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| id | category | idiom | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2301 | Weather | Not know enough to come in out of the rain | Someone who doesnt know enough to come in out of the rain is particularly stupid. |
| 2302 | Weather | Quiet before the Storm | When you know that something is about to go horribly wrong, but hasnt just yet, then you are in the quiet before the storm. |
| 2303 | Weather | Rain on your parade | If someone rains on your parade, they ruin your pleasure or your plans. |
| 2304 | Weather | Rainy day | If you save something, especially money, for a rainy day, you save it for some possible problem or trouble in the future. |
| 2305 | Weather | Right as rain | If things are right as rain, then everything is going well in your life. |
| 2306 | Weather | Sail close to the wind | If you sail close to the wind, you take risks to do something, going close to the limit of what is allowed or acceptable. |
| 2307 | Weather | Seven sheets to the wind | If someone is seven sheets to the wind, they are very drunk. |
| 2308 | Weather | Shoot the breeze | When you shoot the breeze, you chat in a relaxed way. |
| 2309 | Weather | Silly season | The silly season is midsummer when Parliament is closed and nothing much is happening that is newsworthy, which reduces the press to reporting trivial and stupid stories. |
| 2310 | Weather | Steal someone's thunder | If someone steals your thunder, they take the credit and praise for something you did. |
| 2311 | Weather | Stem the tide | If people try to stem the tide, they are trying to stop something unpleasant from getting worse, usually when they dont succeed. |
| 2312 | Weather | Storm in a teacup | If someone exaggerates a problem or makes a small problem seem far greater than it really is, then they are making a storm in a teacup. |
| 2313 | Weather | Take a raincheck | If you take a rain check, you decline an offer now, suggesting you will accept it later. (Raincheck is also used.) |
| 2314 | Weather | Take by storm | To take by storm means to captivate- eg. A new play that took New York City by storm. |
| 2315 | Weather | Tempest in a teapot | If people exaggerate the seriousness of a situation or problem, they are making a tempest in a teapot. |
| 2316 | Weather | Throw caution to the wind | When people throw caution to the wind, they take a great risk. |
| 2317 | Weather | Twisting in the wind | If you are twisting in the wind, you are without help or support - you are on your own. |
| 2318 | Weather | Under a cloud | If someone is suspected of having done something wrong, they are under a cloud. |
| 2319 | Weather | Under the weather | If you are feeling a bit ill, sad or lack energy, you are under the weather. |
| 2320 | Weather | Wait for a raindrop in the drought | When someone is waiting for a raindrop in the drought, they are waiting or hoping for something that is extremely unlikely to happen. |
| 2321 | Weather | Weather a storm | If you weather a storm, you get through a crisis or hard times. |
| 2322 | Weather | When it rains, it pours | This idiom means that when things go wrong, a lot of things go wrong at the same time. |
| 2323 | Weather | White as snow | If something or someone is as white as snow, they are perfect or completely uncorrupted and honest. |
| 2324 | Animals | A little bird told me | If someone doesn't want to say where they got some information from, they can say that a little bird told them. |
| 2325 | Animals | Albatross around your neck | An albatross around, or round, your neck is a problem resulting from something you did that stops you from being successful. |
| 2326 | Animals | All bark and no bite | When someone talks tough but really isn't, they are all bark and no bite. |
| 2327 | Animals | Angry as a bear | If someone is as angry as a bear, they are very angry.('Angry as a bear with a sore foot' is also used.) |
| 2328 | Animals | Angry as a bull | If someone is as angry as a bull, they are very angry. |
| 2329 | Animals | Ants in your pants | If someone has ants in their pants, they are agitated or excited about something and can't keep still. |
| 2330 | Animals | As mad as a wrongly shot hog | (USA) If someone is as mad as a wrongly shot hog, they are very angry. (Same as, Angry as a bear or Angry as a bull). |
| 2331 | Animals | As rare as hen's teeth | (USA) Something that is rare as hens teeth is very rare or non-existent. |
| 2332 | Animals | As the crow flies | This idiom is used to describe the shortest possible distance between two places. |
| 2333 | Animals | At a snail's pace | If something moves at a snails pace, it moves very slowly. |
