IDIOMS Flashcards
Be at each other’s throat
To be in a violent argument or conflict.
Pick up a fight / quarrel
To provoke or initiate a fight or argument.
Stir things up (hostilities)
To cause trouble or create conflict
Come to blows
To engage in physical fighting.
Be looking / itching for a fight
To be eager to argue or start a fight.
To have a scrap
To have a small fight or quarrel.
Patch up your differences
To reconcile or resolve a conflict.
Bury the hatchet
To make peace and end a conflict.
Clear the air
To resolve a misunderstanding or tension.
To keep a stiff upper lip
To remain calm and unemotional during difficulty.
give/pay lip service
to say that you agree with something but do nothing to support it
A budget of possibilities
A range of potential options or outcomes.
To flout the rules
To deliberately break or ignore rules.
Bear a grudge against
To hold resentment or anger towards someone.
To vent one’s spleen at/on sb
To express anger or frustration towards someone
To carry torches
To hold onto strong feelings of anger or desire
To grab sb by their necktie/collar
To physically confront or intimidate someone.
To be split over an issue
To have differing opinions on a matter, causing division
To drive a wedge between sb
to cause disagreement or anger between 2 ppl
To clash over sth
To argue or fight because of differing views on an issue.
To feud with sb over sth
To have a prolonged and bitter conflict with someone.
To trade recriminations
To exchange accusations or blame with someone.
To be at a loss for words
Unable to find words to express oneself
To talk down to sb
To speak condescendingly or patronizingly to someone.
To explain something in layman’s terms
To simplify complex information so that it can be easily understood by non-experts.
To talk the hind leg off a donkey
To talk excessively or without stopping.
To talk a blue streak
To talk very rapidly or continuously.
To harp on somebody’s bad habits
To repeatedly criticize or nag someone about their negative behaviours.
Can’t / couldn’t get a word in edgeways
Unable to interject or speak because someone else is talking too much.
To have a smatter of a language
To have a small or rudimentary knowledge of a language.
To be a chatterbox
To talk excessively or habitually.
To steer clear of a subject
To avoid discussing a particular topic.
To talk about sb behind their back
To speak about someone when they are not present often in a critical or gossiping manner.
To set tongues wagging
To cause gossip or rumours to spread.
To be long-winded
To speak or write in a lengthy or verbose manner.
To gloss over (unpleasant facts)
To avoid discussing or acknowledging unpleasant truths or details.
To say sth under one’s breath
To mutter or speak quietly so that others may not hear
To give somebody the silent treatment
To not speak to them for a period of time because you are annoyed at something they have done.
To poke fun at sb
to make someone seem stupid by making jokes about them or laughing unkindly
To get it off your chest
To talk about something that’s bothering you
To keep a stiff upper lip
To remain resolute and unemotional in difficult circumstances
To have a mind of your own
To have one’s own opinions and ideas
To see eye to eye (on sth)
To agree with someone
To be under sb’s thumb
To be controlled or dominated by someone
To put on a brave face
To act as if everything is alright when it is not
To keep one’s head
To remain calm in a difficult situation
To pull/tear your hair out
To be extremely worried or frustrated
To make one’s mind up
To decide
To fall head over heels (in love) with
To be very much in love
To get/give sb the cold shoulder
To deliberately ignore or be unfriendly to someone
To keep a cool head
To stay calm in a difficult situation
To cry one’s eyes out
To cry a lot uncontrollably
To be out of one’s mind
To be crazy or very foolish
To hold one’s tongue
To refrain from speaking
To put your foot in it / your mouth
To say something by accident that embarrasses or upsets someone
To be a pain in the neck
To be very annoying
A Cornelian dilemma
A situation where one must choose between two equally bad options
A hedgehog’s dilemma
The difficulty of achieving intimacy or closeness without hurting oneself or others
To create/pose/solve/resolve/find a way out of a dilemma
To generate confront
To be caught in/be faced with/face/confront a dilemma
To encounter or have to deal with a difficult choice
To be in a fix/in a tight spot/in a corner/in a (double) bind
To be in a difficult or tricky situation
To be in a quandary (over sth)
