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.
.
draw the line (at something)
What does draw the line (at something) mean? | to set a limit for something, to refuse to consider something |
We have to draw the line somewhere to limit the costs of the party.
|
|
Some Random Idioms
| |
buyer's market
What does "buyer's market" mean? | a situation where there are more sellers than buyers of a product or service and the buyers have an advantage |
It was a buyer's market and the price of fruit was very cheap.
|
lost and gone forever
What does "lost and gone forever" mean? | permanently lost | My father's pocket knife is lost and gone forever and we will probably never see it again.
|
as red as a rose
What does "as red as a rose" mean? | intensely red |
The morning sunrise was as red as a rose.
|
bitch
What does "bitch" mean? | complaint; gripe. | What's your bitch now?
|
in the right
What does "in the right" mean? | on the legal or moral side of an issue, not guilty | I believed that I was in the right so I decided to take the case to court.
|
|
| |
a know-it-all
What does "a know-it-all" mean? | a person who acts as if he or she knows everything | He is a know-it-all and nobody likes to be around him.
|
Why keep a dog and bark yourself?
What does "Why keep a dog and bark yourself?" mean? | There's no need to do something yourself when you have somebody to do it for you, usually trivial matters. |
|
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. |
take a shit
What does "take a shit" mean? | move one's bowels; defacate |
|
as red as a poppy
What does "as red as a poppy" mean? | bright red |
The mark on my arm was as red as a poppy.
|