| 2334 | Animals | Back the wrong horse | If you back the wrong horse, you give your support to the losing side in something. |
| 2335 | Animals | Bats in the belfry | Someone with bats in the belfry is crazy or eccentric. |
| 2336 | Animals | Be on the pig's back | If youre on the pigs back, youre happy / content / in fine form. |
| 2337 | Animals | Bear market | A bear market is a period when investors are pessimistic and expect financial losses so are more likely to sell than to buy shares. |
| 2338 | Animals | Beard the lion in his own den | If you confront a powerful or dangerous rival on their territory, you are bearding the lion in his own den. |
| 2339 | Animals | Beating a dead horse | (USA) If someone is trying to convince people to do or feel something without any hope of succeeding, theyre beating a dead horse. This is used when someone is trying to raise interest in an issue that no-one supports anymore; beating a dead horse will not make it do any more work. |
| 2340 | Animals | Bee in your bonnet | If someone is very excited about something, they have a bee in their bonnet. |
| 2341 | Animals | Bee's Knees | If something is the bees knees, it's outstanding or the best in its class. |
| 2342 | Animals | Beeline for | If you make a beeline for a place, you head there directly. |
| 2343 | Animals | Bell the cat | To bell the cat is to perform a difficult or impossible task. |
| 2344 | Animals | Bend someone's ear | To bend someones ear is to talk to someone about something for a long-enough period that it becomes tiresome for the listener. |
| 2345 | Animals | Between you and me and the cat's whiskers | This idiom is used when telling someone something that you want them to keep secret. |
| 2346 | Animals | Big fish | An important person in a company or an organisation is a big fish. |
| 2347 | Animals | Big fish in a small pond | A big fish in a small pond is an important person in a small place or organisation. |
| 2348 | Animals | Bigger fish to fry | If you arent interested in something because it isnt important to you and there are more important things for you to do, you have bigger fish to fry. |
| 2349 | Animals | Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is a proverb meaning that it is better to have something that is certain than take a risk to get more, where you might lose everything. |
| 2350 | Animals | Bird's eye view | If you have a birds eye view of something, you can see it perfectly clearly. |
| 2351 | Animals | Bird-brain | Someone who has a bird-brain, or is bird-brained, is stupid. |
| 2352 | Animals | Birds and the bees | If a child is taught about the birds and the bees, they are taught about sex. |
| 2353 | Animals | Birds of a feather flock together | This idiom means that people with similar interests will stick together. |
| 2354 | Animals | Blind as a bat | If you are in total darkness and cant see anything at all, you are as blind as a bat. |
| 2355 | Animals | Brass monkey | If it's brass monkey weather, or cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, it is extremely cold. |
| 2356 | Animals | Break the back of the beast | If you break the back of the beast, you accomplish a challenge. |
| 2357 | Animals | Bull in a China shop | If someone behaves like a bull in a China shop, they are clumsy when they should be careful. |
| 2358 | Animals | Bull market | A bull market is a period when investors are optimistic and there are expectations?that good financial results will continue. |
| 2359 | Animals | Bull session | If you have a bull session, you have an informal group discussion about something. |
| 2360 | Animals | Bull-headed | If youre a bull-headed, youre stubborn or inflexible. |
| 2361 | Animals | Busy as a beaver | If youre as busy as a beaver, youre very busy indeed. |
| 2362 | Animals | Busy as a bee | If you are as busy as a bee, you are very busy indeed. |
| 2363 | Animals | Butterflies in your stomach | The nervous feeling before something important or stressful is known as butterflies in your stomach. |
| 2364 | Animals | By a whisker | If you do something by a whisker, you only just manage to do it and come very near indeed to failing. |
| 2365 | Animals | Calf lick | A calf lick is the weird parting in your fringe where your hair grows in a different direction, usually to one side. |
| 2366 | Animals | Call the dogs off | If someone calls off their dogs, they stop attacking or criticising someone. |
| 2367 | Animals | Can of worms | If an action can create serious problems, it is opening a can of worms. |
| 2368 | Animals | Canary in a coal mine | (UK) A canary in a coal mine is an early warning of danger. |
