dollars in that gorgeous dress today.
70- Not hold water
Meaning:
Not seem reasonable or correct.
If something such as an arguments or a statement does not hold water, it is not reasonable or true.
Example:
Their arguments against the government's foreign policy simply don't hold water.
Most agree that the mayor's reasoning for not taking an action doesn't hold water anymore.
71- Make Ends Meet
Meaning:
Have or earn enough (often only enough) money to live.
If you make ends meet, you get enough money to pay for something you need, especially in order to live
Example:
With five children at home and 2 living away to attend college, the parents struggled to make ends meet, but somehow they managed.
When she was a poor student, she had to work 5 hours a day late at night to make ends meet.
72- Be on the tip of someone's tongue Meaning:
Cannot remember something such as a word or the name of a person although you think you know it and you will remember it soon.
If you say something is on the tip of your tongue, you mean you can almost remember itbut not right away.

Example: What's the girl's name there?
Wait a second, it's on the tip of my tongue. ... Yes! Her name is Joanne.
The teacher asked them a question. The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but another student raised her hand and said it first.
73- Once in a blue moon
Meaning:
Rarely, almost never
If you say something happens once in a blue moon, you mean it happens very rarely.
A blue moon is the second of two full moons in the same month, which happens rarely.
Example:
He has a very nice car, but he drives once in a blue moon.
A: Does your husband cook for you?
B: Oh, yes, once in a blue moon!
74- Out of the blue
Meaning:
Suddenly and unexpectedly
If someone does something or something happens out of the blue, it happens suddenly and surprises you because you didn't expect it.

Example: Late last summer, out of the blue, Sue announced she was getting married and leaving her home country soon. We were all shocked to hear that.
We had been told it would be sunny all day, so we went hiking. However, it started to pour (rain heavily) out of the blue in the afternoon.

75- Out of the frying pan and into the fire
Meaning:
This idiom is used to say that someone gets out of a difficult or bad situation, but eventually goes into a more difficult or worse one.
If you say "Out of the frying pan and into the fire", you mean someone has moved from a bad or difficult situation to a worse one.
Example: If the government accepts his new proposal, the nation will be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. ( = It will make the situation worse.)
A: I've finally finished my assignment. It was very difficult, but the next one looks much harder.
B: Out of the frying pan and into the fire..

76- Be over the hill
Meaning:
To be too old to do something.
If you call someone to be over the hill, you say rudely that he/she is old and no longer attractive or productive, not suitable for something, or not capable of doing something useful.

Example:
Sam, a famous football player, has decided to retire next year. Although he is only 34, he thinks he is over the hill as an athlete.
At the age of 85, she says she's never felt she's over the hill. She always finds something good she can do for other people.

هوللووووووووووو نورتى يا قمر يارب تكون استفدتى بجد دى ابسط حاجة عندى اقدر اقدمها لكم عايزة اشوفكم كلكم