To be uncertain about what to do in a situation
To be on the horns of a dilemma
To be faced with two equally difficult options
To be between a rock and a hard place
To be in a situation with two very bad choices
To have no qualms about sth/doing sth
To have no doubts or ethical concerns about something
To raise a variety of ethical issues
To bring up multiple moral questions or concerns
To be treading on thin ice/on a moral slippery slope
To be in a risky situation especially ethically
To be objectionable on ethical grounds
To be unacceptable or wrong based on moral principles
To weigh things up
To consider the pros and cons or various aspects of a situation
To balance the pros and cons of something
To consider the advantages and disadvantages of something
(To choose) the lesser of two evils
To choose the less harmful or problematic of two bad options
To sleep on a problem - have a pillow talk
To postpone a decision or problem until the next day
To sit on a problem or decision - delay
To postpone or delay dealing with a problem or decision
To lay/put/bear the blame for something
To be held responsible or at fault for something
To lay oneself open to criticism
To make oneself vulnerable to criticism
To be a giant leap forward
To make a significant and positive advancement
To pose a threat to
To be potentially dangerous or harmful to something
To put sb / sth in jeopardy
To put something at risk or in danger
To be hailed as
To be praised or celebrated as something
To reap the benefits of
To gain advantages from something
To be a silver bullet solution
To be a simple and seemingly magical solution to a problem
To line sb’s pockets
To make money often in a dishonest or unethical way
To pride oneself on
To be proud of a particular quality or skill
To get hooked on
To become addicted or very interested in something
Cross a moral boundary
to do something that is ethically wrong
An area of contention
A subject or issue that people have different views about
To scrutinize ethical issues
To examine moral questions closely
A moral minefield
A situation with many potential ethical problems
Step into moral snares
To get involved in ethically problematic situations
To tweak genetics to our desires
To alter genetic makeup according to our preferences
To tamper with nature/the truth
To interfere or meddle with natural processes or truth
To tinker with nature
To make small changes to nature often experimentally
To be in a predicament
To be in a difficult challenging
To shirk the responsibility
An attempt to reduce or minimize one’s level of accountability or the scope of one’s duties.
Unfathomable reasons
Reasons or explanations that are extremely difficult or impossible to understand or comprehend
To hit / run into a snag
To encounter an unexpected problem/obstacle or difficulty that hinders progress or creates a delay in a plan or process
To sort it out on the spot
To address, resolve or manage a situation immediately and w/o delay.
To shoulder the responsibility
To accept or take on a responsibility, duty
To pass the buck
To avoid taking responsibility for a decision by transferring it to sb else
To come / get to grips with it
To confront, deal with a challenging or difficult situation.
To endure the HARDSHIPS of life
Facing and persevering through the difficult challenging adverse aspects of one’s existence
To come up against a brick wall
Encountering an insurmountable obstacle or facing a situation where progress or success seems impossible.
To face a stumbling block
Encounter an obstacle or challenge that hinders progress
Shirk from problems
Avoid or evade dealing with difficulties or challenges.
Wash your hand on the matter
Disassociate yourself from a responsibility or problem.
Take the bull by the horns
Confront a difficult situation directly and assertively.
Have sb over a barrel
Have someone in a vulnerable or disadvantageous position.
Tackle the problems
Address or deal with challenges or issues.
Face an ordeal
Confront a difficult or challenging experience.
To be in dire straits
Be in a very difficult or desperate situation.
Avoid the pitfalls of something
Steer clear of potential problems or dangers.
There can be one hitch
There is a potential obstacle or problem.
Clear up
Resolve or clarify a situation often by providing information.
To make matters worse
Exacerbate an already difficult or negative situation.
Full-scale riot
A large and intense outbreak of violent or chaotic behaviour often involving a crowd.
Rise above
To overcome a difficult situation
To dig one’s heels in
Stubbornly refuse to change one’s opinion or stance.
