Idioms help you sound more natural in English. They make your speaking clear, strong, and confident. This dictionary is made for idioms learners. You can search any idiom easily. You can also learn idioms from A to Z. Topics are simple too, such as daily life, work, money, time, emotions, relationships, health, travel, nature, and weather.
Each idiom has a simple meaning. It also has a clear definition. You will also see an easy sentence for real conversation. The goal is not to memorize everything at once. Learn a few idioms daily. Read the sentence. Understand the meaning. Then try to use the idiom when you speak.
This dictionary helps you build better vocabulary. It also helps you understand English expressions faster. Use it daily and improve your idioms step by step.
blow hot and cold
to be changeable or uncertain (about something). (Informal.)
He keeps blowing hot and cold on the question of moving to the country.
blow one’s own trumpet
to boast; to praise oneself.
Tom is always blowing his own trumpet. Is he really as good as he says he is?
blow the lid off (something)
to reveal something, especially wrongdoing; to make wrongdoing public. (Informal.)
The police blew the lid off the smuggling ring.
blow up in someone’s face
[for something] suddenly to get ruined or destroyed while seeming to go well.
All my plans blew up in my face when she broke off the engagement.
blue blood
the blood [heredity] of a noble family; aristocratic ancestry.
The earl refuses to allow anyone who is not of blue blood to marry his son.
bone of contention
the subject or point of an argument; an unsettled point of disagreement.
We’ve fought for so long that we’ve forgotten what the bone of contention is.
born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
born with many advantages; born to a wealthy family; born to have good fortune.
Sally was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
bow and scrape
to be very humble and subservient.
Please don’t bow and scrape. We are all equal here.
Box and Cox
two people who keep failing to meet. (Although they both sometimes go to the same place, they are never there at the same time. From characters in a nineteenth-century play, one of whom rented a room by day, the other the same room by night.)
Since her husband started doing night-shifts, they are Box and Cox. She leaves for work in the morning before he gets home.
break new ground
to begin to do something which no one else has done; to pioneer (in an enterprise).
Dr. Anderson was breaking new ground in cancer research.
break one’s duck
to have one’s first success at something. (From a cricketing expression meaning “to begin scoring.”)
At last Jim’s broken his duck. He’s got a girl to go out with him.
break one’s word
not to do what one said one would; not to keep one’s promise.
Don’t say you’ll visit your grandmother if you can’t go. She hates for people to break their word.
break someone’s fall
to cushion a falling person; to lessen the impact of a falling person.
When the little boy fell out of the window, the bushes broke his fall.
break someone’s heart
to cause someone emotional pain.
It just broke my heart when Tom ran away from home.
break the ice
to start social communication and conversation.
Tom is so outgoing. He’s always the first one to break the ice at parties.
break the news (to someone)
to tell someone some important news, usually bad news.
The doctor had to break the news to Jane about her husband’s cancer.
breathe down someone’s neck
to keep close watch on someone, causing worry and irritation; to watch someone’s activities, especially to try to hurry something along. (Informal. Refers to standing very close behind a person.)
I can’t work with you breathing down my neck all the time. Go away.
breathe one’s last
to die; to breathe one’s last breath.
Mrs. Smith breathed her last this morning.
bring home the bacon
to earn a salary. (Informal.)
I’ve got to get to work if I’m going to bring home the bacon.
bring something home to someone
to cause someone to realize the truth of something.
Seeing the starving refugees on television really brings home the tragedy of their situation.
bring something to a head
to cause something to come to the point when a decision has to be made or action taken.
The latest disagreement between management and the union has brought matters to a head. There will be an all-out strike now.
bring something to light
to make something known; to discover something.
The scientists brought their findings to light.
bull in a china shop
a very clumsy person around breakable things; a thoughtless or tactless person. ( China is fine crockery.)
Look at Bill, as awkward as a bull in a china shop.
burn one’s boats and burn one’s bridges (behind one)
to go so far in a course of action that one cannot turn back; to do something which makes it impossible to return to one’s former position.
I don’t want to emigrate now, but I’ve rather burned my boats by giving up my job and selling my house.
burn the candle at both ends
to exhaust oneself by doing too much, for example by working very hard during the day and also staying up very late at night.
No wonder Mary is ill. She has been burning the candle at both ends for a long time.
burn the midnight oil
to stay up working, especially studying, late at night. (Refers to working by the light of an oil-lamp.)
I have to go home and burn the midnight oil tonight.
bury the hatchet
to stop fighting or arguing; to end old resentments.
All right, you two. Calm down and bury the hatchet.
bush telegraph
the informal, usually rapid spreading of news or information by word of mouth.
The bush telegraph tells me that the manager is leaving.
business end of something
the part or end of something that actually does the work or carries out the procedure.
Keep away from the business end of the electric drill in case you get hurt.
busman’s holiday
leisure time spent doing something similar to what one does at work.
Tutoring pupils in the evening is too much of a busman’s holiday for our English teacher.
How To Use Idioms Dictionary
- You can use this dictionary in different ways. Start with the idioms you hear often in movies, conversations, or online posts. Search them here and understand their real meaning. Then read the example sentence and try to speak your own sentence.
- You can also learn idioms by topic. Choose daily life idioms for normal conversation. Choose work and business idioms for office English. Choose money, time, emotion, relationship, health, travel, nature, and weather idioms to improve your topic-based vocabulary.
- A good way to learn is to save your favorite idioms in a notebook. Write the idiom, its meaning, and your own sentence. Review them after a few days. This will help you remember them better.
- Do not use idioms everywhere. Use them only when they fit the situation. The goal is to sound natural, not forced.
- Keep learning slowly. A few useful idioms daily can improve your English speaking a lot.
Here’s a separate section for kids: 100 Common Idioms for Kids
FAQs about Idioms Dictionary
An idiom is a group of words with a special meaning. You cannot always understand it by translating each word.
Type the full idiom or any main word in the search box. The dictionary will show matching idioms with meaning and sentence.
Start with a few idioms daily. Read the meaning, understand the sentence, and try to make your own sentence.
Yes. You can learn idioms by topics like daily life, work, money, time, emotions, relationships, health, travel, nature, and weather.
Yes. The meanings and sentences are written in simple English, so beginners can understand and practice easily.
Idioms help you sound more natural in English. Use them in the right situation to make your speaking more confident.
No. Use idioms only when they fit the situation. The goal is to sound natural, not forced.
