Learn a very interesting List of Idioms Used in Daily Life with Meaning and Examples. Idioms with meaning, examples, and an infographics PDF.
List of Idioms Used in Daily Life
Below is the List of Idioms Used in Daily Life:
FED UP WITH
Meaning: annoyed or bored
- She is really fed up with the nursing profession.
FEEL/TAKE SOMEONE’S PULSE
Meaning: to count the heartbeats of someone
- The nurse took her pulse.
FEW AND FAR BETWEEN
Meaning: Occasional
- He calls on me few and far between.
FIGHT SHY OF
Meaning: to avoid doing something or getting involved in something
- He fought shy of an open quarrel.
FIGHT TO DEATH
Meaning: a fight that ends when someone is killed or something is destroyed
- We will fight to the death to defend our honor.
FIGHT WITH ONE’S BACK TO THE WALL
Meaning: fight very hard
- You will have to fight with your back to the wall to win the race.
FIND FAULT WITH
Meaning: to criticize somebody or something, often unfairly
- She’s always finding fault with the children’s work.
FIRST AND FOREMOST
Meaning: primarily, first of all
- The first and foremost task of a teacher is to teach.
FLESH AND BLOOD
Meaning: used for saying that someone has the same qualities that all people share
- They now realize that their hero is, after all, only flesh and blood.
FLOG/ BEAT A DEAD HORSE
Meaning: to waste time on something you know is not going to happen
- To try to win her love is to flog a dead horse.
FLY IN THE OINTMENT
Meaning: a problem that spoils something or makes it difficult
- The only fly in the ointment is that I cannot use my house for the party
FOLLOW SUIT
Meaning: to do the same as someone else has just done
- Our school offered free admission and other schools followed suit.
FOR A RAINY DAY
Meaning: to save something, especially money, for a time when you will need it
- John Saves money for the rainy days of old age.
FOR GOOD/FOR GOOD AND ALL
Meaning: permanently, forever
- Joe finally left Turkey for good.
FOR THE SAKE OF
Meaning: in order to help, improve, or please someone or something
- She sings for the sake of joy.
FOR WANT OF STH
Meaning: because of a lack of sth
- He could not marry her for want of money.
FOUL PLAY
Meaning: behavior that is not fair or honest
- He will use any amount of foul play to get his aim.
FREUDIAN SLIP
Meaning: slip of the tongue, an accidental mistake
- She made a Freudian slip and revealed all her plans.
FROM SCRATCH
Meaning: without any previous preparation or knowledge
- She learned English from scratch in six months.
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH
Meaning: from a reliable source
- They have got it straight from the horse’s mouth that the boss is retiring.
GET/GAIN/TAKE/HOLD HAVE THE UPPER HAND
Meaning: control or an advantage over a person or situation
- Pakistan got the upper hand in the second innings against India
GET / SET TO WORK
Meaning: to start doing a piece of work
- He set to work on his plan.
GET ON SOMEONE’S NERVES
Meaning: to annoy someone
- She keeps on crying it really gets on my nerves.
GET RID OF
Meaning: to throw away something
- Let us get rid of these useless old things.
GET THE BETTER OF
Meaning: to defeat someone in a game, argument, etc.
- Pakistan finally got the better of India in the match.
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF SOMETHING
Meaning: to find out the true cause of a bad situation
- Try to get to the bottom of the problem to solve it.
GET/HAVE WIND OF SOMETHING
Meaning: to find out about something secret
- How did she get wind of our plan?
GIRD UP ONE’S LOINS
Meaning: to prepare for something difficult or dangerous
- We should gird up our loins to face the problem.
GIVE A FALSE COLORING TO
Meaning: misinterpret
- He gave a false coloring to my statement and began to quarrel with me.
GIVE A GOOD ACCOUNT OF ONESELF
Meaning: Succeed
- She gave a good account of herself in the examination.
GIVE AND TAKE
Meaning: if there is give and take between people, each person allows the other to get something that they want
- We can solve the problem by giving and taking.
GIVE FULL/FREE REIN TO
Meaning: to allow a feeling to be expressed freely
- Finally, she gave full rein to her love for John.
GIVE ONESELF AIRS, PUT ON AIRS
Meaning: be proud
- He is too humble to give herself airs.
GIVE RISE TO
Meaning: initiate
- She never gives rise to her feelings.
GIVE SOMEBODY A PIECE OF ONE’S MIND
Meaning: to rebuke, to scold
- The father gave him a piece of his mind for telling such a lie.
GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUE
Meaning: do justice
- To give the devil his due, I admit that this robber helps the poor.
GIVE UP THE GHOST
Meaning: of a person to die, of a machine to stop working completely
- My car gave up the ghost last night.
GIVE VENT TO
Meaning: to express very strong anger or sadness
- She wept bitterly at the death of her husband giving vent to her sorrow.
GIVE/CREATE A FALSE IMPRESSION
Meaning: deceive, mislead
- She always gives a false impression about her money.
GIVE/SHOW SOMEONE THE COLD SHOULDER
Meaning: to ignore someone in an obvious manner
- This officer is not popular as he gives everyone the cold shoulder.
GO /SWIM WITH THE STREAM
Meaning: to think or do something like others
- Easier to go with the stream than to go against the stream.
GO BACK ON/UPON ONE’S WORD/PROMISE
Meaning: to fail to fulfill one’s promise
- You can rely on Gilbert, he would not go back on his word.
GO FAR/A LONG WAY
Meaning: be successful
- She is hardworking and will go a long way in life.
GO OUT OF ONE’S WAY TO DO SOMETHING
Meaning: to make an extra effort to do something though it is not easy to do
- Joe really went out of his way to me feel welcome.
GO THE WAY OF ALL FLESH
Meaning: to die
- Elena went the way of all flesh in 2008.
GO THROUGH FIRE AND WATER
Meaning: to do something very dangerous for someone
- Joe is my true friend and will go through fire and water for me.
GO TO ANY LENGTHS / GREAT LENGTHS TO DO SOMETHING
Meaning: be ready to use any meeting to achieve something
- Rima is ready to go to any lengths to get his aim.
GO TO LAW
Meaning: to go to court in order to settle the problem
- The two brothers went to law over the issue of property
GO TO PIECES
Meaning: to be so upset that you cannot behave in a sensible way
- He just went to pieces after his wife’s death.
GO TO RACK AND RUIN
Meaning: to become less successful
- His business is going to rack and ruin.
Related: Most common Idioms with Meaning
Daily Idioms List with Meaning – Infographics
Download this List of Daily Life Idioms in PDF
