English Speaking
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Idioms and expressions
- Idioms and expressions with look
- Idioms and expressions with mind
- Idioms and expressions with lose Idioms and expressions with heart
- Idioms and expressions with hand
- Idioms and expressions with nose
- Idioms and expressions with leave
- Idioms and expressions with wish
- Idioms and expressions with way
- Weather idioms
English speaking - Lessons
Idioms and expressions
Idioms and expressions with look
Here is a list of idioms and expressions built around the word 'look'. Each idiom is followed by its meaning and example sentences.
Look before you leap
Used for advising people to think carefully before they act
Look down your nose at
When you look down your nose at somebody, you think that you are better or more important than him or her.
- Julie has this nasty habit of looking down her nose at her neighbours.
Look bad / good
When something looks bad / good it is considered to be a good / bad thing to do.
- I think it will look bad if we don’t invite them to our party.
Look good / bad for
to seem to be going to have a good/bad result
- Things aren’t looking too good for us at the moment.
Look someone in the eye/face
To look someone in the face is to look at their face when you are talking to them to show that what you are saying is true.
- Can you look me in the eye and say that you haven’t stolen the money?
Be looking to do something
When you are looking to do something, you are planning to do something.
- We are looking to expand our business in Europe.
Look the other way
To look the other way is to deliberately ignore something bad that is happening before your eyes.
- You can’t just look the other way if you suspect that he is cheating on you.
Look someone up and down
To look someone up and down is to carefully look at them as if you are trying to make a judgment about them.
- She looked us up and down as if we were aliens.
Idioms and expressions with mind
Here is a list of idioms and expressions built around the word 'mind'. Each idiom is followed by its meaning and example sentences.
At the back of your mind
When something is at the back of your mind, you are not thinking about it right now but you know that it is true.
- At the back of her mind, she always knew that something was wrong with her body.
Be/go out of your mind
When you are out of mind, you become crazy or confused.
- I must be out of my mind. I can’t even remember my own phone number.
Be in two minds
When you are in two minds about something, you have difficulty in making a decision.
- I’m in two minds about accepting this job.
Bring / call someone / something to mind
- That incident brought to my mind a strange experience I had years ago. (= That incident reminded me of a strange experience.)
- I know him but I can’t call his name to mind at the moment. (= I can’t remember his name at the moment.)
Change your mind (about something)
To change your mind is to change your decision or opinion.
- She had decided to go out but later she changed her mind.
Get someone / something out of your mind
To get someone out of your mind is to stop thinking about him.
- No matter how hard I try, I can’t get him out of my mind.
Have someone in mind
When you have someone or something in mind, you know the kind of person or thing you want.
- We will start painting the walls tomorrow. Do you have any particular colour in mind?
Have (it) in mind to do something
When you have it in mind to do something, you want to do it.
- I really had it in mind to give him a tight slap. (= I really wanted to give him a tight slap.)
Have a mind of your own
When you have a mind of your own, you have strong opinions. You are also capable of making your own decisions.
- My little daughter has a mind of her own!
Have / keep an open mind
To have an open mind is to be willing to listen to other people’s opinions.
- If you are keen on building good relationships with your people, you must be willing to have an open mind.
The last thing on your mind
When something is the last thing on your mind, it is not what you want
to worry about because you have got even more serious problems.
- Work is the last thing on my mind at the moment.
Make up your mind
To make up your mind is to make a decision.
- I just can’t make up my mind.
- I can’t make up my mind whether to accept the job or not.
Someone’s mind goes blank
When your mind goes blank you are unable to think anything.
- When they asked for my comments on the issue, my mind went completely blank.
Idioms and expressions with lose
The following idioms and expressions are formed with the word lose. Each idiom is followed by its meaning / definition and example sentences.
Have a lot/too much to lose
When you have a lot to lose you are in a position where something bad
might happen to you if you do not manage to do something successfully.
- At this point we don’t want to get involved in a controversy like this; we have a lot to lose.
Have nothing to lose
When you have nothing to lose you are in a position to try something
because even if you fail, you are not going to lose anything.
- I had little chances of getting that job, nonetheless I applied for it. I had nothing to lose after all.
- Figuring they had nothing to lose, they decided to place a bid.