| 2369 | Animals | Cast pearls before swine | If you cast pearls before swine, you offer something of value to someone who doesnt appreciate it- swine are pigs. |
| 2370 | Animals | Cast sheep's eyes at | If you cast sheeps eyes at at someone, you look lovingly or with longing at them. |
| 2371 | Animals | Cat among the pigeons | If something or someone puts, or sets or lets, the cat among the pigeons, they create a disturbance and cause trouble. |
| 2372 | Animals | Cat and dog life | If people lead a cat and dog life, they are always arguing. |
| 2373 | Animals | Cat fur and kitty britches | (USA) When I used to ask my grandma what was for dinner, she would say cat fur and kitty britches. This was her Ozark way of telling me that I would get what she cooked. (Ozark is a region in the center of the United States) |
| 2374 | Animals | Cat got your tongue? | If someone asks if the cat has got your tongue, they want to know why you are not speaking when they think you should. |
| 2375 | Animals | Cat nap | If you have a short sleep during the day, you are cat napping. |
| 2376 | Animals | Cat's lick | (Scot) A cats lick is a very quick wash. |
| 2377 | Animals | Cat's pajamas | (USA) Something that is the cats pajamas is excellent. |
| 2378 | Animals | Cat's whiskers | Something excellent is the cats whiskers. |
| 2379 | Animals | Change horses in midstream | If people change horses in midstream, they change plans or leaders when they are in the middle of something, even though it may be very risky to do so. |
| 2380 | Animals | Chickenfeed | If something is small or unimportant, especially money, it is chickenfeed. |
| 2381 | Animals | Close the stable door after the horse has bolted | If people try to fix something after the problem has occurred, they are trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. Close the barn door after the horse has bolted is alternative, often used in American English. |
| 2382 | Animals | Cloud cuckoo land | If someone has ideas or plans that are completely unrealistic, they are living on cloud cuckoo land. |
| 2383 | Animals | Cock and bull story | A cock and bull story is a lie someone tells that is completely unbelievable. |
| 2384 | Animals | Cock in the henhouse | This is used to describe a male in an all-female environment. |
| 2385 | Animals | Cock of the walk | A man who is excessively confident and thinks hes better than other people is the cock of the walk. |
| 2386 | Animals | Cold fish | A cold fish is a person who doesnt show how they feel. |
| 2387 | Animals | Cold turkey | If someone suddenly stops taking drugs, instead of slowly cutting down, they do cold turkey. |
| 2388 | Animals | Come out of your shell | If someone comes out of their shell, they stop being shy and withdrawn and become more friendly and sociable. |
| 2389 | Animals | Constitution of an ox | If someone has the constitution of an ox, they are less affected than most people by things like tiredness, illness, alcohol, etc. |
| 2390 | Animals | Cook someone's goose | If you cook someones goose, you ruin their plans. |
| 2391 | Animals | Cool as a cat | To act fine when you a actually scared or nervous |
| 2392 | Animals | Coon's age | (USA) A very long time, as in I havent seen her in a coons age! |
| 2393 | Animals | Could eat a horse | If you are very hungry, you could eat a horse. |
| 2394 | Animals | Count sheep | If people cannot sleep, they are advised to count sheep mentally. |
| 2395 | Animals | Creature comforts | If a person said "I hate camping. I dont like giving up my creature comforts." the person would be referring, in particular, to the comfortable things he/she would have at home but not when camping. At home, for example, he/she would have complete shelter from the weather, a television, a nice comfortable warm bed, the ability to take a warm bath or shower, comfortable lounge chairs to relax in and so on. The person doesnt like giving up the material and psychological benefits of his/her normal life. |
| 2396 | Animals | Crocodile tears | If someone cries crocodile tears, they pretend to be upset or affected by something. |
| 2397 | Animals | Crooked as a dog's hind leg | Someone who is very dishonest is as crooked as a dogs hind leg. |
| 2398 | Animals | Cry wolf | If someone cries wolf, they raise a false alarm about something. |
| 2399 | Animals | Cuckoo in the nest | Is an issue or a problem, etc, is a cuckoo in the nest, it grows quickly and crowds out everything else. |
| 2400 | Animals | Curiosity killed the cat | As cats are naturally curious animals, we use this expression to suggest to people that excessive curiosity is not necessarily a good thing, especially where it is not their business. |
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