1.
At the head of the class - it means that your grades are good compared to anyone
else in your class.
2.
Head
and shoulders above - other people or things,
he, she, or it is a lot better than them
3.
A head start - an early start an advantage granted or gained at the beginning
of something.
4.
Have a good head on one’s
shoulder - to have common sense; to be sensible an intelligent
5.
Off the top of one’s head -
without careful thought or investigation
6.
Put one’s head together - to plan
something together or to cooperate with other people
7.
Use one’s head - to think or have
common sense
8.
Make one’s head spin - to make
someone confused
9.
Over one’s head - beyond someone's ability to understand.
10.
Scratch one’s head - to wonder
about some thing
11.
Head over heels - madly in love
12.
Lose one’s head - to be overly
emotional about something
13.
Out of one’s head - to be
temporarily insane
14.
Soft in the head - mentally
deficient; also silly, foolish
15.
Heads will roll - people will be
dismissed or forced to resign
16.
Talk someone’s head off - to
speak too much, to bore someone
17.
Laugh someone’s head off - to
laugh very hard and loudly
18.
Hard-headed - to be stubborn
19.
Thick-headed - to have an
immovable perspective
20.
Hot-headed - to be easily angered
21.
Cool-headed - to have a calm or
relaxed mind
22.
Knucklehead - to be stupid or to
lack common sense
23.
Bonehead - a foolish person
24.
Sleepyhead - a sleepy person
25.
Pothead - a person who smokes a
lot of marijuana
26.
Head off - to turn back or turn
aside
27.
Head on - in a very direct way
28.
Head in - it means someone is
very annoying or loud
29.
Turn heads - to attract favorable
attention
30.
Keep one’s head above water -
avoid succumbing to difficulties, typically debt
31.
At the eleventh hour - at the
last minute or just in time
32.
In the dead of the night - in the
middle of the night
33.
A nightcap - a cap worn in bed or
an alcoholic drink drank at the end of the day
34.
A night-bird - a person who likes
to be active late at night
35.
On the spur of the moment - on
impulse, without premeditation
36.
One’s Sunday best - clothing
suitable for going church
37.
To do something at the last
minute - to do something a little bit late
38.
It’s all in day’s work - part of
what is expected; typical or normal
39.
To have seen better days- to be
in a bad condition.
40.
To call it a day - to express
something to be finished or done
41.
To fight tooth and nail- engage
in vigorous combat or make strenuous effort using
all ones resources
42.
To have the time of one’s life-
to have a very good time; to have the most exciting time of one's life.
43.
To kill time - to waste time or
to wait
44.
To learn something by heart - to
know something which is very hard to forget
45.
To have one’s heart in one’s
mouth - to be greatly alarmed or apprehensive
46.
To pull someone’s leg - to kid,
fool, or trick someone
47.
Not to have a leg to stand on -
to have no support
48.
To be on its last leg - about to
stop working
49.
To pay through the nose - to pay
much more than a fair price
50.
To stick one’s neck out - to take
risk
51.
To give someone the cold shoulder
- to behave towards someone in a way that is
not at all friendly, to show no
interest
52.
To rub shoulders with someone -
to associate with someone: to work closely with someone
53.
To toe the line - act in
accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes
54.
To hold one’s tongue - to refrain
from speaking; to refrain from saying something unpleasant
55.
To make a slip of the tongue -
something that you say by accident when you intended to say something else
56.
To let one’s hair down - to tell
someone everything; to tell one's secrets
57.
To escape by a hair’s breadth -
to escape by a small space, distance, or margin
58.
To have one’s hands full - to be
busy or totally occupied
59.
To be a handful - someone often a
child, who is difficult to deal with
60.
To be an old hand - someone who
has done a particular job for a long time and who
can do it very well
61.
To get the upper hand of something
- to go ahead or gain the lead
62.
To say something off-hand - to
say something unfriendly or impolite
63.
To have a finger in the pie - to
have a role or to be involved in something
64.
To keep one’s fingers crossed -
to wish for luck for someone or something
65.
To see eye to eye - to agree on
something or view something the same way
66.
To keep a straight face - to look
serious and to not show one's true feelings
67.
Elbow room - adequate space to
move or work in
68.
To get something off one’s chest
- to unburden oneself; to confess something; to criticize or make a personal complaint to
someone
69.
