1001 idioms thông dụng theo chủ đề trong tiếng Anh giúp bạn áp

dụng vào kỳ thi IELTS & THPT Quốc gia

Biên soạn: Prep.vn

Topic Idiom Meaning Example

To earn enough money to

survive My new next-door neighbor
Make a living makes a living as a car
(Kiếm sống) mechanic.

To stop working
Call it a day/call it a After four hours of studying this
night (Dừng làm việc) evening, I called it a day.

To spend time at work

Some workers choose to put in
Put in ten hours a day instead of eight
(Dành thời gian làm việc)
Business hours.

To have the needed skill or

ability for His fear of flying means that he’s
definitely not cut out to be a
Be cut out (for/to be)
(Có kỹ năng hoặc năng lực) pilot.

Inexperienced
The new staff is so wet behind
Wet behind the ears (Non nớt, thiếu kinh the ears that he’ll need a lot of
nghiệm) training.

I signed up for a gymnastics

Sign up for To register for
School class at the recreation center.

1
 (Đăng ký tham gia cái gì)

As you learn new vocabulary,

Brush up on To review (ôn tập) it’s good to brush up on it
regularly.

To submit
Please hand in your homework
Hand in
before you leave the classroom.
(Nộp, trình diễn)

Someone who seems to be

the teacher’s favourite
I think John got an A because
Teacher’s pet student
he’s the teacher’s pet.

(Học sinh cưng)

To stop attending regularly

Michael had to drop out of
Drop out (of)
school in order to work full-time.
(bỏ, ngừng tham gia)

To look for the cheapest

prices The week after Christmas is the
Hunt for bargains
best time to hunt for bargains.
(Tìm mua hàng giá rẻ)

To look at merchandise in
stores without buying
When I don’t have enough
Shopping Go anything
money, I love to go
window-shopping
window-shopping
(Chỉ ngắm mà không mua
hàng)

To purchase extra amounts Department stores always stock

Stock up (on)
for later use up on gifts before Christmas.

2
 (Mua tích trữ)

At a reduced cost By buying things when they’re

On sale on sale, it’s possible to save a lot
(Giảm giá) of money

To return merchandise to a
store You can take back this jacket if
Take back
you are not satisfied with it.
(Trả hàng)

To become relaxed This vacation is just the right

Let one’s hair down way for me to loosen up and
(thư giãn) enjoy myself.

To transport someone in
one’s vehicle Could you give a lift to the
Give sb a lift
airport next Wednesday?
(cho ai đó đi nhờ xe)
Travel
To start a journey We have to be there by 10 am,
Hit the road so we’re hitting the road early
(lên đường) tomorrow.

Very early in the morning We have to get up at the crack

At the crack of dawn of dawn to get to the airport on
(sáng sớm) time.

Far away from places

She found the greatest
people usually visit
Off the beaten track restaurants that are off the
(Xa xôi, hẻo lánh) beaten track.

Work
Có kỹ năng hoặc năng lực His fear of flying means that he’s
Be cut out (for/to be)
làm gì definitely not cut out to be a pilot.

3
 Bắt đầu thực hiện kế hoạch We’re still trying to get this
Get off the ground
nào đó project off the ground.

Call it a day/Call it a After four hours of studying this

Nghỉ ngơi, dừng làm việc
night evening, I called it a day.

The secretary will touch base

Touch base with Liên lạc với ai đó with the design company
tomorrow.

Yêu từ cái nhìn đầu tiên Jim and Sue had a very happy
Love at first sight ending after three months of
dating. It was love at first sight.

Fall head over heels Yêu si mê ai đó He fell head over heels in love
in love with someone with Sarah and they got married
three months after their first date.

On cloud nine Rất vui và hạnh phúc Jack was on cloud nine when his
girlfriend said ‘yes’ to his
proposal.
Emotion
Break someone’s Làm tổn thương ai She left him later that year and
heart broke his heart.

