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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it takes all kinds (to make a world)
What does it takes all kinds (to make a world) mean? | different people like different things | The woman was wearing very strange clothes. It seems that it takes all kinds to make a world.
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Some Random Idioms
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in safe hands
What does "in safe hands" mean? | under the care of someone or an organization that you can trust and who will help you | The little girl is in safe hands now that she has arrived at her grandmother's house.
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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. |
nose (someone) out
What does "nose (someone) out" mean? | to push someone away, to exclude someone | The famous basketball player nosed out the other players to win the award for the best player in the league.
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(one's) flesh and blood
What does "(one's) flesh and blood" mean? | a close relative (father,daughter,brother etc.), a living human body |
The man's own flesh and blood refused to help him when he needed money.
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kawabunga
What does "kawabunga" mean? | yeah; horray; yippee (an expression of excitement or enthusiasm, popularized in the TV series "The Simpsons") |
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more to (someone or something) than meets the eye
What does "more to (someone or something) than meets the eye" mean? | more interesting/intelligent/complicated than it seems | The problem appeared to be very simple but there was more to it than meets the eye.
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nip
What does "nip" mean? | small drink of alcohol taken quickly |
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get a raise
What does "get a raise" mean? | to get an increase in one's salary |
My sister works hard and she recently got a raise in her new job.
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get out of hand
What does "get out of hand" mean? | to become difficult or impossible to control | The party got out of hand and the school authorities asked everyone to go home.
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