IDIOM

definition (意味)

how to use (使い方)

ex.sentence (例文)

『IDIOM FROM THE WEATHER』

to break the ice.....(to begin a conversation with a stranger.)

He is very shy.If he goes to a party where he doesn't know anyone,he finds it very hard to break the ice.

知らない人と話し始めること。

a breeze.....(something easy for a person to do)

Because I studied English every day,the exam was a breeze.

簡単。（そよ風くらいどーってことないってこと。）

come rain or shine.....(no matter how hard it is to do)

Uncle Tom lives two hundred miles away, but he'll be at my birthday party come rain or shine.

雨が降っても槍が降っても的な。（どんだけ大変でも・・・・）

a fair-weather friend.....(a person who doesn't help when a friend is in trouble)

Judy showed that she was just a fair-weather friend.When I needed help on my report,she refused.

うわべの付き合いの友達。（天気がいいときだけ友達って感じ。）

full of hot air.....(taking a lot but never doing what one says)

Many politicians are full of hot air.They make promises,but they don't keep them.

口先ばっかり。

to have one's head in the clouds.....(not to know or understand what is going on)

I don't think she understands that she's in danger of not passing the course.She seems to have her head in the clouds.

よく理解してない。（頭の中は雲ばっかり的な感じ。）

to rain cats and dogs.....(to rain very hard)

It must be raining cats and dogs outside.The rain's pounding on the roof.

雨がドシャブリ。（猫や犬の泣き声的にばしゃばしゃ降ってるって感じ。）

『IDIOM FROM NUMBERS』

at first sight

forty winks

in seventh heaven

of two minds

on cloud nine

on second thought

to put two and two together

second to none

six of one, half a dozen of the other
=whatever you like

sixth sense

『IDIOMS FROM PARTS OF THE BODY』

a big mouth

by heart

to cost an arm and a leg

to have a sweet tooth

head over heels in love

a long time

nosey

a pain in the neck

to pull someone's leg

to see eye to eye

to shake a leg

『IDIOMS FROM PEOPLE』

to go Dutch

a jack of all trades

to keep up with the Joneses

a man/girl Friday(old)

a man/woman of means

the real McCoy

to run in the family

a smart aleck

Tom,Dick,or Harry

a wise guy

『IDIOM FROM ANIMALS』

IDIOM

definition (意味)

how to use (使い方)

ex.sentence (例文)

as blind as a bat
not able to see well because of very bad eyesight
be as blind as a bat
Without his glasses he can't see.He is as blind as a bat.

as quiet as a mouse:making almost no noise,being shy and not talking much

to read a book as quiet as a mouse/they're as quiet as mice

He is shy and as quiet as a mouse at school.

a bookworm:someone who reads a lot

be a real bookworm

I hear that she works in a library.Maybe she's a bit of a bookworm.

a copycat:a person who wants to do the same thing as other people

be such a copycat

She always wears the same clothes as her friends.She is such a copycat.

chicken:afraid,scared

be too chicken to try it/be chicken

I was so chicken that I couldn't ride a bicycle until 10 years old.

an early bird:the first person to be somewhere,a person who gets out of bed early

be an early bird

My roommate is such an early bird.Whenever I wake up,she is studying.

a night owl:opposite of an early bird

be a night owl

He is a night owl because nomally he comes back our house after I go to bed.

to eat like a horse:to eat a lot

to eat like a horse

Every time we invite Tony to dinner,he finishes every dish.He eats like a horse.

>b<
pigheaded:not taking advice,stubborn

be so pigheaded that/be pigheaded

My father is very pigheaded and he has never accepts any other opinion.

to smell a rat:to think there may be something wrong

could smell a rat

The store was advertising TVs for one hundred dollers.I smell a rat.

to talk turkey:to talk openly and directly

Let's start to talk turkey

Why don't we stop being polite and talking around the problem.Let's start to talk turkey.

to work like a dog:to work very hard

should work like a dog

She had to work like a dog to make good grades.

『IDIOMS FROM GEOGRAPHY』

dirt cheap

down-to-earth

to go downhill

to make a mountain our of a molehill

once in a blue moon

out of the woods

out of this world

over the hill

the tip of the iceberg

up the creek

to win by a landslide

『IDIOMS FROM RECREATION』

to get a kick out of something

to go fly a kite
=get lost/go away/leave me alone

a good sport

in the same boat

to keep the ball rolling

no dice

off base

on the ball

to put one's cards on the table

right off the bat

sink or swim

『IDIOMS WITH THE WORD AND』

back and forth

by and large

a cock-and-bull story

fair and square

ins and outs

odds and ends

right and left

safe and sound

a song and dance

spick-and-span

wear and tear

『IDIOMS FROM PLANTS』

to bark up the wrong tree

to beat around the bush

a bed ot roses

bushed

to hit the hay

in a nutshell

the last straw

to nip something in the bud

through the grapevine

to turn over new leaf

up a tree

『IDIOMS FROM CLOTHES』

to be in someone else's shoes

dressed to kill

a feather in one's cap

to handle someone with kid gloves

hot under the collar

to keep something under one's shirt

on a shoestring

a stuffed shirt

tied to someone's apron strings

『IDIOMS FROM THE WEATHER』

to bread the ice

a breeze

come rain or shine

a fair-weather friend

full of hot air

to have one's head in the clouds

to rain cats and dogs

to save something for a rainy day

snowed under

under the weather

to weather the storm

『IDIOMS FROM AROUND THE HOUSE』

to bring down the house

down the drain

to drive someone up the wall

to get one's foot in the door

to hit home

to hit the celling

on the fence

oh the house

on the shelf

to take steps

under the table