Idioms and their meanings

Hold your head high

To be proud.

A bear with a sore head

To be very bad-tempered.

Like a cat on hot bricks

In a very restless state (calm).

In a brown study

Thinking very hard so as to notice nothing else.

Full of beans

Lively and energetic.

Look like death warmed up

Looked very ill and unhappy.

Walking in the air

Delighted because of good news or success.

With a fine tooth comb

Study something in great detail.

Shout from the housetops

Make sure that everyone knows what you want them to know.

On the tip of my tongue

I can’t remember.

Pick someone else’s brains

To find out what someone else knows or is thinking.

Barking up the wrong tree

Aiming in the wrong direction.

See with half an eye

To see or understand something easily because it is so evident.

Get on like a house on fire

If two people get on like a house on fire, they like each other very much and become friends very quickly.

Upset the apple-cart

Spoil a happy situation.

At hammer and tongs

Quarrel very noisily.

A storm in a teacup

A quarrel about an unimportant matter.

In hot water

In trouble.

On the carpet

In front of high authority for punishment.

The boot was on the other foot

The opposite happened especially because someone who was weak now has power.

Make a clean breast of something

Tell the truth or confess.

As thick as thieves

Act like close friends.

Blue-eyed boy

A person greatly loved and thought (usually wrongly) to be perfect in every way.

A broken reed

An unreliable person who fails to help you when you expect him to.

Thinks only of number one

Plans and acts only for himself.

A dog in a manger

A selfish person.

Different kettle of fish

A person, thing, or situation with different qualities from the one just mentioned.

True as steel

Someone you can trust completely.

A very good head on his shoulders

To be intelligent.

Seeing someone through rose-coloured spectacles

You see only the person’s good points and therefore your view of them is unrealistic.

Paint someone in glowing colours

Praise someone too highly.

Stone walling

Stubborn refusal to agree or to act.

Miss the boat

Be too late and thus lose an advantage.

On the rocks

In serious financial trouble.

Hand in glove

Working (secretly) with.

Put the cat among the pigeons

Cause a quarrel or fight to begin.

Sailing close to the wind

Doing something that was almost illegal.

Trump card

A fact or idea that defeats your opponent.

Looking daggers

Looking angrily.

Hitting below the belt

Acting against me in an unfair or dishonest way.

Double-eyed

Having a deceitful countenance or cunning appearance.

Lily-livered

Cowardly.

Rock the boat

Make unnecessary difficulties that cause trouble to other people.

Feathering my own nest

Making profit for myself.

It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good

An event that harms some people may benefit others.

A long shot

An undertaking that is unlikely to be successful.

Don’t let the grass grow under your feet

Don’t delay.

Jumping the gun

Doing something before it is the right time to do it.

Put your nose to the grindstone

Work hard.

Go the whole hog

Leave nothing undone that you can possibly do.

Grasp the nettle

Deal with a difficulty at once despite possible pain or danger.

Keep the wolf from the door

Keep oneself and one’s family from hunger.

Cook books

Make false accounts.

Put your back into something

To work as hard as possible.

On the ball

Ready for any unexpected event.

Keep your hand in

Remain efficient and skilful.

Waiting for dead men’s shoes

Waiting for jobs of senior people who will one day retire.

Spade work

Hard work, the result of which may not be seen until much later or routine preparatory work.

Raise the wind

Borrow money to get out of difficulties.

Out of pocket

Having less money than expected.

A grey area

A situation which is not clear or where the rules are not known.

An itching palm

Easy to accept bribe.

Hit by a friendly fire

When one is hit (usually during combat) by shooting from one’s own side, and not from the enemy.

An axe to grind

To have a selfish reason or strong opinion for saying or doing something which influences your actions.

Move with one’s tail between one’s legs

To leave, feeling ashamed and embarrassed because you have failed or made a mistake.

To ride the crest

To enjoy great success or support because of a particular situation or event.

Have a finger in every pie

Be involved in a large and varied number of activities or enterprises.

A feet of clay

A fundamental flaw or weakness in a person otherwise revered.

Cut one’s own throat

To do something that is bad for oneself or to act in a way that will cause oneself harm.

Thin end of the wedge

The beginning of a harmful development.

In for a penny, in for a pound

Someone is intentionally investing his time or money for a particular project or task.

A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush

An opportunity in hand is better than a prospect in the future, because time never repeats itself.

Chip off the old block

That a person is similar in behavior or actions like his parents.