To see eye to eye
To agree or have the same opinion about something
To come to terms with
To accept or reconcile oneself with a situation or reality
Swallow one’s pride
To humble oneself and accept something humiliating or difficult to accept.
Skirting around
Avoiding directly addressing or dealing with a topic or issue
To be back at square one
To return to the starting point or to make no progress after efforts have been made.
Start the ball rolling
To begin a process or activity
Bone of contention
An unresolved issue or topic that causes disagreement or conflict
In a nutshell
To summarize something briefly
Going round in circles
To engage in fruitless or repetitive activity without making progress.
Racked his brains
To think hard or struggle to remember or solve a problem
To rock the boat
To cause trouble or disrupt the status quo
To put our head together
To collaborate or work together to solve a problem or come up with ideas.
The bare bones
The essential or most important parts of something without any extras or details.
They were fighting a losing battle (against)
They were struggling against inevitable defeat or failure.
To put one’s thinking cap on
To concentrate or make an effort to think deeply or creatively about something.
To go along with others
to agree with or conform to the opinions or decisions
To withstand a system of values
resisting or enduring the influence or pressure exerted by a particular set of beliefs or principles
To pledge to fight conformity
a commitment or promise to resist and challenge conformity
To yield a cause
to submit, to give in
To fit some prefabricated image
conforming to or adopting a predetermined or standarized
To concur in the group decision
to agree with or support the decision that has been reached by a collective or a group of individuals.
To resist change
to oppose or refuse to accept alterations or modifications
To endorse an idea
to express support, approval
To be torn between
to be in a dilemma, distracted by two conflicting forces
To get goosebumps
Feeling a sensation of chills or excitement often due to fear or awe
To have/get butterflies in one’s stomach
Feeling nervous or anxious usually about an upcoming event
To give someone the creeps
To cause someone to feel frightened or uncomfortable
To make someone’s flesh creep
Similar to ‘give someone the creeps’, causing fear or disgust
To give someone the heebie-jeebies
To cause someone to feel extreme discomfort or fear
To give someone the willies
To cause a feeling of nervousness or fear
To give/get the jitters
To feel extremely nervous or jittery
To get the wind up:
To become nervous or anxious
To shudder
To tremble convulsively, often from fear or revulsion
To shiver
To shake slightly, often because of cold or fear
To send shivers down the spine
To cause an intense feeling of fear or excitement
To give someone the shivers
To cause someone to shiver, usually from fear or cold
To chill the spine
To cause a feeling of fear or discomfort
To feel one’s blood run cold
To be very frightened or horrified
To be as white as a sheet
To appear very pale, often due to fear or illness
To set someone’s teeth on edge
To make someone feel irritated or uncomfortable
To make one’s teeth chatter
To tremble or shiver causing the teeth to knock together
To make someone’s hair stand on end
To scare or shock someone greatly
To put the fear of God into someone
To greatly frighten someone, often to influence their behaviour
To be scared stiff/silly/to death
To be extremely frightened
To be frightened out of one’s wits
To be extremely scared to the point of losing rational thought
jump the gun
to start doing something too soon especially without thinking about it carefully
jump to it
spoken used to order someone to do something immediately
take a running jump
spoken used to tell someone to go away and stop annoying you
to jump out of your skin
to be extremely startled
jump down somebody’s throat
informal to suddenly speak angrily to someone
to jump in at the deep end
to start doing sth new or difficult without help or preparation.
to hold good
to be true or valid; to apply
to hold one’s own
to be as successful as other people or things in a situation
to hold the road
If a vehicle holds the road its wheels stay firmly on the road and do not slide while moving.