To play music by ear - to be able
to play a piece of music after just listening to it a few times,
without looking at the notes
70.
To be within earshot - close
enough to something to hear it
71.
To pick someone’s brains - to
seek information from someone knowledgeable
72.
A bone of contention - something
that people argue about for a long time
73.
To have one’s back against the
wall - to have very serious problems which limit the ways you can act
74.
To be up in arms - to be very
angry
75.
To break the back of something -
to end the domination of something; to reduce
the power of something
76.
To see red - to be angry
77.
To see the red light - too see
the red-color4ed light that signals traffic to stop
78.
To catch someone red-handed - to
catch someone stealing
79.
To have green fingers - to be
good at keeping plants healthy and making them grow
80.
To turn grey - to worry or upset
someone
81.
To see pink elephants - alcohol
intoxicated; recovering from a drinking bout; having delirium tremens
82.
To feel blue - to feel sad
83.
To be dressed in black - to be in
sorrow or to grieve for someone
84.
To beat someone black and blue -
to beat someone which caused the dark color of
a bruise in the flesh
85.
A feather in one’s cap - an
achievement that you can be proud of
86.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing - a
dangerous person pretending to be harmless
87.
To clip someone’s wings - to
restrain someone; to put an end to someone's privileges
88.
To take the bull by the horns -
to confront a problem in a very direct way
89.
To have butterflies in one’s
stomach - a nervous feeling in one's stomach
90.
To rain cats and dogs - an expression when it is raining heavily
91.
To count one’s chickens before
they hatch - to plan how to utilize good results of something before
those results have occurred
92.
To have other fish to fry - to
have something more important or more interesting
to do
93.
To go to the dogs - to become worse
in quality, to be less successful than it was in
the past
94.
To wait till the cows come home -
to wait for a long time
95.
To err on the safe side - to do
thing safely and avoid taking risks
96.
To set the ball rolling - to
start doing something in order to encourage other people to do the same
97.
To talk down to someone - to
speak to someone in a patronizing manner; to speak to someone in the simplest way
98.
To clear the air - to get rid of
doubts or hard feelings
99.
To throw someone’s weight around
- to attempt to boss people around; to give orders
100.
A saving grace - a good quality
that makes you like something or someone although you do not like anything else about them
101.
To
affect ignorance (of something)- ignorance within the individual's control and for which, therefore, he is responsible before
God.
102.
To
be asking for trouble – encouraging someone to a fight
103.
To
be barking up the wrong tree – went to the wrong place
104.
To
beat the air -to strike violently or forcefully
and repeatedl
105.
To
blow one’s own trumpet-to tell other people how good and successful you are
106.
It
all boils down to – it all comes to an end
108.
To
buckle down to something – to settle down
109.
To
burn one’s bridges – to break all ties
110.
To
burn a hole in one’s pocket – waste money
111.
To
burn the candle at both ends
112.
To
burn one’s fingers- to get one’s self into trouble by interfering with the
concern of others
113.
To
burn the midnight’s oil – stay up late
114.
To
butter someone up-to praise someone excessively
115.
To
buy a pick in a poke-something that you buy or accept without first seeing it or knowing what it is like, with the
result that it might not be what you want
116.
To
call the tune – call the shots
117.
To
catch someone napping – to see someone doing nothing
118.
To
catch someone red-handed – to catch someone in the act
119.
To
chop and change-to keep changing unexpectedly
120.
To
cross the Rubicon-means to pass a point of no
return, to do something that inevitably commits one to following a certain course of action.
121.
To
curry favor with someone- To ingratiate oneself through flattery or a willingness to please,
122.
To
cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth
123.
To
draw a blank-elicit no successful response;
fail.
124.
To
err on the safe side -to be especially careful
rather than taking a risk or making a mistake
125.
To
feather one’s nest-make money illicitly and at
someone else's expense
126.
To
fish in troubled waters – going into the unknown
127.
To
flog a dead horse-waste energy on a lost cause
or unalterable situation.
128.
To
fly in the face of someone- to challenge someone or something; to go against someone or something
129.
To
fly off the handle – get mad
130.
To
follow the crowd – follow popular opinion
131.
To
follow in someone’s footsteps – continue the legacy
132.
To
gild the lily-Engage in an unnecessary and usually wasteful activity.
