American Idioms and Expressions

You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It Idiom

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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You can't have your cake and eat it
What does You can't have your cake and eat it mean?		 This idiom means that you can't have things both ways. For example, you can't have very low taxes and a high standard of state care.

Some Random Idioms
turn thumbs down on (something)
What does "turn thumbs down on (something)" mean?		 to reject somethingThe other negotiating team turned thumbs down on our wish to postpone the meeting until tomorrow.
turn turtle
What does "turn turtle" mean?		 to turn upside downThe car went off the road in the storm and turned turtle.
a far cry from (something)
What does "a far cry from (something)" mean?		 something very different from something The man's statement today is a far cry from what he told me yesterday.

hands off (something)
What does "hands off (something)" mean?		 to leave something alone, to not interfere with somethingI took a hands-off approach while dealing with the new employee.
get down to (something)
What does "get down to (something)" mean?		 to get started to do something"Let`s get down to work so we can go home early."
in jeopardy
What does "in jeopardy" mean?		 in danger, at riskOur contract with the large company was in jeopardy because of our inability to quickly provide them with our products.
on thin ice
What does "on thin ice" mean?		 to be in a risky situationThe woman was on thin ice with her company after she continued to come to work late every morning.
run the gauntlet
What does "run the gauntlet" mean?		 to face a hard test or painful experienceI had to run the gauntlet of many interviews before I got the job.
button one's lip
What does "button one's lip" mean?		 to become quietI decided to button my lip rather than give my opinion of our supervisor.
every other
What does "every other" mean?		 every second one I have to work every other Saturday evening.

hang out (somewhere/with someone)
What does "hang out (somewhere/with someone)" mean?		 spend one`s time with no great purpose, spend leisure time with friendsRecently my friend has been hanging out with a group of people who are not a good influence on him.
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