English Idioms in Use Advanced (Cambridge book)

Say something accidentally which upsets or embarasses someone

Put one's foot in it

Immediately like

Take a shine to

Something that happens only once

A Flash in the pan

Extremely quiet

As quiet as a mouse

Safely

Safe and sound

Don't agree with each other

Don't see eye to eye

Ask humbly for a favor

Go cap in hand

The person who someone loves the most and is very proud of

The Apple of someone's eye

Refuse to face a difficult situation

Bury one's head in the sand

To pay completly

Foot the bill

Start listen carefully

Prick one's ears up

Gain a better social position or more money than before

Go up in the world

Take action to get something into a good condition

Knock something into shape

When something, usually bad, happens and causes a series of other things to happen

Domino effect

A debt that you owe someone for moral reasons

Debt of honour

Try to recover from a bad experience

Lick one's wound

Come to a natural end

Run its course

Let something new start

Open the door to

One must accept the situation they don't like, because they cannot change it

Like it or lump it

Seem very frightened, unable to move or think

Like a deer caught in the headlights

Stop being lazy

Get off one's backside (slang)

People you are connected with, especially by family relationships

Kith and kin (old-fashioned)

A situation which cause a lot of trouble for someone

(the) shit hits the fan

Know everything about a subject

Know smth inside out (inf)

Have no limits

Know no bounds (formal)

Raise a corner of one's upper lip to show contempt, sneer

Curl one's lip

To accept your position within society, organisation or family and to not want to improve it

Know your place

Become extremely angry and distraught

Go spare

To fire, to dismiss Suddenly from the job

Give sb the sack

Outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour

Be beyond the pale

Make money for oneself in an opportunistic or selfish way

Feather one's own nest

Achieve distinction, become prominent

Made a name for oneself

Be very strict in managing an organisation or operation

Run a tight ship

Be very angry

Hop mad (old-fashioned)

Failed completely

Sank like a stone

Do smth very fast, in large amounts and without thinking carefully

Do smth like there is no tomorrow

Laugh a lot

Rolling in the aisles

Made the audience laugh or clap a lot, was extremely succesful

Brought the house down

Got all the attention and praise at an event or performance

Stole the show

Keep you excited and interested in what happens next

Keep you on the edge of your seat

Was very moving

Sent shivers down my spine

Finish reading smth, but with difficulty

Wade through

Difficult to read or understand

Heavy going

Extremely exciting book

Page-turner

Criticise strongly and cruelly

Do a hatchet job on

Find mistakes in; criticise

Pick holes in

someone who criticizes others without taking action themselves

Armchair critic

Be famous

Have one's name in lights

An important member

A leading light

Act on stage in the theatre

Tread the boards

Behave in a way to make people to admire or support (играть на публику?)

Play to the gallery

Smth attracting a lot of attention and interest

Crowd-puller

Ready to become important

Wait in the wings

Become the most important person or thing

Take centre stage

Without problems on the day of the actual performance

All right on the night

Start to act together

Join forces

Be potentially dangerous

Be a minefield

Be badly affected by smth

Be a casualty of smth

Use the power his position gives him to make other Do smth

Pull rank

Recieve strong criticism

Get/Take the flak

Lose one's job

Be given/get one's marching orders

Understand the importance of smth

See the point

Suddenly understand smth

See the light

Become sensible/reasonable

See sense/reason

Get angry

See red

People think ypu have done smth Bad and they will remember it in the future

Get a Black mark

Be at a life stage when you have to make an important desision

Be at a crossroads

Make no progress

Go/get nowhere

Unknown areas of experience

Uncharted territory/waters

Get into or out of situation by deception

Bluff one's way

Have a secret plan or idea

Have smth up your sleeve

Was not even born (humorous)

Twinkle in his father's eye

Leave home to live independently

Fly the nest

Look very much like

The spitting image of

Similar in personality to one of his parents or an older family member

A chip off the old block

A lot of people in the family have that characteristic

Run in the family

Your family (humorous)

Nearest and dearest

Relatives (кровиночка)

Your own flesh and blood

Did everything together

Live in each other's pockets

Have known each other a long time

Go back a long way

Will refuse to speak to you because they think they are better than you or they don't like you

Won't give you the time of day

The person is ready to listen to your views and ideas

Have the ear of

Know important and influencial people

Have friends in high places

Spend time with

Rub shoulders with

Someone who is your friend only when things are going well for you

A fair-weather friend

Through good and bad situations

Through thick and thin

Someone who supports you a lot in difficult times

A tower of strength

Ex lover

Old flame

Free and without responsibilities to anyone

Footloose and fancy-free

Very knowledgeble person, knows a lot

A mine of information

Person who equally good in many things

Man/woman of many parts

A young person who is clever and succesful

Whizz kid

Full of energy and enthusiasm

Get-up and go

Have qualifications in several different fields

Have plenty of strings to one's bow

Someone who likes working hard or doing things other people would find unpleasant

A glutton for punishment

Very nervous and easily upset

Highly strung

Behave in a silly way, often to make other people laugh

Act/play the fool

Puts himself first, as he thinks he is the most important person

Look out for number one

Speak angrily or critically to easily control or defeat someone

East sb for breakfast

A person having a secret sexual relationship with someone not his wife or girlfriend

A love-rat