100 Essential Idioms & Phrases
Idiom / Phrase
Meaning
A red letter day
A happy and important day
A white elephant
Costly but useless possession
A wild goose chase
A foolish and useless search
A bed of roses
Easy and comfortable situation
A bitter pill to swallow
An unpleasant fact that must be accepted
A blessing in disguise
A good thing that seemed bad at first
A bolt from the blue
A sudden and unexpected shock
A bone of contention
Subject of a dispute
A fish out of water
In an uncomfortable situation
A hard nut to crack
A difficult problem to solve
A maiden speech
First speech made by a person
Achilles' heel
A small but fatal weakness
Add fuel to fire
To make a bad situation worse
Against the clock
Doing something very fast to finish in time
All at sea
Completely confused
Apple of discord
A cause of quarrel
Apple of one's eye
Someone very dear
At daggers drawn
Bitterly hostile
At loggerheads
In strong disagreement
At the eleventh hour
At the very last moment
Back to square one
Starting all over again
Bark up the wrong tree
Accusing the wrong person
Beat black and blue
To beat very severely
Beat about the bush
To avoid talking about the main topic
Behind one's back
Without someone's knowledge
Between the devil and the deep sea
Between two equal dangers
Bird's eye view
A general view from above
Black sheep
A disgrace to a family or group
Blowing one's own trumpet
Praising oneself
Blue blood
Of noble or royal birth
Bread and butter
Main source of income
Break the ice
To start a conversation
Burn the midnight oil
To study or work late into night
By hook or by crook
By any means possible
By leaps and bounds
Very rapidly
Call a spade a spade
Speak plainly and directly
Call it a day
Decide to stop working
Capital punishment
Death sentence
Cat and dog life
Life full of quarrels
Cock and bull story
An unbelievable story
Cold feet
Loss of confidence or fear
Crocodile tears
False expression of sorrow
Cry for the moon
To ask for the impossible
Cry over spilt milk
Regret something that cannot be changed
Die in harness
Die while still in service
Dutch courage
Bravery under influence of alcohol
Eat humble pie
To apologize humbly
Every dog has its day
Everyone will have good luck someday
Face the music
Accept unpleasant consequences
Fair weather friend
A friend who leaves in trouble
Feather in one's cap
An achievement to be proud of
Few and far between
Very rare
Flog a dead horse
Waste energy on lost cause
Gift of the gab
Ability to speak eloquently
Go to the dogs
To be ruined
Grass is greener on the other side
Things look better from a distance
Grease someone's palm
To bribe someone
Hard and fast rules
Strict rules
In a nutshell
Briefly / In short
In black and white
In writing
In hot water
In trouble
In the good books of
In favour with
Keep at arm's length
To avoid being friendly
Kick the bucket
To die
Kith and kin
Relatives and friends
Lame excuse
An unsatisfactory explanation
Leave no stone unturned
Try every possible way
Live from hand to mouth
Live with very little money
Make a mountain out of a molehill
Exaggerate small problems
Make both ends meet
Manage with given income
Man of letters
A scholar or literary man
Man of straw
A weak person
Nip in the bud
Stop something at initial stage
Null and void
Invalid / Legally not binding
Of no avail
Useless / No effect
Off the record
Not for publication
Once in a blue moon
Very rarely
On the horns of a dilemma
Between two difficult choices
Out of the blue
Completely unexpected
Out of the woods
Out of danger
Pros and cons
Advantages and disadvantages
Pull someone's leg
To tease or joke with someone
Rainy day
Times of financial need
Rank and file
Common people
See eye to eye
To agree completely
Show white feather
To show cowardice
Skeleton in the cupboard
An embarrassing secret
Smell a rat
Suspect something wrong
Snake in the grass
A hidden enemy
Spill the beans
To reveal a secret
Stone's throw
Very near distance
Storm in a tea cup
Much fuss about a small matter
The lion's share
The largest part
Through thick and thin
Under all conditions
To be at sea
To be confused
To bell the cat
To take lead in danger
To break the ice
To start a conversation
Turn a deaf ear
To refuse to listen / ignore
Under a cloud
Under suspicion
Ups and downs
Good and bad times