1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
| id | category | idiom | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4501 | Transport & Travel | Fall off the back of a lorry | (UK) If someone tries to sell you something that has fallen of the back of a lorry, they are trying to sell you stolen goods. |
| 4502 | Transport & Travel | Fall off the wagon | If someone falls off the wagon, they start drinking after having given up completely for a time. |
| 4503 | Transport & Travel | Fifth wheel | (USA) A fifth wheel is something unnecessary or useless. |
| 4504 | Transport & Travel | Full throttle | If you do something full throttle, you do it with as much speed and energy as you can. |
| 4505 | Transport & Travel | Go play in traffic | This is used as a way of telling someone to go away. |
| 4506 | Transport & Travel | Hit the road | When people hit the road, they leave a place to go somewhere else. |
| 4507 | Transport & Travel | I'll cross that road when I come to it | Ill think about something just when it happens, not in advance. |
| 4508 | Transport & Travel | In high gear | (USA) If something is in high gear, it is in a quick-paced mode. If someone is in high gear, they are feverishly on the fast track. |
| 4509 | Transport & Travel | In the driver's seat | If you are in the drivers seat, you are in charge of something or in control of a situation. |
| 4510 | Transport & Travel | Jump on the bandwagon | If people jump on the bandwagon, they get involved in something that has recently become very popular. |
| 4511 | Transport & Travel | Jump the track | Jumping the track is suddenly changing from one plan, activity, idea, etc, to another. |
| 4512 | Transport & Travel | Off the track | If something puts or throws you off your track, it distracts you or keeps you from achieving what you want. |
| 4513 | Transport & Travel | On the wagon | If someone is on the wagon, they have stopped drinking alcohol. |
| 4514 | Transport & Travel | Put the carriage before the horse | If you put the carriage before the horse, you try to do things in the wrong order. |
| 4515 | Transport & Travel | Put the pedal to the metal | If you put the pedal to the metal, you go faster. |
| 4516 | Transport & Travel | Rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic | (UK) If people are rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, they are making small changes that will have no effect as the project, company, etc, is in very serious trouble. |
| 4517 | Transport & Travel | Reinvent the wheel | If someone reinvents the wheel, they waste their time doing something that has already been done by other people, when they could be doing something more worthwhile. |
| 4518 | Transport & Travel | Right up my alley | If something is right up your alley, it suits you perfectly. |
| 4519 | Transport & Travel | Right up your street | If something is ideal for you, it is right up your street. |
| 4520 | Transport & Travel | Running on fumes | If someone has used all their energy on something, but must continue, they are running on fumes. It is an expression used when driving a car when the needle is on empty but still running. We say it is running on fumes. |
| 4521 | Transport & Travel | Ship came in | If your ship has come in, something very good has happened to you. |
| 4522 | Transport & Travel | Smooth sailing | If something is smooth sailing, then you can progress without difficulty. |
| 4523 | Transport & Travel | Squeaky wheel gets the grease | (USA) When people say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, they mean that the person who complains or protests the loudest attracts attention and service. |
| 4524 | Transport & Travel | Sunday driver | A Sunday driver drives very slowly and makes unexpected manoeuvres. |
| 4525 | Transport & Travel | Take for a test drive | If you take something for a test driver, you try something to see if you like it. |
| 4526 | Transport & Travel | That ship has sailed | A particular opportunity has passed you by when that ship has sailed. |
| 4527 | Transport & Travel | There's never a road without a turning | No situation in life stays the same forever. |
| 4528 | Transport & Travel | Throw someone under the bus | To throw someone under the bus is to get the person in trouble either by placing blame on that person or not standing up for him. |
| 4529 | Transport & Travel | Tight ship | If you run a tight ship, |
| 4530 | Transport & Travel | Traffucked | If you are traffucked, you are stuck in heavy traffic and get where you need to be. |
| 4531 | Transport & Travel | Train of thought | A train of thought is a sequence of thoughts, especially when you are talking to someone and you forget what you were going to say. |
| 4532 | Transport & Travel | Whatever floats your boat | When people say this, they mean that you should do whatever makes you happy. |
| 4533 | Transport & Travel | Wheels fall off | When the wheels fall off something, it goes wrong or fails. (Wheels come off is an alternative.) |
| 4534 | Transport & Travel | Where the rubber meets the road | (USA) Where the rubber meets the road is the most important point for something, the moment of truth. An athlete can train all day, but the race is where the rubber meets the road and theyll know how good they really are. |
