CPE idioms unit 5

a bit of a dark horse

person with hidden abilities

be for the high jump

about to be reprimanded(???)/punished

be in two minds about sth

not be able to decide what to do

be sound asleep

sleep deeply

be the perfect/spitting image of sb

look exactly like sb

before one can say Jack Robinson

extremely quickly

break the ice

ease the tension when one first meets people

eat one's heart out

feel jealous/sad about sth

flog a dead horse

waste time doing sth useless

fly off the handle

quickly become very angry

get out of hand

become out of control

get the hang of it

get in the habit of doing sth

go to one's head

make one feel too proud of one’s self

grey matter

brains; intelligence

hand in glove with sb

be in very close contact with sb

have a job to do sth

find sth difficult to do

have many irons in the fire

have lots of plans/possibilities in progress at the same time

have one's heart in one's mouth

be extremely anxious about sth

have time on one's hands

have free time

hold one's horses

wait, be patient

ill at ease

embarrassed; uncomfortable

keep sth under one's hat

keep sth secret

keep up with the Joneses

compete with others in status/material goods

lend/give sb a hand

give help to sb

like the back of one's hand

be very familiar with sth

lose heart

become discouraged

make head nor tail of

understand sth

off the cuff

without preparation

stew in one's own juice

suffer the consequences of one's own actions

straight from the horse's mouth

from the most direct source

have sb's hands full

be very busy with sth

sth comes in handy

be very useful/practical

strike gold

come across sth useful

take sth to heart

take personally/be influenced by

take to one's heels

run away

the ins and outs

the details of an activity

the tip of the iceberg

small evident part of a much larger, concealed situation