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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Bouched up
What does Bouched up mean? | Substandard; messed up; make a shamble of | Man, you really bouched up that project. Now the company will have to start all over costing double and missing all of our deadlines.
Sir Thomas Bouch designed a bridge that was built at the Tay estuary at Dundee in Scotland. It was supposed to be the greatest structure built in Victorian England. The building of the Tay rail bridge culminated in him being knighted. The Tay bridge was nearly two miles long, consisting of 85 spans and at the time (1879) was the longest bridge in the world.
One stormy night, only 19 months after the bridge was declared safe by the Board of Trade and opened to traffic in the summer of 1878, the wind caused some of its spans to collapse. A train and 6 carriages and 75 souls were lost that night ranking it as the worst accident caused by structural failure in the history of England. Sir Thomas Bouch died only 10 months after the failure. |
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Some Random Idioms
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get made
What does "get made" mean? | be identified as; be caught as. | He got made as a cop and was killed.
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fight (someone or something) tooth and nail
What does "fight (someone or something) tooth and nail" mean? | to fight against someone or something with great energy | The citizens fought the government tooth and nail over the government plans for the new airport.
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ding
What does "ding" mean? | dent; damage; bump into (something) |
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honkey
What does "honkey" mean? | white (Caucasian) |
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take the money and run
What does "take the money and run" mean? | to accept what is offered to you before the offer is gone | I plan to take the money and run as I do not believe that I will get any more money for the settlement of my car accident.
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follow suit
What does "follow suit" mean? | play a card of the same suit, follow the example of another
| play a card of the same suit, follow the example of another The small university followed suit with the other universities and decided to raise their tuition fees.
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Hot-headed
What does "Hot-headed" mean? | A hot-headed person gets angry very easily.
(The noun 'hothead' can also be used.) |
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Nice as pie
What does "Nice as pie" mean? | If a person is nice as pie, they are surprisingly very kind and friendly. "After our argument, she was nice as pie!" |
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laid-back
What does "laid-back" mean? | relaxed; at ease; unrufffled |
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love at first sight
What does "love at first sight" mean? | fall in love with someone (or something) the first time that
one sees him or her | fall in love with someone (or something) the first time that one sees him or herWhen I saw the woman at the party it was love at first sight and I knew that I wanted to meet her.
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play fast and loose with (someone or something)
What does "play fast and loose with (someone or something)" mean? | to act carelessly/thoughtlessly/irresponsibly | The witness began to play fast and loose with the facts of his case and was severely criticized by the judge.
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put (someone) to shame
What does "put (someone) to shame" mean? | to be much better than someone else, to embarrass someone | The school project of my neighbor's child put our child to shame.
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Let sleeping dogs lie.
What does "Let sleeping dogs lie." mean? | Don't cause problems by doing
something when it isn't necessary. | "I know that what Julie said made you angry, butlet sleeping dogs lie. If you say or do anything, you'll only make things worse."
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