IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AND THEIR MEANING

An idiom refers to a group of words or expressions in a fixed order and the meaning of which cannot be derived from the individual words or they are words or expressions used not with their original meaning,but in an imaginative way to make a special effect.It can also be defined as an informal language that have a meaning different from the meaning of the words in the expression.Some examples are as follows:

IDIOM	MEANING
To take a french leave	To leave without permission
To beat about the bush	Not go straight to the point
To hit below the belt	To act unfairly
To kick the bucket	To die
To have no hand in something	Take no part in something
To bank on	To count on
To chip in	To interrupt
To opt out	To choose not to participate or be involved in something
To get on one's nerve	To irritate someone
To baby sit	To look after a baby or young ones
To go through thick and thin	To go through various difficulties
To mind your own business	To stop meddling in what does not concern you
To blow up	To inflate or explode
To call forth	To signal someone to step forward
To cheer up	To raise the spirit of someone
To clear off	To go away
To come about	To happen
To do away with	To get rid of
To die down	To diminish or fade slowly
To drop in	To pay a casual visit
To drop off	To fall asleep
To fall for	To be completely infatuated with someone
To fall short	To fail to meet or reach something
To frown upon	To to show displeasure
To be tickled pink	To be made very happy
To be down in the dumps	To be depressed
To be sick as a dog	To be very sick
To be close,but no cigar	Very close,but didn't make it
To own up	To confess or admit
To standby	To wait in expectation of an event
To turn the tables	To change a situation so that you now have an advantage over someone who previously had an advantage over you
To take the bulls by the horns	To deal with a difficulty in a very direct or confident way
To be armed to the teeth	To be overly equipped or prepared
To make bricks without straw	To plan or act on a false premise or unrealistic basis
To be at loggerheads with someone	To be in strong disagreement with someone
To build castles in the air	To make plans that have very little chance of happening
To bite the dust	To be defeated or killed in a battle
To backbite a person	To speak ill of a person in his absence
To throw dust in one's eyes	To mislead someone
To bury the hatchet	To make peace
To rain cats and dogs	To rain heavily
To be a clover	To live in a luxurious and comfortable life
To be the backbone of success	To be the one relied on for success
To receive with open arms	To welcome cordially
To be a bookworm	To be always studying
To turn over a new leaf	To change for the better
To end in smoke	To fail or end without any good results
To develop cold feet	To be fearful to undertake or complete an action
To be all keyed up	To be excited
To ride the high horse	To behave in a superior way
To pull one's leg	To tease someone
To be sixes and sevens	To be confused
To the bitter end	To the extreme end
To cast pearls before swine	To offer assistance to people who don't appreciate it
To be in someone's black boot	To be totally disliked by someone
To follow suit	To confirm one's action to someone else
To throw cold water upon something	To discourage an effort
To put the cart before the horse	To reverse issues
To save one's face	To avoid disgrace
To come out with flying colours	To succeed
To let the cat out of the bag	To reveal the secret
To draw a line at a point	To decline to go beyond a certain limit
To live from hand to mouth	To spend without saving
To make hay while the sun shines	To take advantage of all opportunities
To be a queer fish	To be old
To stand on one's own leg	To be independent
To take the lion's share	To take the largest share
To blow the gaff	To let out a secret
To iron out the differences	To settle misunderstandings
To take the heels	To run away
To set on foot	To start or begin
To toe the line	To do exactly what one is told
To be led by the nose	Easily influenced
To have one's heart in the mouth	To be afraid
To rob Peter to pay Paul or to unclothe Peter to clothe Paul	To take from one person or thing to give to another
To hit the nail on the head	To identify something exactly
To look down upon someone	To consider someone or something lesser or inferior in some way
To cut the coat according to your size	To plan one's one's aims and activities in line with one's resources and circumstances
To kow-tow to someone	To show someone or something excessive respect
To be caught red handed	To apprehend someone in the course of wrongdoing
To face the music	To accept punishment
To be in hot water	To be in trouble
To lead a woman to the alter	To marry a woman
To be the devil's disciple	To be a bad person
To be at the sea	Totally confused
Let bygones be bygones	To forget the past
Let sleeping dogs lie	To leave things as they are
A nine days' wonder	Something that creates a short-lived wonder
One's better half	One's wife or husband
Once in a blue moon	a rare occurance
The black sheep of the family	A member of a family or group who is regarded as a disgrace to the family
In cold blood	In a purposely ruthless and unfeeling manner
To make ends meet	To have enough money to cover expenses
Tit for tat	To return evil for evil
To have an eagle eye	To see or observe keenly
A white elephant	a possession entailing great expense out of proportion to its usefulness
A forty wink	To take a nap for short period of time
A herculean task	very hard to perform
A wild goose chase	absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable
Not all that glitters is gold	Things are not always as good as they appear to be
A flash in a pan	A sudden spasmodic effort that accomplishes nothing
To sit on the fence	To remain neutral
From frying pan into fire	moving from a bad situation to a worse one
A fish out of water	To be uncomfortable because of change in environment or activities
At the eleventh hour	At the last moments
Crocodile tears	Hyprocritical tears
A feather in one's fence	An honour
To sail under false colours	To attempt
To be under a cloud	To be in disgrace
To be given the boots	To be sacked
A red-letter day	A memorable day
Buy a pig in a poke	Buy something without knowledge
On last eggs	near the end
In fine or good feathers	In excellent health
A lion in the path	An obstacle in one's path
Paddle one's own canon	Mind one's affairs
Every nook and cranny	Everywhere
A bolt from the blue	Unexpected event
To snap someone's nose off	Scold or speak very angrily with someone
To give up the ghost	To die
To drink like a fish	To be a drunkard