A long face Buồn bã, chán nản If you go to the party, don’t spoil
your uncle’s evening with a long
face.

Fall head over heels Yêu si mê ai đó He fell head over heels in love
in love with someone with Sarah and they got married
three months after their first date.

I think John got an A because he’s

Teacher’s pet Học sinh cưng
the teacher’s pet.
Study

Pass with flying Vượt qua kỳ thi với điểm số Minh passed the university

4
 colors cao entrance exam with flying colors.

I had to learn the whole book by

Learn by heart Học thuộc lòng
heart to pass the history test.

They asked me for fresh ideas, so

Suy nghĩ rất lâu, rất nhiều
Rack one’s brain I racked my brain, but couldn’t
cho một vấn đề nào đó
come up with anything.

Sinh ra với thìa bạc trong

miệng He was born with a silver spoon
Born with a silver
in his mouth, so he has never
spoon in one’s mouth
-> Lớn lên trong một gia known what hard work is.
đình sung túc, đầy đủ

You can’t just let your own flesh

Flesh and blood Người thân trong gia đình and blood go to prison if there’s
any way you can help.

Chảy trong gia đình

Talk to your doctor about any
Run in the family
-> Đặc điểm chung trong gia illnesses that run in your family.
Family
đình

Con cừu đen Being the black sheep of the

family, I’m the only one who
Black sheep
-> Người khác biệt trong gia works as an artist, while my
đình parents are both teachers.

Folks rumored that men make

houses, women make homes. So,
Men make houses, Đàn ông xây nhà, đàn bà
in Viet Nam, men often work
women make homes xây tổ ấm
outside to earn money, while
women take care of the home.

Rohit is thin as a stick yet he eats

Eat like a horse Ăn như ngựa
Food like a horse.

5
 -> Ăn rất nhiều, rất khỏe

Làm ai thèm chảy nước dãi

Make one’s mouth The smell of oven-fresh baked
water pizza made my mouth water.
-> Rất ngon, hấp dẫn

Spoil one’s appetite Looking at the gruesome video of

Làm ai đó ăn mất ngon, chán
the chickens being slaughtered at
ăn.
KFC made me lose my appetite.

Vừa có bánh vừa muốn ăn

You can’t have your cake and eat
nữa
Have one’s cake and it – if you want more local
eat it (too) services, you can’t expect to pay
-> Muốn hưởng lợi từ 2 phía
less tax.
(được voi đòi tiên)

Put all one’s eggs in Bỏ tất cả trứng vào 1 rổ

I’m applying for several jobs
one basket
because I don’t really want to put
-> đặt hết nguồn lực vào
all my eggs in one basket.
một nơi

Skin and bone(s) Rất gầy, như da bọc xương

By the end of her life she was
nothing but skin and bones

Lend someone a Could you lend me a hand with

Giúp đỡ ai đó
hand these books, please?

Save face Giữ thể diện Most children have a need to save
Body
face in front of their friends.

Give someone the Cố tình phớt lờ, lảng tránh ai He was upset to find his
cold shoulder đó colleagues giving him the cold
shoulder.

Get off on the wrong Khởi đầu một hoạt động/ We got off on the wrong foot the
first time I met him, but that’s all

6
 foot mối quan hệ không tốt đẹp forgotten now.

Ill at ease cảm thấy lo lắng và không She looked ill at ease when she
thoải mái had to do public speaking.

At death’s door rất ốm và gần như sắp qua Make sure everyone is safe and
đời sound after the earthquake.
Health

Kick the bucket Qua đời Our neighbor is about to kick the
bucket – he has some sort of
kidney infection.

Set alarm bells Gióng lên hồi chuông báo Continuous natural disasters set
ringing động alarm bells ringing about
environmental pollution.

Do wonders for Có tác động tốt tới cái gì/ai The change of diet has done
something/somebody wonders for my skin.

