250 Interesting Idioms and their Meanings with PDF

Idioms are phrases that are commonly used in everyday language and have a subtext meaning that may not be obvious to someone who is not a native speaker of the language. These phrases may be used to provide emphasis, add color to a conversation, or provide humor. Understanding the meaning behind idioms can be difficult, but can be critical to effectively communicating in a language. In this blog post, we will explore Interesting Idioms and their Meanings, and how they are used. We will also look at how idioms can be used in different contexts to ensure effective communication.

The following is an extensive list of Idioms with their meanings and examples.

Table of Contents

Interesting Idioms and their Meanings

Idiom	Meaning	sentence
1. Rest/ Sit on one’s laurels	to be satisfied with one’s achievements	He retired at the peak of his career and is resting on his laurels.
2. Rise to the occasion	to be able to do what is required in a crisis	We should be ready to rise to every occasion.
3. Royal road	an easy way	There is no royal road to success.
4. Run short of	to be in insufficient supply	We are running short of fuel.
5. Safe and sound	without suffering any loss	They reached home safe and sound.
6. Save something for a rainy day	save something for a time of crisis	Wise persons save something for a rainy day.
7. Scot-free	free from harm or penalty	The court let him off scot-free.
8. See eye to eye	agree fully	Both the husband and the wife see eye to eye in this matter.
9. See how the land lies	to find out about a situation	Let me see how the land lies before we do anything.
10. Set / Put in motion	to start a process	Her anger set in motion the events that led to her downfall.
11. Set free	to let someone free	He opened the cage and set the birds free.
12. Set one’s face against	to oppose	Her father set his face Against her becoming an actress.
13. Shipshape	in good order	well-arranged, neat, and clean)
14. Show the white feather	show cowardice	The brave never show the white feather on the battlefield.
15. Sit / Be on the fence	to be neutral	The judge should always sit on the fence.
16. Small talk	polite talk about very unimportant matters	I do not like to indulge in small talk.
17. Smell a rat	to have the feeling that something is bad or wrong	The thief smells a rat and ran away.
18. So far	a long way	It is so far to go.
19. So far as	far as	Try to avoid him, so far as I know him, he is not a good boy.
20. Sour grapes	fake dislike for something one cannot have	The poor man said that he did not need money, but that was just sour grapes.

Idioms with Meaning and Examples

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
21. Speak one’s mind	express one’s views, feelings, and thoughts	Everyone should be free to speak his mind
22. Speak volumes	to convey a great deal of meaning without using words	She said nothing but her face spoke volumes.
23. Spick and span	neat and clean, brand new	She always keeps her house spick and span.
24. Split hairs	to make trivial distinctions	Let us do not split hairs, I will do it as your wish.
25. Spread like wildfire	spread rapidly	The news of his success spread like wildfire.
26. Stand on ceremony	to behave in a formal way	Please sit down and make yourself comfortable, do not stand on ceremony here.
27. Steal a march on	to gain advantage	Do not let him steal a march on you.
28. Storm in a teacup	a big clash on a small matter	Do not worry about the two ladies quarreling, it is just a storm in a teacup.
29. Strike while the iron is hot	to do something at a proper moment	Wise people always strike while the iron is hot.
30. Suit somebody’s book	to fit well into someone’s plans	We need a male teacher, he suits our book.
31. Take a fancy to	begin to love	He has taken a fancy to that beautiful girl.
32. Take a leaf from/out of somebody’s book	to imitate, to follow someone’s example	Our country should take a leaf from Japan’s book.
33. Take a leap in the dark	to do something without worrying about the results	To start such a big business without experience is like taking a leap in the dark.
34. Take advantage of something/somebody	to make use of something well	We took full advantage of the hotel facilities.
35. Take care of	to look after	I take good care of my car.
36. Take French leave	to take time away from your job without asking for permission	Her boss was angry at her for taking French leave.
37. Take heart	gather the courage	Do not get discouraged, just take heart to face the music.
38. Take it ill	get offended	She will take it ill if you refuse to lend her a problem.
39. Take one’s time	to use as much time as you need without hurrying	The judge took his time to decide the case.

Also Check: Interesting Idioms for Essay Writing

Idiom	Meaning	Sentence
40. Take pains to do something/Take pains with/over something	make a special effort to do something	Elina takes great pains to do his work.
41. Take something/somebody by storm	to be very successful in a particular place or with a group of people	This book has taken the students by storm.
42. Take something into account/take account of something	to consider particular facts while making a decision about something	The government should take into account the pitiable condition of the poor.
43. Take the bull ‘by the horns	to tackle the difficulties boldly	Brave people always take the bull by the horns.
44. Take to heart	feel sad	He took the death of his mother to heart.
45. Take to one’s heels/show a clean pair of heels	run away	Brave warriors never take to their heels from the battlefield.
46. Take to task	rebuke	The principal took the peon to task for his laziness.
47. Take with a grain/pinch of salt	to receive with a little doubt	Take his story with a grain of salt as he is a liar through and through.
48. Talk shop	to talk about your work	His habit of talking shop is boring for others.
49. The man in the street	an ordinary man	The man in the street takes no interest in politics.
50. The red carpet treatment/welcome	great respect and honor given to the guests	The minister was given a red carpet welcome when he visited the city.