Lose the battle but win the war
When you lose the battle but win the war you fail to achieve a minor
victory but at the same time succeed in achieving something much more
important.
Lose face
To lose face is to fail to impress people because you are not in control of the situation.
- The government will lose face if they fail to pass this bill.
Lose ground
To lose ground is to fall into a position where your chances of success are slim.
- Our team was leading in the first half but lost ground in the second half.
Lose your head
To lose your head is to become so worried that you fail to think or act in a sensible way.
- Don’t lose your head. Now is the time to act sensibly.
Lose heart
To lose heart is to become dejected.
- Although we knew that our chances of success were slim, we never lost heart.
Lose it
When you lose it, you suddenly become unable to think in a sensible way.
- I don’t know what happened to me, I just lost it.
Lose your marbles
To lose your marbles is to become crazy.
- She must have lost her marbles. Otherwise, why should anyone want to quit such a high-paying job?
Lose your nerve
To suddenly become too frightened to do something that you intended to do
Lose no time in doing something
to do something immediately
- She lost no time in calling the police.
Lose someone to something
If you lose someone to something such as a disease, they die as a result of it.
- She lost her father to cancer.
Lose your temper
To lose your temper is to become angry suddenly.
- He needs no reason to lose his temper.
Lose your touch
When you lose your touch, you become less successful at doing something.
- Has the maestro lost his touch? His latest album is not even half as good as his previous ones.
Lose touch (with something)
When you lose touch with something, you do not know the most recent information about it.
- I have been living in Britain for ten years, so I have somewhat lost touch with India.
Idioms and expressions with heart
The following idioms and expressions are built around the word
‘heart’. Each idiom is followed by its meaning / definition and example
sentences.
Break someone's heart
To break someone’s heart is to hurt him / her. This idiom is often used to talk about failed romantic relationships.
- She has broken many hearts.
- He is nursing a broken heart. (= A romantic relationship he was involved in has failed.)
- His failure in the exam broke his Dad’s heart.
When you say something from the bottom of your heart, you are completely sincere.
- He is the best guy you can find. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
To get at the heart of the matter is to deal with the main issue / concern.
- Let’s get right at the heart of the matter without wasting any time.
This expression is used to swear that you are telling the truth.
- Would you cross your heart and hope to die? I won’t believe you otherwise.
To eat your heart out is to be jealous of someone else.
- When she sees your new car she will eat her heart out.
- I have won a lottery. Eat your heart out!
To follow your heart is to do what you believe is right.
- Her parents were against her relationship with Peter. Nonetheless, she followed her heart and married him.
If you are halfhearted about something, you do not take it very seriously.
- If you are halfhearted about your studies, you are not going to get good marks.
- He was rather halfhearted in his attempts to find a good job.
To have a change of heart is to change one’s mind.
- I don’t know why she had a change of heart at the last moment. When I talked to her yesterday, she seemed very interested in the offer.
To have a heart of gold is to be trustworthy.
- I think you should give him another chance to prove himself. He has a heart of gold.
If you have a heart of stone, you are very cold and unforgiving.
- You can’t expect her to help you. She has a heart of stone.
To have a heart-to-heart talk is to have an open and honest conversation with someone.
- Betty wanted to save her marriage, so she decided that it was time to have a heart-to-heart talk with her husband.
- I think it’s time we had a heart-to-heart talk about your problems.
To have your heart in the right place is to have the right intentions.
- His words might have offended you but I am sure that he has his heart in the right place.
- You have to learn this poem by heart.
To have your heart set on something is to absolutely want something.
When you have your heart set against something, you don’t want it.
- If he has his heart set on something, there is nothing that can stop him.
- She has her heart set against moving to Chicago. There is nothing that I can do to persuade her to change her decision.
When your heart misses a beat, you are completely surprised something.
- My heart missed a beat when they announced that I was the winner.
Idioms and expressions with hand
The following idioms are formed with the word hand. Each idiom is followed by its meaning / definition and example sentences.
At hand
When something is at hand, it is very close to you and easy to reach.
- Don’t worry. Help is at hand if you need it.
- I always keep a dictionary close at hand.