to hold water
If a reason or explanation holds water means that it is true
To (not) hold a candle to
to (not) compare favourably with or to (not) be as good as
To hold all the cards
to have all advantages or power in a situation
To hold your head high
to be proud or confident
To be a square peg in a round hole
sb who does not fit into a particular environment
To get into line
to conform or agree with sb’s rules or command
To bring sb into line
to cause sb to conform or to be forced to conform
To give somebody the cold shoulder
to deliberately ignore or reject sb
To switch up sb’s actions
to switch up sb’s actions
to tickle one’s funny bone
to make someone laugh
to be scared stiff
extremely scared / scared to death
to tame the beast
gaining control over something usually something that is difficult or powerful
(of tears) to well up (in one’s eyes)
tears starting to gather or accumulate in the eyes often as a response to strong emotions such as sadness joy or deep sentiment
to stand in awe of sb / sth // to fill sb with awe
to admire someone and have great respect for them and sometimes a slight fear of them
to wreak havoc on
to cause a lot of damage or problems
to have short fuse
to get angry easily
to walk on eggshells
be extremely cautious about one’s words or actions
to cry one’s eyes out
do it with all your energy or emotion
to have a knee-jerk reaction
a knee-jerk reaction answer etc is what you feel or say about a situation from habit without thinking about it
to be under siege
to be being criticized attacked or threatened all the time
to turn sour
if a citation or relationship turns sour means it stops being enjoyable or satisfactory
to grease the wheels
to improve an essential or functioning part of an organisation or process
to give sb the creeps
to cause someone to have uncomfortable feelings of nervousness or fear
blood-curdling screams /scene
extremely frightening
to fill sb with anxiety
to cause or evoke a strong feeling of unease apprehension or worry in that person
to cringe from sb / sth
to suddenly move away from someone or something because you are frightened
to push sb’s buttons
to cause a strong reaction or emotion in someone
to fall into disfavour
lose approval popularity or positive regard particularly in the eyes of others or within a certain group or context.
to go along with others
to agree to something that someone else has decided
to hit the roof
to become extremely angry
to chill the spine
to make someone feel very frightened
to be a double-edge sword
a situation with both positive and negative effects
to cross swords with (plural noun)
to have an argument with someone
to be a lone wolf
a person who likes to do things on their own without other people
TO STAY IN THEIR SHELL
a person being reserved, introverted, or shy, and avoiding social interaction or engagement
A QUEER FISH
old-fashioned, someone who is slightly strange or crazy
to blow a fuse
to become extremely angry or have an emotional outburst.
to fly off the handle
to suddenly get very angry
be hot under the collar
If someone gets hot under the collar about something they get very annoyed angry or excited about it
to be in a huff
to be angry and offended
to lose one’s temper
to suddenly become angry or to be in a bad
outburst of anger
a sudden strong expression of an emotion
to rub sb (up) the wrong way
to annoy someone without intending to
to give sb a piece of one’s mind
to speak angrily to someone about something they have done wrong
to give sb an earful
to tell someone how angry you are about something they have done
not to be on speaking terms
If you are not on speaking terms with someone
to escape into a daydream
To mentally retreat or fantasize about pleasant or imaginative thoughts, providing a temporary escape from reality.
a pie in the sky
sth good that someone says will happen but which is impossible or unlikely
a chimera
An unrealistic or impossible idea or concept; a fanciful and unattainable dream.
turn one’s wish into a pipe dream
an idea or plan that is not practical or possible
a utopia
An ideal and perfect society or community often envisioned as an unachievable or imaginary concept
to be lost in reverie
a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing
TO HIT ONE LIKE A TIDAL WAVE
starting suddenly and struck hard
TO POP OUT OF THIN AIR
appear unexpectedly
PUT ONE’S FINGER ON STH
specify or pinpoint
TO GO INTO A TAILSPIN
to describe a situation or a person experiencing a sudden and uncontrollable decline or deterioration.
