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Commonly-Used Idioms, Sayings and phrasal verbs
What is the meaning of idioms?
Words that come together and change the whole meaning of the statement like "it
rains cats and dogs", did you ever seen cats and dogs falling off from the sky?! Of
course not, but it simply mean "it is raining too hard".
I hope that you got the whole idea by now.
Enjoy!
Mr. Doody A
abide by (something)

- to follow the rules of something
The cleaning staff must abide by the rules of the school.

able to breathe easily again

- to be able to relax and recover from a stressful time or event
My friend was able to breathe easily again when his company did not go bankrupt.

able to do (something) blindfolded

- to be able to do something easily and quickly
The car was easy to fix and we were able to do it blindfolded.

able to do (something) standing on one's head



above reproach

- to be not deserving of blame or criticism
The actions of the police officer were above reproach.

above suspicion

- to be very honest so that nobody will suspect you
The man's actions are always above suspicion. 3

absent-minded

- to be forgetful
My grandfather is very absent-minded and he often forgets his keys.

according to Hoyle

- doing something strictly by the rules, doing something the usual and correct way
"According to Hoyle, we should not use this room but probably nobody will complain
if we do use it."

according to (someone or something)

- as said or told by someone, in agreement with something, in the order of something,
in proportion to something
According to our teacher, there will be no class next week.


- to act proud and powerful
The woman always acts high and mighty and nobody likes her.

act one's age

- to behave as a mature person, to behave equal to one's age
My friend never acts her age in public.

act up

- to misbehave
The children began to act up during the field trip.

add fuel to the fire

- to make a problem worse, to make an angry person more angry
The company added fuel to the fire when they criticized the workers.

add insult to injury

- to make a person who already feels bad to feel worse, to make a bad situation worse
Our boss added insult to injury when she refused to let us use the telephone and
computers during lunch.

add up

- to total up to a certain amount
I plan to add up the money that I owe to my father.



after all

- because of the reason given, something needs to be considered
"You don't need to phone him. After all, he never phones you."
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after all is said and done

- finally, when everything is settled
After all is said and done the mayor of our city is doing a very good job.

after hours

- after the regular closing or finishing time
The library has a place to return books after hours.

after the fact

- after something has happened
The man said that he was sorry but it was after the fact. He had already caused many
problems.
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against one's will


- earlier than arranged or planned
We started the meeting ahead of time so that we could go home early.

aim at (something)

- to plan or try to reach a target
We are aiming at a big increase in sales next year.

air one`s dirty laundry/linen in public

- to make public something embarrassing that should be a secret
The dinner party became uncomfortable when the host began to air his colleague's
dirty laundry in public.

air one's grievances

- to complain (often publicly)
We aired our grievances during the monthly meeting.

air (something) out

- to freshen something by putting it in the open air
We put the blankets outside in order to air them out. 8

alive and kicking 9

all for (someone or something)

- to be very much in favor of someone or something
The woman is all for the manager and she never criticizes her.

all important

- most important, urgent or necessary
The meeting is all important and I plan to attend it.

all in

- to be tired, to be exhausted
I am all in and will go to bed early tonight.

all in a day's work

- to be part of what is expected
It was all in a day's work when the firefighters rescued the cat.

all in all

- in summary, after considering everything
We had a few problems but all in all the meeting was successful.


- a very good and thorough effort
We are making an all-out-effort to finish our work.

all over but the shouting

- to be decided and finished
It was all over but the shouting for the football fans after their team moved to another
city.

all over the place

- everywhere
We traveled all over the place on our holiday.

all right

- okay, satisfactory
I think that it will be all right for me to bring my friend to the party.