- The French suffered defeat at the hands of the English. (= The English defeated the French.)
- The cat died at the hands of the cruel boy. (= The cruel boy killed the cat.)
If you experience something first hand, you experience it yourself. If
you experience something second hand or third hand, you hear about it
from someone else.
- She has experienced poverty first hand.
To lay your hands on something is to obtain it.
- She has read every book she could lay her hands on.
When things go hand in hand, they happen or exist together.
- Poverty and suffering go hand in hand.
To work hand in glove with someone is to work very closely with them.
Hand over fist
If you earn money hand over fist, you earn a lot of it. If you spend money hand over fist, you spend a lot of it.
Someone’s hands are tied
When your hands are tied, you can’t do what you want to do because something such as a rule prevents you from doing it.
- I really wanted to help him, but unfortunately my hands were tied.
To have a hand in something is to help to make something happen.
- The police suspect that he has a hand in the robbery.
When you have something on your hands, you have a problem that must deal with.
- You have quite a problem on your hands.
- If he does what he says, then we will soon have a lawsuit on our hands.
- He must have a lot of time on his hands. He is always on Facebook.
When you have your hands full, you are extremely busy with a difficult job.
- Sorry, I can’t help you at the moment. I have my hands full.
Get out of hand = become uncontrollable
- We decided to leave before things got out of hand.
When you turn your hand to something, you start doing something new.
- The former model has now turned his hand to acting.
Idioms and expressions with nose
Idioms and expressions with nose
Get right up your nose
When something gets right up your nose, it annoys you a lot.
- Her impudence got right up my nose.
- His laziness really gets up my nose.
To have a nose for something is to have the ability to find or recognize it.
- A journalist must have a nose for a good news story.
When somebody asks you to keep your nose out, they don’t want you to know about things which are private.
- He was so officious that I had to ask him to keep his nose out.
- Keep your nose out of my business.
To poke your nose into something is to show too much interest in other people’s private matters.
- What I really don’t understand is why you should poke your nose into my affairs.
- He has this nasty habit of sticking his nose into my business.
When you rub someone’s nose in something, you keep reminding them about things they do not want to think about.
- I know I made a mistake – you don’t have to rub my nose in it.
To turn your nose up at something is to refuse to accept it.
- We offered her a very good job, but she turned her nose up at it.
When something happens under your nose, it happens in a situation where you should notice it, but you do not.
- The robbery took place right under the noses of the police.
With an attitude that shows that you think you are better or more important than other people
- Ever since winning that beauty pageant, she has been walking around with her nose in the air.
Idioms and expressions with leave
Leave someone cold
When something leaves you cold it completely fails to interest or attract you.
- Her snobbish nature left me cold.
- Cricket just leaves me cold.
Leave someone hanging / leave something hanging
To leave someone hanging is to let them remain in a difficult
situation. To leave something hanging is to fail to solve a difficult
situation.
- We must do something to help John. We can’t leave him hanging.
- It was a crucial issue that just could not be left hanging.
Leave someone high and dry
To leave someone high and dry is to put them in a very difficult or unpleasant situation.
- By forming a partnership with our biggest competitor, they have left us high and dry.
Leave it at that
To leave it at that is to not do anything more about something.
- John has realized his mistake. He has even said sorry, so let’s leave it at that.
Leave a lot to be desired
When something leaves a lot to be desired it is of very low quality.
- The photography of the film leaves a lot to be desired. (= The photography of the film is of very low standard.)
Leave no stone unturned
To leave no stone unturned is to do everything possible to solve a problem.
- The police officer assured that no stone would be left unturned in the investigation into the murder.
Leave something to chance / fate
To leave something to chance / fate is to not try to change the way something is happening.
- We can’t leave anything to chance, so we must plan for every possibility.
Idioms and expressions with wish
As you wish
This is an expression used for telling someone that they can do whatever they want.
- ‘Can I stay for another day?’ ‘Of course, as you wish.’
I wish
This expression is used for telling someone what you want them to do.
- I wish she would mind her own business.
- I wish you would stop talking about your problems!
‘I wish’ is also used for saying that something is not true, although you would be very happy if it were true.
- ‘Did you get that promotion?’ ‘I wish!’ (= I didn’t get that promotion, but I would have been very happy if I had got it.)
