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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as the crow flies
What does as the crow flies mean? | by the most direct way, along a straight line between two places | As the crow flies, it is about 6 kilometers between my house and my office.
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as the crow flies
What does as the crow flies mean? | by the most direct way, along a straight line between two places | As the crow flies it is about six kilometers between my house and downtown.
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as the crow flies
What does as the crow flies mean? | by the most direct way, along a straight line between two places |
As the crow flies, it is not very far between my house and my office.
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as the crow flies
What does as the crow flies mean? | by the most direct way, along a straight line between two places |
As the crow flies, it is about six kilometers between my house and downtown.
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Some Random Idioms
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fade
What does "fade" mean? | leave; depart; go away |
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put the blame on (someone)
What does "put the blame on (someone)" mean? | to blame someone | The teacher put the blame on the young boys for breaking the school desks.
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pour oil on troubled waters
What does "pour oil on troubled waters" mean? | to calm down a quarrel, to say something to lessen anger and bring peace to a situation | The teachers tried to pour oil on troubled waters when they noticed the fight among the students.
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Box and dice
What does "Box and dice" mean? | Box and dice means everything. |
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Eat like a pig
What does "Eat like a pig" mean? | If some eats like a pig, they either eat too much or they have bad table manners. |
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taken aback
What does "taken aback" mean? | to be unpleasantly surprised, to be suddenly puzzled/shocked/confused | I was taken aback when the woman said that she did not want to work for our company any longer.
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bend over backwards (to do something)
What does "bend over backwards (to do something)" mean? | to try very hard to do something |
"I will bend over backwards to help you get a job in this company."
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armpit
What does "armpit" mean? | an undesirable place or location, often a city or state.. | New Jersey was once called the armpit of America.
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stack the deck (of cards) against (someone)
What does "stack the deck (of cards) against (someone)" mean? | to trick someone, to arrange things unfairly | The manager stacked the deck against his opponent when he went into the meeting.
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Rule of thumb
What does "Rule of thumb" mean? | A basic rule that is usually but not always correct. | As a rule of thumb, plant tomato seeds three inches deep.
Based on the use of ones thumb as a rough measurement tool. Generally correct for course measures.
Most old English measures of distance were based on the body measurements of the king -- the length of the foot, inch (thumb tip to first knuckle), cubit (elbow-to-fingertip), and yard (nose-to-fingertip). |