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.
.
scatter (something) around
What does scatter (something) around mean? | to carelessly put something in different places | My papers are always scattered around my house and I am never able to find them.
|
|
Some Random Idioms
| |
K
What does "K" mean? | thousand (of anything). | I make three K per week doing this.
|
|
| |
act up
What does "act up" mean? | to misbehave |
The children began to act up during the field trip.
|
buy a pig in a poke
What does "buy a pig in a poke" mean? | to buy something without seeing it or knowing anything about it |
It is like buying a pig in a poke if you buy that car without first inspecting it.
|
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
What does "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" mean? | Do not be critical of a gift. | Okay, so the '72 Gremlin grandma gave you is not your idea of a babe magnet, but it was free - so don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Horses have gum lines that recede with age. Hence older horses have longer teeth than young horses.
To "look a horse in the mouth" is to examine the horse's mouth closely to determine its age (and therefore its usefulness and/or worth). To immediately judge a gift based on its worth or usefulness rather than the "thought" behind it considered rude, and ungrateful (it is a gift after all, and didn't cost the receiver anything).
The phrase is apparently quite old, a Latin version of it appeared in a work by St. Jerome in 420 AD, and it also exists in many languages. An Early english version (1510 AD) appears in John Standbridge's "Vulgari Standbrigi": "A gyuen hors may not (be) loked in the tethe." |
Like a bull at a gate
What does "Like a bull at a gate" mean? | If you tackle a job very quickly, without any real thought about what you are doing, you are going at it like a bull at a gate. |
|
|
| |
hole in one
What does "hole in one" mean? | a golf ball that is hit into the hole with only one shot | The golfer got a hole in one during his first round of golf.
|
kill two birds with one stone
What does "kill two birds with one stone" mean? | to succeed in doing two things by only one action | "Let`s have the meeting when we come to town to go shopping so that we can kill two birds with one stone."
|
Phd
What does "Phd" mean? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctor of PhilosophyAfter receiving his Phd in history my friend was able to get a job at a university.
|
choke (someone) up or choke up (someone)
What does "choke (someone) up or choke up (someone)" mean? | to make someone cry or become overemotional and speechless |
The story of the boy's illness choked the woman up.
|