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| id | category | idiom | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401 | Body and bodily functions | Burn your fingers | If you burn your fingers, you suffer a loss or something unpleasant as the result of something you did, making you less likely to do it again. |
| 402 | Body and bodily functions | Bury your head in the sand | If someone buries their head in the sand, they ignore something that is obviously wrong. |
| 403 | Body and bodily functions | Bust my chops | When someone says that theyre not going to bust their chops, it means they are not going to work that hard or make much effort. |
| 404 | Body and bodily functions | Butt naked | If someone is butt naked, they have no clothes on at all, often when they can be seen. |
| 405 | Body and bodily functions | Butterfingers | Someone who has butterfingers is clumsy and drops things. |
| 406 | Body and bodily functions | Button your lip | If you button your lip, you keep quiet and dont speak. It is also used as a way of telling someone to shut up. |
| 407 | Body and bodily functions | By a hair's breadth | If a person escapes from some danger by a hairs breadth, they only just managed to avoid it. The breadth is the thickness of a hair, so they probably feel somewhat lucky because the margin between success and what could easily have been failure was so close. |
| 408 | Body and bodily functions | By heart | If you learn something by heart, you learn it word for word. |
| 409 | Body and bodily functions | By the skin of your teeth | If you do something by the skin of your teeth, you only just manage to do it and come very near indeed to failing. |
| 410 | Body and bodily functions | By word of mouth | If something becomes known by word of mouth, it gets known by being talked about rather than through publicity or advertising, etc. |
| 411 | Body and bodily functions | Cast iron stomach | A person with a cast iron stomach can eat or drink anything without any ill effects. |
| 412 | Body and bodily functions | Change of heart | If you change the way you think or feel about something, you have a change of heart. |
| 413 | Body and bodily functions | Chaps my ass | When something/someone really annoys you, it chaps your ass. |
| 414 | Body and bodily functions | Chase your tail | If you are chasing your tail, you are very busy but not being very productive. |
| 415 | Body and bodily functions | Cheek by jowl | If things or people are cheek by jowl, they are very close together. |
| 416 | Body and bodily functions | Chew on a bone | If someone is chewing on a bone, he or she is thinking about something intently. |
| 417 | Body and bodily functions | Chip on your shoulder | If someone has a chip on their shoulder, they are resentful about something and feel that they have been treated badly. |
| 418 | Body and bodily functions | Chomping at the bit | If you are chomping at the bit, you are eager to start on a task immediately. |
| 419 | Body and bodily functions | Clean hands | Someone with clean hands, or who keeps their hands clean, is not involved in illegal or immoral activities. |
| 420 | Body and bodily functions | Close at hand | If something is close at hand, it is nearby or conveniently located. |
| 421 | Body and bodily functions | Close lipped | A person who is reluctant to talk about a specific subject is close lipped. |
| 422 | Body and bodily functions | Close shave | If you have a close shave, you very nearly have a serious accident or get into trouble. |
| 423 | Body and bodily functions | Close to your heart | If something is close to your heart, you care a lot about it. (Dear to your heart is an alternative.) |
| 424 | Body and bodily functions | Cloth ears | If you dont listen to people, they may suggest you have cloth ears. |
| 425 | Body and bodily functions | Cold feet | If you get cold feet about something, you lose the courage to do it. |
| 426 | Body and bodily functions | Cold shoulder | If you give or show someone the cold shoulder, you are deliberately unfriendly and unco-operative towards them. |
| 427 | Body and bodily functions | Cold sweat | If something brings you out in a cold sweat, it frightens you a lot. |
| 428 | Body and bodily functions | Come on the heels of | If something comes on the heels of something, it follows very soon after it. |
| 429 | Body and bodily functions | Come to heel | If someone comes to heel, they stop behaving in a way that is annoying to someone in authority and start being obedient. |
| 430 | Body and bodily functions | Cool your heels | If you leave someone to cool their heels, you make them wait until they have calmed down. |
| 431 | Body and bodily functions | Cross my heart and hope to die | People say this to show how sincere their promise is. |
| 432 | Body and bodily functions | Cry your eyes out | If you cry your eyes out, you cry uncontrollably. |
| 433 | Body and bodily functions | Curdle your blood | If something is very frightening or disturbing, it curdles your blood. |
| 434 | Body and bodily functions | Cut off your nose to spite your face | If you cut off your nose to spite your face, you do something rash or silly that ends up making things worse for you, often because you are angry or upset. |
| 435 | Body and bodily functions | Cut your teeth on | The place where you gain your early experience is where you cut your teeth. |
