Database

Idioms

1,235Total

Showing 50 of 1,235 (page 21).

no love lost

Two people who dislike each other

“THERE'S NO LOVE LOST between them”

no pain no gain

You must work hard to achieve results

“NO PAIN NO GAIN”

no way

Impossible; absolutely not

“NO WAY am I doing that.”

not a red cent

No money at all

“I don't have A RED CENT to my name”

not a spark of decency

No manners; completely lacking decency

“He doesn't have A SPARK OF DECENCY”

not have a clue

To have no idea; to not know something

“I DON'T HAVE A CLUE where we are”

not my cup of tea

Something I don't like

“That's NOT MY CUP OF TEA”

not my first rodeo

I am experienced in this area; I have done this many times before

“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing - this is NOT MY FIRST RODEO”

not my monkey not my circus

This is not my responsibility or problem to deal with; I'm not in charge of this situation

“You can deal with that complaint - it's NOT MY MONKEY NOT MY CIRCUS”

not playing with a full deck

Someone who lacks intelligence; not very smart

“I think he's NOT PLAYING WITH A FULL DECK”

off one's rocker

Crazy, demented, out of one's mind

“She's completely OFF HER ROCKER”

off the hook

No longer responsible for something; freed from a difficult situation or obligation

“He's OFF THE HOOK - someone else confessed”

off the top of my head

Without careful thought or research; from memory

“I can't tell you the exact number OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD”

off your oats

To lose your appetite

“The illness made him GO OFF HIS OATS”

off-colour

Slightly ill

“I'm feeling a bit OFF-COLOUR today”

on cloud nine

Extremely happy and excited

“She's been ON CLOUD NINE since getting engaged”

on the ball

Alert, competent, and understanding the situation quickly

“She's really ON THE BALL - she noticed the error immediately”

on the blink

Not working properly

“The printer is ON THE BLINK again”

on the dot

Exactly at the specified time; punctually

“Be there at 6 ON THE DOT”

on the fence

Undecided

“I'm still ON THE FENCE”

on the house

Free; paid for by the establishment

“This round is ON THE HOUSE”

on the same page

Thinking in the same way

“We need to be ON THE SAME PAGE about this.”

on the same wavelength

Thinking in the same way; having the same ideas and opinions

“We're really ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH”

on the spur of the moment

Done without advance planning

“We decided ON THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT to go.”

on the tip of my tongue

Almost able to remember or say something but not quite

“His name is ON THE TIP OF MY TONGUE”

on thin ice

In a risky or unstable situation

“You're ON THIN ICE”

once in a blue moon

Very rarely; almost never

“I only see my cousin ONCE IN A BLUE MOON”

once in a lifetime

Very rare

“It's A ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity, apparently.”

one in a million

Very special

“She's ONE IN A MILLION”

open a can of worms

To create a lot of problems

“Don't OPEN A CAN OF WORMS”

out of left field

Unexpected or unusual

“That came OUT OF LEFT FIELD”

out of sight, out of mind

You forget someone you don't see anymore

“It's OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND with him”

out of the blue

Suddenly and unexpectedly; without warning

“She called me OUT OF THE BLUE”

out of the question

Impossible; not allowed or not possible

“That's completely OUT OF THE QUESTION”

out of the woods

Out of danger or difficulty

“She's not OUT OF THE WOODS yet”

out of this world

Extremely good; wonderful; fantastic

“The food was OUT OF THIS WORLD”

over the moon

Extremely happy or delighted about something

“She was OVER THE MOON about her promotion”

pain in the neck

An annoying person or thing

“He's A PAIN IN THE NECK”

paint a black picture

To describe a situation or person as extremely bad

“You always PAINT A BLACK PICTURE of everything”

paint the town red

To go out and enjoy yourself in the evening, often drinking a lot of alcohol and dancing

“Let's go out and PAINT THE TOWN RED”

pardon my french

Used to apologize for using bad language or swearing

“PARDON MY FRENCH, but that's a terrible idea”

pass the buck

To blame someone else

“Don't PASS THE BUCK”

pass with flying colors

To succeed easily or with great success

“She PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS”

pay someone back

To take revenge on someone; to return a favor

“I'll PAY him BACK for what he did”

pay through the nose

To pay a lot of money for something; to pay too much

“We HAD TO PAY THROUGH THE NOSE for those tickets”

pays peanuts

Pays very little money; low wages

“They PAY PEANUTS at this job”

penny for your thoughts

Asking someone what they're thinking

“A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS?”

pigs might fly

Something that will never happen

“Yeah, WHEN PIGS MIGHT FLY”

pink-collar

A job that is traditionally done by women

“Nursing and secretarial work are PINK-COLLAR jobs”

play it by ear

To decide what to do as the situation develops, rather than making detailed plans

“I don't know if we'll go out - let's just PLAY IT BY EAR”

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