Word Power
English Idioms
Idioms and idiomatic expressions in English
An idiom is a group of words in current usage having a meaning that is not deducible from those of the individual words. For example, "to rain cats and dogs" - which means "to rain very heavily" - is an idiom; and "over the moon" - which means "extremely happy" - is another idiom. In both cases, you would have a hard time understanding the real meaning if you did not already know these idioms!
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Quizzes (480)
Idioms Quizzes: Have fun and test your knowledge of English Idioms by doing some of our 480 English Idioms Quiz Questions
Idioms Forum: Ask questions about and discuss English idioms and sayings
There are two features that identify an idiom: firstly, we cannot deduce the meaning of the idiom from the individual words; and secondly, both the grammar and the vocabulary of the idiom are fixed, and if we change them we lose the meaning of the idiom. Thus the idiom "pull your socks up" means "improve the way you are behaving" (or it can have a literal meaning); if we change it grammatically to "pull your sock up" or we change its vocabulary to "pull your stockings up", then we must interpret the phrase literally - it has lost its idiomatic meaning.
How should one index an idioms reference? Do we list the idiom "kick the bucket" under K for "kick" or B for "bucket"? Given that Internet users have the option of searching for individual words with the
Idioms and idiomatic expressions in English
An idiom is a group of words in current usage having a meaning that is not deducible from those of the individual words. For example, "to rain cats and dogs" - which means "to rain very heavily" - is an idiom; and "over the moon" - which means "extremely happy" - is another idiom. In both cases, you would have a hard time understanding the real meaning if you did not already know these idioms!
A (26)
B (26)
C (27)
D (25)
E (25)
F (27)
G (26)
H (25)
I (25)
J (25)
K (25)
L (25)
M (27)
N (25)
O (25)
P (27)
Q (16)
R (26)
S (26)
T (25)
U (25)
V (17)
W (26)
X (2)
Y (18)
Z (5)
Animals (20)
Body (90)
Buildings (10)
Clothing (20)
Colours (20)
Death (10)
Food (30)
Health (20)
Law (20)
Money (30)
Music (10)
Nature (20)
Numbers (20)
Plants (10)
Sports (20)
Structures (10)
Time (20)
Transport (10)
Weather (10)
American (23)
Australian (1)
British (20)
Quizzes (480)
Idioms Quizzes: Have fun and test your knowledge of English Idioms by doing some of our 480 English Idioms Quiz Questions
Idioms Forum: Ask questions about and discuss English idioms and sayings
There are two features that identify an idiom: firstly, we cannot deduce the meaning of the idiom from the individual words; and secondly, both the grammar and the vocabulary of the idiom are fixed, and if we change them we lose the meaning of the idiom. Thus the idiom "pull your socks up" means "improve the way you are behaving" (or it can have a literal meaning); if we change it grammatically to "pull your sock up" or we change its vocabulary to "pull your stockings up", then we must interpret the phrase literally - it has lost its idiomatic meaning.
How should one index an idioms reference? Do we list the idiom "kick the bucket" under K for "kick" or B for "bucket"? Given that Internet users have the option of searching for individual words with the