| 436 | Body and bodily functions | Dead from the neck up | Someone whos dead from the neck up is very stupid indeed. |
| 437 | Body and bodily functions | Deep pockets but short arms | Someone who has money but never puts his hand in his pocket to pay for anything has deep pockets but short arms. |
| 438 | Body and bodily functions | Dip your toes in the water | If you dip your toes in the water, you try something tentatively because you are not sure whether it will work or not. |
| 439 | Body and bodily functions | Discerning eye | If a person has a discerning eye, they are particularly good at judging the quality of something. |
| 440 | Body and bodily functions | Don't bite the hand that feeds | When someone says this to you, they are trying to tell you not to act against those on whom you depend. |
| 441 | Body and bodily functions | Don't stand there with curlers in your hair | This means dont keep me waiting. Its said to someone who is taking too long to get moving. |
| 442 | Body and bodily functions | Don't sweat the small stuff | (USA) This is used to tell people not to worry about trivial or unimportant issues. |
| 443 | Body and bodily functions | Down in the mouth | If someone is down in the mouth, they look unhappy or depressed. |
| 444 | Body and bodily functions | Drag your feet | If someone is dragging their feet, they are taking too long to do or finish something, usually because they dont want to do it. |
| 445 | Body and bodily functions | Drop into your lap | If something drops into your lap, you receive it suddenly, without any warning. (Fall into your lap is also used.) |
| 446 | Body and bodily functions | Dry as a bone | If your lawn is as dry as a bone, the soil is completely dry. |
| 447 | Body and bodily functions | Eat your heart out | If someone tells you to eat your heart out, they are saying they are better than you at something. |
| 448 | Body and bodily functions | Elbow grease | If something requires elbow grease, it involves a lot of hard physical work. |
| 449 | Body and bodily functions | Elbow room | If you havent got enough elbow room, you havent got enough space. |
| 450 | Body and bodily functions | Eye- wash | This expression eye-wash is generally used to cover up the anxiety of a person who is seeking a concrete reply or justification for an act or an event that had affected his personal image or caused him a loss. The affected person usually represents his case to the higher-ups and puts forth his demands for redressal. But the authority, in order to avoid embarassment to his organisation or to himself, is not in a position to expose the entire material or evidence which in turn tell upon the credibility of the organisation. In such circumstances, he will usually call for an investigation to satisfy the complainant, but will not be keen in disposing the case. The authority will drag on the issue, (at the same time pretending to be serious) until the seriousness of the issue dies down and no finality is reached. So, The investigation on the issue by the authority is an eye-wash. |
| 451 | Body and bodily functions | Eyes are bigger than one's stomach | If someones eyes are bigger than their stomach, they are greedy and take on more than they can consume or manage. |
| 452 | Body and bodily functions | Face only a mother could love | When someone has a face only a mother could love, they are ugly. |
| 453 | Body and bodily functions | Face value | If you take something at face value, you accept the appearance rather than looking deeper into the matter. |
| 454 | Body and bodily functions | Faint heart never won fair lady | This means that you will not get the partner of your dreams if you lack the confidence to let them know how you feel. |
| 455 | Body and bodily functions | Fall on our feet | If you fall on your feet, you succeed in doing something where there was a risk of failure. |
| 456 | Body and bodily functions | Fat head | A fat head is a dull, stupid person. |
| 457 | Body and bodily functions | Fed up to the back teeth | When you are extremely irritated and fed up with something or someone, you are fed up to the back teeth. |
| 458 | Body and bodily functions | Feet of clay | If someone has feet of clay, they have flaws that make them seem more human and like normal people. |
| 459 | Body and bodily functions | Feet on the ground | A practical and realistic person has their feet on the ground. |
| 460 | Body and bodily functions | Fight tooth and nail | If someone will fight tooth and nail for something, they will not stop at anything to get what they want. (Fight tooth and claw is an alternative.) |
| 461 | Body and bodily functions | Find your feet | When you are finding your feet, you are in the process of gaining confidence and experience in something. |
| 462 | Body and bodily functions | Fingers and thumbs | If you are all fingers and thumbs, you are being clumsy and not very skilled with your hands. |
| 463 | Body and bodily functions | Fleet of foot | If someone is fleet of foot, they are very quick. |
| 464 | Body and bodily functions | Flesh and blood | Your flesh and blood are your blood relatives, especially your immediate family. |
| 465 | Body and bodily functions | Follow your nose | When giving directions, telling someone to follow their nose means that they should go straight ahead. |
| 466 | Body and bodily functions | Foot in mouth | This is used to describe someone who has just said something embarrassing, inappropriate, wrong or stupid. |