| 4535 | Transport & Travel | You can't get there from here | (USA) US expression used in the New England area (most frequently in Maine) by persons being asked for directions to a far distant location that cannot be accessed without extensive, complicated directions. |
| 4536 | War and conflict | Act of war | An act of war is a action that is either intended to start a war or that is interpreted as being sufficient cause for a war. |
| 4537 | War and conflict | All's fair in love and war | This idiom is used to say that where there is conflict, people can be expected to behave in a more vicious way. |
| 4538 | War and conflict | Arrow in the quiver | An arrow in the quiver is a strategy or option that could be used to achieve your objective. |
| 4539 | War and conflict | At daggers drawn | If people are at daggers drawn, they are very angry and close to violence. |
| 4540 | War and conflict | Axe to grind | If you have an axe to grind with someone or about something, you have a grievance, a resentment and you want to get revenge or sort it out. In American English, it is ax. |
| 4541 | War and conflict | Battle of nerves | A battle of nerves is a situation where neither side in a conflict or dispute is willing to back down and is waiting for the other side to weaken. (A war of nerves is an alternative form.) |
| 4542 | War and conflict | Beat swords into ploughshares | If people beat swords into ploughshares, they spend money on humanitarian purposes rather than weapons. (The American English spelling is plowshares) |
| 4543 | War and conflict | Beat the tar out of | When you want to beat the tar out of someone, you want to beat them up badly. |
| 4544 | War and conflict | Been in the wars | (UK) If someone has been in the wars, they have been hurt or look as if they have been in a struggle. |
| 4545 | War and conflict | Bite the bullet | If you have to bite the bullet, you have to accept or face something unpleasant because it cannot be avoided. |
| 4546 | War and conflict | Bring a knife to a gunfight | If someone brings a knife to a gunfight, they are very badly prepared for something. |
| 4547 | War and conflict | Bury the hatchet | If you bury the hatchet, you make peace with someone and stop arguing or fighting. |
| 4548 | War and conflict | Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades | This phrase is used to say that if you come close to success without succeeding, it is not good enough |
| 4549 | War and conflict | Cross swords | When people cross swords, they argue or dispute. This expression is used when some groups accuse each other for non-adherence to norms. Actually no sword is used but the tempo of the argument is high enough to cause worsening of the already bad situation. It is a tussle (vehement struggle without use of arms) between the parties to establish supremacy. |
| 4550 | War and conflict | Dodge the bullet | If someone has dodged a bullet, they have successfully avoided a very serious problem. |
| 4551 | War and conflict | Don't mention the war | This means that you shouldnt speak about things that could cause an argument or tension.This idiom was used in a classic episode of the much-loved British comedy series Fawlty Towers. As a consequence if you use this phrase in Britain, listeners will understand you to be referring to Germans, or just start laughing. |
| 4552 | War and conflict | Don't shoot the messenger | This phrase can be used when breaking some bad news to someone and you dont want to be blamed for the news. (Dont kill the messenger is also used.) |
| 4553 | War and conflict | Double-edged sword | If someone uses an argument that could both help them and harm them, then they are using a double-edged sword sword; it cuts both ways. |
| 4554 | War and conflict | Drop a bombshell | If someone drops a bombshell, they announce something that changes a situation drastically and unexpectedly. |
| 4555 | War and conflict | Fight an uphill battle | When you fight an uphill battle, you have to struggle against very unfavourable circumstances. |
| 4556 | War and conflict | Get the axe | If you get the axe, you lose your job.? (Get the ax is the American spelling.) |
| 4557 | War and conflict | Great guns | If something or someone is going great guns, they are doing very well. |
| 4558 | War and conflict | In your sights | If you have someone or something in your sights, they are your target to beat. |
| 4559 | War and conflict | Keep your powder dry | If you keep your powder dry, you act cautiously so as not to damage your chances. |
| 4560 | War and conflict | Knight in shining armour | A knight in shining armour is someone who saves you when you are in great trouble or danger. |
| 4561 | War and conflict | Lay waste | To lay waste to something is to destroy it. |
| 4562 | War and conflict | Lock and load | This is a military term meaning "be ready and prepared". |
| 4563 | War and conflict | Long shot | If something is a long shot, there is only a very small chance of success. |
| 4564 | War and conflict | Loose cannon | A person who is very difficult to control and unpredictable is a loose cannon. |
