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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Dressed to the nines
What does Dressed to the nines mean? | Dressed flamboyantly, dressed well. | New years eve is the one day of the year when people like to go out dressed to the nines.
Common lore has it that a tailor making a high quality suit uses more fabric. The best suits are made from nine yards of fabric. This may seem like a lot but a proper suit does indeed take nine yards of fabric. This is because a good suit has all the fabric cut in the same direction with the warp, or long strands of thread, parallel with the vertical line of the suit. This causes a great amount of waste in suit making, but if you want to go "dressed to the nines", you must pay for such waste. |
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Some Random Idioms
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pain in the buttocks
What does "pain in the buttocks" mean? | highly irritating or difficult |
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all that glitters is not gold
What does "all that glitters is not gold" mean? | many things that look attractive and valuable actually have no value at all | many things that look attractive and valuable actually have no value at allThe man learned that all that glitters is not gold when he invested his money in the stock market and lost much of it.
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join the fray
What does "join the fray" mean? | join a fight or argument | I did not want to join the fray and argue with the other members of the group.
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go hog-wild
What does "go hog-wild" mean? | to behave wildly | The little boys went hog-wild during the birthday party.
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out in left field
What does "out in left field" mean? | to be far from the right answer | His question was out in left field. He has no idea what we were talking about.
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let on
What does "let on" mean? | to reveal, to inform | "Please don`t let on that you saw me at the movie last night."
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susceptable to (something)
What does "susceptable to (something)" mean? | to be easily persuaded, to be easily influenced, to likely to become sick | The young boy is very susceptable to the influence of the older boys around him.
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steal (someone`s) thunder
What does "steal (someone`s) thunder" mean? | to do or say something that another person had planned to do or say | My colleague stole my thunder when he announced that he was leaving the company before me.
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up the ante
What does "up the ante" mean? | to increase what is at stake or under discussion in a dispute or conflict | The union upped the ante in their dispute with the company.
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go through (something)
What does "go through (something)" mean? | to examine something carefully, to search carefully for something, to examine something | The police went through the house to look for a weapon.
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made to measure
What does "made to measure" mean? | made especially to fit the measurements of someone | When I was working in Hong Kong I purchased several suits that were made to measure.
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rap
What does "rap" mean? | chat; talk; discuss something |
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scratch (someone`s) back
What does "scratch (someone`s) back" mean? | do a favor for someone in the hope that they will do something for you | If you scratch the supervisor's back he will help you when you need help.
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