50 Idioms with Meaning!
Throughout history, idioms have been used in many different languages to express ideas, feelings, and situations. Idioms are figurative phrases that contain a deeper meaning than their literal definition. They are often used to add a touch of humor, express an emotion, or provide a clever way of expressing a concept. Idioms are commonly used in casual conversations and writing, but they can also be used in a professional setting. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most common idioms and their meanings
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Idioms with meaning
Here is the list of 50 useful idioms with their meaning and examples, memorize these useful idioms list to speak more efficiently.
1. Fed up with | annoyed or bored | She is really fed up with the nursing profession. |
2. Feel/take someone’s pulse | to count the heartbeats of someone | The nurse took her pulse. |
3. Few and far between | occasional | He calls on me a few and far between. |
4. Fight shy of | to avoid doing something or getting involved in something | He fought shy of an open quarrel. |
5. Fight to death | a fight that ends when someone is killed or something is destroyed | We will fight to the death to defend our honor. |
6. Fight with one’s back to the wall | fight very hard | You will have to fight with your back to the wall to win the race. |
7. Find fault with | to criticize somebody or something, often unfairly | She’s always finding fault with the children’s work. |
8. First and foremost | primarily, first of all | The first and foremost task of a teacher is to teach. |
9. Flesh and blood | used for saying that someone has the same qualities that all people share | They now realize that their hero is, after all, only flesh and blood. |
10. Flog/ beat a dead horse | to waste time on something you know is not going to happen | To try to win her love is to flog a dead horse. |
11. Fly in the ointment | a problem that spoils something or makes it difficult | The only fly in the ointment is that I cannot use my house for the party |
12. Follow suit | to do the same as someone else has just done | Our school offered free admission and other schools followed suit. |
13. For a rainy day | to save something, especially money, for a time when you will need it | John Saves money for the rainy days of old age. |
14. For good/for good and all | permanently, forever | Joe finally left Turkey for good. |
15. For the sake of | in order to help, improve, or please someone or something | She sings for the sake of joy. |
16. For want of sth | because of a lack of sth | He could not marry her for want of money. |
17. Foul play | behavior that is not fair or honest | He will use any amount of foul play to get his aim. |
18. Freudian slip | slip of the tongue, an accidental mistake | She made a Freudian slip and revealed all her plans. |
19. From scratch | without any previous preparation or knowledge | She learned English from scratch in six months. |
20. From the horse’s mouth | from a reliable source | They have got it straight from the horse’s mouth that the boss is retiring. |
A big list of Idioms with Meaning and Examples
21. Get/gain/take/hold have the upper hand | control or an advantage over a person or situation | Pakistan got the upper hand in the second innings against India |
22. Get / Set to work | to start doing a piece of work | He set to work on his plan. |
23. Get on someone’s nerves | to annoy someone | She keeps on crying it really gets on my nerves. |
24. Get rid of | to throw away something | Let us get rid of these useless old things. |
25. Get the better of | to defeat someone in a game, argument, etc. | Pakistan finally got the better of India in the match. |
26. Get to the bottom of something | to find out the true cause of a bad situation | Try to get to the bottom of the problem to solve it. |
27. Get/Have wind of something | to find out about something secret | How did she get wind of our plan? |
28. Gird up one’s loins | to prepare for something difficult or dangerous | We should gird up our loins to face the problem. |
29. Give a false coloring to | misinterpret | He gave a false coloring to my statement and began to quarrel with me. |
30. Give a good account of oneself | succeed | She gave a good account of herself in the examination. |
31. Give and take | if there is give and take between people, each person allows the other to get something that they want | We can solve the problem by giving and take. |
32. Give full/free rein to | to allow a feeling to be expressed freely | Finally, she gave full rein to her love for John. |
33. Give oneself airs, put on airs | be proud | He is too humble to give herself airs. |
34. Give rise to | initiate | She never gives rise to her feelings. |
35. Give somebody a piece of one’s mind | to rebuke, to scold | The father gave him a piece of his mind for telling such a lie. |
36. Give the devil his due | do justice | To give the devil his due, I admit that this robber helps the poor. |
37. Give up the ghost | of a person-to die, of a machine to stop working completely | My car gave up the ghost last night. |
38. Give vent to | to express very strong anger or sadness | She wept bitterly at the death of her husband giving vent to her sorrow. |
39. Give/Create a false impression | deceive, mislead | She always gives a false impression about her money. |
Also check: List of idioms for Kids
40. Give/Show someone the cold shoulder | to ignore someone in an obvious manner | This officer is not popular as he gives everyone the cold shoulder. |
41. Go /Swim with the stream | to think or do something like others | Easier to go with the stream than to go against the stream. |
42. Go back on/upon one’s word/promise | to fail to fulfill one’s promise | You can rely on Gilbert, he would not go back on his word. |
43. Go far/a long way | be successful | She is hardworking and will go a long way in life. |
44. Go out of one’s way to do something | to make an extra effort to do something though it is not easy to do | Joe really went out of his way to me feel welcome. |
45. Go the way of all flesh | to die | Elena went the way of all flesh in 2008. |
46. Go through fire and water | to do something very dangerous for someone | Joe is my true friend and will go through fire and water for me. |
47. Go to any lengths / great lengths to do something | be ready to use any meeting to achieve something | Rima is ready to go to any lengths to get his aim. |
48. Go to law | to go to court in order to settle the problem | The two brothers went to law over the issue of property |
49. Go to pieces | to be so upset that you cannot behave in a sensible way | He just went to pieces after his wife’s death. |
50. Go to rack and ruin | to become less successful | His business is going to rack and ruin. |
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