| 467 | Body and bodily functions | Foot in the door | If you have or get your foot in the door, you start working in a company or organisation at a low level, hoping that you will be able to progress from there. |
| 468 | Body and bodily functions | Four-eyes | A person who wears glasses |
| 469 | Body and bodily functions | Friendly footing | When relationships are on a friendly footing, they are going well. |
| 470 | Body and bodily functions | Frog in my throat | If you have a frog in your throat, you cant speak or you are losing your voice because you have a problem with your throat. |
| 471 | Body and bodily functions | From the bottom of your heart | If someone does something from the bottom of their heart, then they do it with genuine emotion and feeling. |
| 472 | Body and bodily functions | Full of piss and vinegar | Someone whos full of piss and vinegar is full of youthful energy. |
| 473 | Body and bodily functions | Get it in the neck | (UK) If you get it in the neck, you are punished or criticised for something. |
| 474 | Body and bodily functions | Get it off your chest | If you get something off your chest, you confess to something that has been troubling you. |
| 475 | Body and bodily functions | Get on your nerves | If something gets on your nerves, it annoys or irritates you. |
| 476 | Body and bodily functions | Get the nod | (UK) If you get the nod to something, you get approval or permission to do it. |
| 477 | Body and bodily functions | Get your feet wet | If you get your feet wet, you gain your first experience of something. |
| 478 | Body and bodily functions | Get your hands dirty | If you get your hands dirty, you become involved in something where the realities might compromise your principles. It can also mean that a person is not just stuck in an ivory tower dictating strategy, but is prepared to put in the effort and hard work to make the details actually happen. |
| 479 | Body and bodily functions | Get your head around something | If you get your head around something, you come to understand it even though it is difficult to comprehend. |
| 480 | Body and bodily functions | Get your teeth into | If you get your teeth into something, you become involved in or do something that is intellectually challenging or satisfying.? (Dig you teeth into and sink your teeth into are also used.) |
| 481 | Body and bodily functions | Gird one's loins | If you gird your loins, you prepare for conflict or a difficult time. |
| 482 | Body and bodily functions | Give a big hand | Applaud by clapping hands. Lets give all the contestents a big hand. |
| 483 | Body and bodily functions | Give me a hand | If someone gives you a hand, they help you. |
| 484 | Body and bodily functions | Give someone a leg up | If you give someone a leg up, you help them to achieve something that they couldnt have done alone. |
| 485 | Body and bodily functions | Give the nod | (UK) If you give the nod to something, you approve it or give permission to do it. |
| 486 | Body and bodily functions | Give your eye teeth | If you really want something and would be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get it, you would give your eye teeth for it. |
| 487 | Body and bodily functions | Go for the jugular | If you go for the jugular, you attack someone where they are most vulnerable. |
| 488 | Body and bodily functions | Go hand in hand | If things go hand in hand, they are associated and go together. |
| 489 | Body and bodily functions | Go to your head | If something goes to your head, it makes you feel vain.? If alcohol goes to your head, it makes you feel drunk quickly. |
| 490 | Body and bodily functions | Good hand | If you are a good hand at something, you do it well. |
| 491 | Body and bodily functions | Grease someone's palm | If you grease someones palm, you bribe them to do something. |
| 492 | Body and bodily functions | Great minds think alike | If two people have the same thought at the same time, one of them might say "Great minds think alike." |
| 493 | Body and bodily functions | Growing pains | If a business is going through some growing pains, it is experiencing the typical problems that arise when a company becomes stronger and bigger. |
| 494 | Body and bodily functions | Hairy at the heel | (UK) Someone who is hairy at the heel is dangerous or untrustworthy. |
| 495 | Body and bodily functions | Hale and hearty | Someone who is hale and hearty is in very good health. |
| 496 | Body and bodily functions | Half a mind | If you have half a mind to do something, you havent decided to do it, but are thinking seriously about doing it. |
| 497 | Body and bodily functions | Hand in hand | Hand in hand= work together closely When people in a group, say in an office or in a project, work together with mutual understanding to achieve the target, we say they work hand in hand. There is no lack of co-operation and each synchoranises the activity with that of the other. |
| 498 | Body and bodily functions | Hand to mouth | Someone whos living from hand to mouth, is very poor and needs the little money they have coming in to cover their expenses. |
| 499 | Body and bodily functions | Hands down | If someone is better hands down than everyone else, they are much better. |
| 500 | Body and bodily functions | Handwriting like chicken scratch | If your handwriting is very hard to read, it is like chicken scratch. |
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