133.
To
hand out bouquets – to give out appreciation
134.
To
handle someone with kid gloves -to be very careful with a touchy person.
135.
To
harp on the same string-talk or write about to a
tedious and excessive extent.
136.
To
hear something over the grape-vine - overhear
137.
To
hold the olive branch -to do or say
something in order to show that you want to end a disagreement with someone
138.
To
hit below the belt – make a foul and personal statement
139.
To
iron out differences – talk things over
140.
To
join forces – to work together
141.
To
jump on the bandwagon – following popular opinion
142.
To
kill two birds with one stone – to be efficient
143.
To
know where the shoe pinches-to know how much someone else is suffering.
144.
To
know which side one’s bread is buttered know
where one's advantage lies
145.
To
lead a charmed life- to always be lucky and safe from danger
146.
To
lead someone a dance- cause someone a great deal
of trouble or worry.
147.
To
lead someone a dog’s life -to have an unhappy or harassed
existence
148.
To
lead someone up the garden path- give someone
misleading clues or signals.
149.
To
leave much to be desired- be highly
unsatisfactory.
150.
Let
by-gones be by-gones- forget past offenses or
causes of conflict and be reconciled.
151.
To
let sleeping dogs lie - Do not instigate trouble.; Leave something alone if it might cause trouble
152.
To
let something drop- casually reveal a piece of
information.
153.
To
let the cat out of the bag – to reveal
154.
To
let the grass grow under one’s feet – letting things happen
155.
To
meet one’s Waterloo- To encounter one's ultimate
obstacle and to be defeated by it:
156.
To
meet someone half-way - negotiate
157.
To
mend one’s ways -Improve one's behavior, as in Threatened with
suspension, J
158.
To
mince one’s words – choosing words
159.
To
mind one’s p’s and q’s -Practice good manners,
be precise and careful in one's behavior and
speech
160.
To
move heaven and earth –do great tasks
161.
To
nip something in the bud to put an end to something before it develops into something larger
162.
To
pat someone on the back – to give appreciation
163.
To
pocket one’s pride – to forget one’s pride
164.
To
pour oil on troubled waters
165.
To
rain cats and dogs – hard rain
166.
To
rest on one’s laurels – to be overconfident
167.
To
ring a bell – sounds familiar
168.
To
rise to the occasion – abruptly contributing something
169.
To
rob Peter to pay Paul- take something away from
one person to pay another, leaving the
former at a disadvantage; discharge one debt only to incur another.
170.
To
roll one’s sleeves up – to work hard
171.
To
throw in the towel - quit
172.
To
tighten one’s belt – to save money
173.
To
wash one’s dirty linen in public – admitting his/her mistakes
174.
To
weather the storm- to experience something and survive it
176.
To
make one’s feet wet- to get a little first ime experience with something. (Obvious literal possibilities.)
177.
To
stick one’s neck out-risk incurring criticism or
anger by acting or speaking boldly.
178.
To
stretch a point-to interpret a point flexibly and with great latitude.
179.
To
smell a rat – find the snitch
180.
To
speak volume – speak louder
181.
To
steal someone’s thunder-win praise for oneself
by preempting someone else's attempt
to impress.
182.
To
spill the beans - reveal
183.
To
split hairs-make small and overfine distinctions
184.
To
stick around - stay
185.
To
run in the blood – family tradition/trait
186.
To
be six feet under - dead
187.
To
die by one’s own hand - suicide
188.
To
come to an untimely death – unexpected death
189.
To
be on piece-work
190.
To
cook someone’s goose-cause someone's downfall
191.
Straight
from the horse’s mouth – the truth
192.
To
hold one’s horses – slowing down
193.
To
look a gift-horse in the mouth
194.
The
lion’s share – the bigger portion
195.
The
leopard can’t change its spots something that you say which means that a person's character, especially if it is bad, will not change, even if they pretend it has
196.
To
put the cat among the pigeons-disturbance caused
by an undesirable person from the perspective of a group.
197.
To
have a bee in one’s bonnet -be preoccupied or
obsessed about something, especially
a scheme or plan of action.
198.
To
take the bull by the horns – to be brave
199.
To
have other fish to fry – other things to do
200.
To
keep the wolf from the doo- have enough money to
avert hunger or starvation
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