| 4565 | War and conflict | Lower your sights | If you lower your sights, you accept something that is less than you were hoping for. |
| 4566 | War and conflict | Mailed fist | Someone who rules or controls something with a mailed fist is in absolute control and tolerates no dissent. A mailed fist in a velvet glove is used to describe someone who appears soft on the outside, but underneath is very hard. Iron fist is an alternative form. |
| 4567 | War and conflict | More than one string to their bow | A person who has more than one string to their bow has different talents or skills to fall back on. |
| 4568 | War and conflict | Off your guard | If you catch someone off their guard, they |
| 4569 | War and conflict | Open old wounds | If you open old wounds, you revive a quarrel or problem that caused a lot of trouble in the past. |
| 4570 | War and conflict | Over the top | If something is over the top, it is excessive or unnecessary.? It refers to the moment a soldier leaves the trenches. |
| 4571 | War and conflict | Pull the trigger | The person who pulls the trigger is the one who does the action that closes or finishes something. |
| 4572 | War and conflict | Put to the sword | If someone is put to the sword, he or she is killed or executed. |
| 4573 | War and conflict | Pyrrhic victory | A Pyrrhic victory is one that causes the victor to suffer so much to achieve it that it isnt worth winning. |
| 4574 | War and conflict | Quick on the trigger | Someone who is quick on the trigger acts or responds quickly. |
| 4575 | War and conflict | Rank and file | The rank and file are the ordinary members of a company, organisation, etc, excluding the managers and directors. |
| 4576 | War and conflict | Ride shotgun | If you ride shotgun, you protect or guard something when it is being transported. |
| 4577 | War and conflict | Run the gauntlet | If somebody is being criticised harshly by a lot of people, they are said to run the gauntlet. |
| 4578 | War and conflict | Set your sights on | If you set your sights on someone or something, it is your ambition to beat them or to achieve that goal. |
| 4579 | War and conflict | Shoot down in flames | If someone demolishes your argument, it (and you) have been shot down in flames. |
| 4580 | War and conflict | Shoot from the hip | Someone who shoots from the hip talks very directly or insensitively without thinking beforehand. |
| 4581 | War and conflict | Shot across the bow | A shot across the bow is a warning to tell someone to stop doing something or face very serious consequences. |
| 4582 | War and conflict | Slap leather | (USA) This is used as an instruction to tell people when to draw their guns. |
| 4583 | War and conflict | Smoking gun | A smoking gun is definitive proof of someones guilt. |
| 4584 | War and conflict | Speak softly and carry a big stick | If you speak softly and carry a big stick, you make your case quietly but can back it up forcefully if necessary. |
| 4585 | War and conflict | Spike your guns | If you spike someones guns, you ruin their plans. |
| 4586 | War and conflict | Stare down the barrel of a gun | If someone is staring down the barrel of a gun, theres a high risk of something very bad happening. |
| 4587 | War and conflict | Stick to your guns | If you stick to your guns, you keep your position even though people attack or criticise you. |
| 4588 | War and conflict | Straight as an arrow | A person who is as straight as an arrow is extremely honest and genuine. |
| 4589 | War and conflict | Take the flak | If you take the flak, you are strongly criticised for something.(Take flak is also used.) |
| 4590 | War and conflict | Tell it to the marines | People use this expression when they dont believe someone. |
| 4591 | War and conflict | Two-edged sword | If someone uses an argument that could both help them and harm them, then they are using a two-edged sword; it cuts both ways. |
| 4592 | War and conflict | Under the gun | If youre under the gun, youre under pressure to do something. |
| 4593 | War and conflict | War chest | A war chest is a fund that can be used to finance a campaign like and election or for use in emergencies or unexpected times of difficulty. |
| 4594 | War and conflict | War of words | A war of words is a bitter argument between people or organisations, etc. |
| 4595 | Weather | Any port in a storm | This means that in an emergency any solution will do, even one that would normally be unacceptable. |
| 4596 | Weather | Blue skies | A overly enthusiastic outlook or disposition. The sales team had blue skies projections for their deals, although not many of those deals were signed. |
| 4597 | Weather | Bolt from the blue | If something happens unexpectedly and suddenly, it is a bolt from the blue. |
| 4598 | Weather | Brighten up the day | If something brightens up your day, something happens that makes you feel positive and happy all day long. |
| 4599 | Weather | Calm before the storm | A calm time immediately before period of violent activity or argument is the calm before the storm. |
| 4600 | Weather | Chase rainbows | If someone chases rainbows, they try to do something that they will never achieve. |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47