TO KEEP A LID ON
to control a situation very carefully; especially so that it does not cause problems
TO RUN IN FAMILIES
to be consistently present in (almost) all the members of a family
TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK
to provide the condition that will make it possible for sth - to happen or succeed
TO BREAK DOWN IN TEARS
to suddenly begin to cry
TO WEEP OPENLY AND TUG AT THE WORLD’S HEARTSTRINGS
to cry in a way that doesn’t hide your feelings and cause people to feel strong emotions usually sadness or pity
TO FEEL A TEAR COME TO ONE’S EYES
to feel as if you are going to cry
TO SHED PUBLIC TEARS
to cry in public
TO LET THE TEARS FLOW
to cry a lot in order to feel better
TO HAVE AN OVERBRIMMING LAKE OF TEARS EVER READY TO FLOW JUST UNDER THE SURFACE
to be on the edge of crying a lot at any time
TO DO ONE’S BEST TO NEVER LET TEARS COME OUT
to avoid crying
TO FIGHT/HOLD/CHOKE BACK IN TEARS
to not to cry even though you feel like crying
TEARS WELL UP AND FLOOD OVER
tears forming in one’s eyes; reaching a point where they are on the verge of overflowing and eventually streaming down one’s face.
TO WELL UP IN SB’S EYES
tears come into their eyes
SB’S EYES FILL WITH TEARS
to have tears about overflow
TO BE IN (FLOOD OF) TEARS
to be crying a lot (BrE)
TO BE ON THE VERGE OF TEARS
to be almost crying
TO HAVE TEARY EYES
having eyes wet with tears (most common as an adjective “teary-eyed” to be/ look/ teary eyed.
TO BRING TEARS TO SB’S EYES
to make someone cry
TO REDUCE SB TO TEARS
to make someone cry - negative connotation
TO BE MOVED TO TEARS
to be upset that you cry
TO BURST INTO TEARS
to suddenly start crying
TO CRY ONESELF TO SLEEP
to cry a long time until one falls asleep
BE IN HYSTERICS
To be in a state of uncontrollable laughter or extreme amusement.
LAUGH HEARTILY / UPROARIOUSLY HYSTERICALLY
To laugh loudly and uncontrollably with great enthusiasm.
BURST OUT LAUGHING
To suddenly start laughing often in a spontaneous or unrestrained manner.
LAUGH YOUR HEAD OFF
To laugh uproariously or for an extended period.
TO GET/ HAVE A BELLY LAUGH
To experience or indulge in deep or hearty laughter.
TO LET GO WITH THE KIND OF LAUGHTER THAT HAS US CLUTCHING OUR BELLIES AND GASPING FOR AIR
to burst into laughter so intense that it causes physical reactions like clutching the stomach and gasping for air.
A BARREL/ BUNDLE OF LAUGHS
A person or situation that is consistently amusing or entertaining.
TO SPLIT ONE’S SIDES
To laugh heartily to the point of feeling a physical strain as if one’s sides might “split.”
TO CRACK UP A JOKE
To tell a joke in a humorous or amusing manner.
TO EXPLODE (…) WITH LAUGHTER
To burst into laughter suddenly and with great intensity.
A ROAR/ HOWL OF LAUGHTER
A loud and hearty outburst of laughter.
TO GIVE A GURGLE OF LAUGHTER
To emit a bubbling or gurgling sound while laughing.
A BURST OF LAUGHTER
u4
A sudden and brief episode of laughter.
GALES/ FITS/ PEALS/ RIPPLER OF LAUGHTER
Different ways to describe prolonged episodes or patterns of laughter.
TO WIPE THE SMILE OF SB’S FACE
To cause someone to stop smiling often through an unexpected event or comment.
TO BE AT THE THRESHOLD
To be on the brink or verge of something.
TO HAVE ONE’S HAIR STANDING ON END
to cause someone to be very frightened
TO STRESSES AND STRAINS OF LIFE
represent the challenges and burdens that people face as they go about their daily routines”
TO JUGGLE A JOB WITH FAMILY AND KIDS
challenging task of managing and balancing multiple responsibilities specifically between one’s professional work or family commitments and the care of children”
TO BURY YOUR HEAD IN YOUR ARMS
to cover or hide your face with something for example to avoid looking at someone.
TO BE SNAPPY
to be annoyed and irritable; inclined to speak in an angry and in a sharp way