Not wish something on anybody / not wish something on your worst enemy
- It was such an unpleasant experience. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
Wish someone well / ill
To wish someone well is to say that you hope good things will happen
to them. To wish someone ill is to say that you hope bad things will
happen to them.
- I wished them well as they left on their journey.
Idioms and expressions with way
Here is a list of idioms and expressions built around the word 'way'. Each idiom is followed by its meaning and example sentences.
All the way
When people say that they had to go all the way somewhere, they are trying to emphasize that it was a long way.
- I had to go all the way back to get my visa and passport.
Be/get/keep out of the way
Stay away from the area where somebody is so that you do not disturb them.
- Dad used to insist that we should get out of his way while he was working.
Be in a bad way
To be in a bad way is to be very ill or upset.
- She has been in a bad way since the accident.
Be on the/its way
When something is on its way, it is about to arrive or happen.
- Sandra already has three babies and now a fourth one is on its way.
- It looks like another recession is on the way.
Be on your way
When you are on your way you have started your journey to a particular place.
- I was on my way to work when I heard the news.
By a long way
by a large amount
- This has been our most successful campaign by a long way.
By the way
Often used to introduce a remark not connected with the subject of conversation
- By the way, I am free this evening.
Come someone’s way
When something comes your way, it happens to you.
- Don’t miss chances that come your way.
Either way
Used for saying that there are two possibilities, but in both cases the result will be the same.
- Jane may not be able to come, but either way we are not going to cancel the trip. (= Whether Jane comes or not, we are not going to cancel the trip.)
Get into the way of doing something
We have got into the way of spending our summer vacation in Switzerland.
Give way
If something gives way, it breaks or falls down because there is too much pressure on it.
- The rope gave way under pressure.
Give way to
- We must not give way to his demands.
Go a way towards something
To go a way towards something is to make progress in achieving something.
- This act will go a long way towards eliminating corruption.
Go out of your way to do something
To go out of your way to do something is to make an extra effort to do something even though it is not very easy to do.
- She went out of her way to make me feel comfortable.
Have a way with
When you have a way with something, you are capable of dealing with it very well.
- She has a way with words.
On the way / along the way
While going somewhere
- The car broke down on the way to work.
- We stopped at the supermarket along the way.
One way or another
When you say that something will happen one way or another, you are
confident that it will happen even though you don’t know how.
- One way or another, I’m going to go to the US.
Weather Idioms
Here is a list of English idioms that use weather-related words and phrases.
A face like thunder
When you sport a face like thunder you look very angry.
- I’m fed up of my boss. He always has a face like thunder.
A fair-weather friend
A fair-weather friend is someone who wouldn’t help you in bad times.
- You cannot trust a fair-weather friend.
A snowball’s chance
= very little chance
- I don’t think that we have a snowball’s chance of winning this match. (= We have very little chance of winning this match.)
A storm in the teacup
A lot of fuss over a trivial matter
- Don’t worry about their opposition to the plan. It’s just a storm in the teacup.
Be a breeze
When something is a breeze, it is very easy.
- I never thought that the exam would be a breeze.
Blow hot and cold
To blow hot and cold is to keep changing one’s opinions.
- If you don’t stop blowing hot and cold over this issue, we can’t arrive at a decision.
Come rain or shine
= whatever happens
- I will be there by 8 o’clock – come rain or shine.
The lull before the storm
A quiet period of time before things get difficult or busy
Save for a rainy day
To save for a rainy day is to put some money aside so that you can use it later.
- Don’t spend this extra money. Save it up for a rainy day.
See which way the wind blows
Analyze a situation before doing something
- I’m going to see which way the wind blows before rejecting or accepting this offer.
Steal someone’s thunder
To steal someone’s thunder is to get all the praise by doing something better than somebody else.
- She stole my thunder by wearing that scarlet red gown to the party.
Take a rain-check
To take a rain-check on something is to postpone it.
Under the weather
When you are under the weather, you are not feeling very well.
- I don’t want to go to the party tonight. I’m feeling a bit under the weather.
Weather the storm
To weather the storm is to survive a very difficult situation.
- She has weathered many storms in her political career.
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