This
database is a comprehensive collection of all the American idioms and slang available.
American Idioms are many and varied. We hope you enjoy our collection. We are adding more all the time.
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A lick and a promise
What does A lick and a promise mean? | If you give something a lick and a promise, you do it hurriedly, most often incompletely, intending to return to it later. |
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Some Random Idioms
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blood, sweat, and tears
What does "blood, sweat, and tears" mean? | great personal effort |
We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into fixing our old house.
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zero hour
What does "zero hour" mean? | the exact time when an attack or other military action will start | The air force planes waited until zero hour in order to start out on their bombing mission.
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to be talked out
What does "to be talked out" mean? | to be tired of talking, to be unable to talk anymore | I was talked out and had little to say for the rest of the dinner party.
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jolt to a stop
What does "jolt to a stop" mean? | stop moving suddenly which causes a jolt | The train jolted to a stop when the engineer put the brakes on.
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black sheep (of a family)
What does "black sheep (of a family)" mean? | a person who is a disgrace to a family or group | The man is the black sheep in his family and has not made a success of his life.
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hit the bull's-eye
What does "hit the bull's-eye" mean? | achieve your goal perfectly | achieve your goal perfectlyWe hit the bull's-eye when our sales target was met for the year.
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as crazy as a loon
What does "as crazy as a loon" mean? | crazy | Our neighbor is as crazy as a loon.
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straight from the shoulder
What does "straight from the shoulder" mean? | an open and honest way of speaking | He was speaking straight from the shoulder when he told the workers about the possible factory closing.
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a marvel to behold
What does "a marvel to behold" mean? | someone or something quite wonderful or exciting to see | The new bridge was a marvel to behold and many tourists came to look at it.
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on the horns of a dilemma
What does "on the horns of a dilemma" mean? | to be bothered by having to decide between two things/people | We were on the horns of a dilemma as we tried to decide if we should move or stay in our apartment.
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