Idioms List

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keep one's nose to the grindstone
To work hard or focus heavily on work

If you keep your nose to the grindstone, you will do very well.

kick back
To relax.

After work tonight, I'm going to go home and kick back.

kid around
To engage in playful joking or teasing.

Don't take Max seriously. He was just kidding around when he said that you were ugly.

knock it off
to stop doing something.

Would you two please knock it off? That really annoys me.

learn something by heart
To memorize.

It took Max a long time to learn that poem by heart.

leave a bad taste in one's mouth
To create a bad feeling about something.

Working for that company left a bad taste in my mouth.

let the cat out of the bag
To reveal a secret.

Max let the cat out of the bag and told us that Mary was pregnant.

lie through one's teeth
to make outrageous false statements.

Miguel is almost always lying through his teeth. I wouldn't believe anything he says.

like shooting fish in a barrel
Extremely easy.

Taking that test was like shooting fish in a barrel. It was so easy.

like taking candy from a baby
Very easy to achieve.

Selling insurance to that family will be like taking candy from a baby.

loose ends
Leftover items; unfinished business.

Before I go on vacation, there are a few loose ends I need to take care of.

lose one's head
To panic; To lose self-control.

Don't lose your head. The cops will never catch us.

lose one's marbles
To become crazy.

I think Max has lost his marbles. He keeps muttering the same phrase over and over.

lose one's mind
To become crazy or insane.

I can't believe Max wants to get a job with the ABC Company. Has he lost his mind?

make a living
To earn enough income to support oneself.

Max makes a living as a salesman.

make a mountain out of a molehill
To exaggerate the significance of a minor problem.

A little acne is not the end of the world. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

make believe
To pretend.

In his spare time, Max likes to make believe that he is a dragon slayer.

make do
To survive or get by with what little is available.

We don't have a lot money, but we make do with what we have.

make ends meet
To have just enough money to cover expenses; to barely meet expenses from paycheck to paycheck.

It is hard to make ends meet on a teacher's salary.

make sure
To recheck to be certain.

Make sure that you put your name on your test before you turn it in.

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