Get back to nature Hòa mình với thiên nhiên I want to get back to nature but I
don’t have much time for it due to
my hectic schedule.
Environment

A drop in the ocean Lượng rất nhỏ Banning plastic bags is just a
drop in the ocean. We need to
ban all single-use plastic.

A hot potato Vấn đề nan giản, khó giải Environmental pollution is a hot
quyết potato nowadays because it is
really complicated and hard to
solve.

to be in (someone’s) Thông cảm và hiểu cho ai đó As hard as it is to live with a

shoes disability, remember that you’re
not alone—a lot of other people
Human are in your shoes, too.

7
 không phải việc của mình It’s really none of his business
None of one’s
what I do with the money I earn.
business

Be the apple of one’s Được ai yêu thích Tony is the apple of my eye; he’s
eye not only handsome but also very
gallant.

Fight like cat and dog Cãi nhau như chó với mèo My brother and I are very close in
age and we used to fight like cat
and dog.

Talk man to man / Nói chuyện thẳng thắn, I think I need to have a
Have a man-to-man nghiêm túc man-to-man chat with you about
chat with the dangers of unprotected sex.

Down-and-out không có tiền, công việc, nhà That old man is a down-and-out,
cửa coming over twice a week to take
the leftover food.

Pour money down Tiêu hoang Don’t pour money down the drain
the drain by buying that low-quality
computer. It’s going to break
soon.

Make ends meet Kiếm đủ tiền để sống qua Many people are struggling to
ngày make ends meet because wages
Money
are failing to keep pace with rising
prices.

Cost an arm and a Đắt đỏ It cost us an arm and a leg to get

leg here. But it has been worth every
penny and more.

Tighten one’s belt Thắt lưng buộc bụng, tiết Clearly, if you are spending more
kiệm than your income, you’ll need to
tighten your belt.

8
 Rain cats and dogs Mưa như trút nước I think I’ll stay home today. It’s
raining cats and dogs and I don’t
want to drive.

Save money for a Tiết kiệm tiền cho tương lai Luckily she had saved some
rainy day money for a rainy day.

It never rains but it Những điều tốt/xấu xảy ra We had nothing to do for weeks,
pours liên tục then suddenly we have all this
Rain
work to do: it never rains but it
pours!

Rain or shine Cho dù chuyện gì xảy ra He goes jogging every morning,

rain or shine.

Take a rain check (on Từ chối một lời đề nghị/ lời They wanted me to come along
something) mời for the ride but I took a rain check.

A woman of few Người phụ nữ ít nói My mother was a woman of few

words words, but when she spoke it was
worth listening to.

A woman for all Người phụ nữ cho bốn mùa Judy paints, does photography,
seasons and writes novels. She’s a woman
⇒ Người phụ nữ tài năng, for all seasons.
thành công ở nhiều lĩnh vực

Women
A woman of means Người phụ nữ giàu có Her extravagant spending habits
led everyone to believe that she
was a woman of means.

Be one’s own Hành động độc lập, không Working for herself meant that
man/woman phụ thuộc vào ai she could be her own woman.

A man/woman of the Người đàn ông/phụ nữ của The trouble with the governor’s
campaign is that she is trying to

9
 people nhân dân, công chúng
A friend in need (is a Người bạn thực sự là một
friend indeed) người sẵn sàng giúp đỡ, đặc
biệt là trong những hoàn
cảnh khó khăn.
Get on like a house Cảm thấy thích ai đó và trở
on fire thành bạn rất nhanh
Birds of a feather Ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã
Friendship flock together
Know someone Biết tường tận, hiểu rõ ai đó
inside out
Go back a long way Quen nhau được một thời
gian
No pain no gain Không có gì đạt được 1 cách
dễ dàng
Burn the candle at Đốt cây nến ở cả 2 đầu
Effortness both ends
⇒ Làm việc quá sức, thức
khuya dậy sớm
be a woman of all people.
She stayed by me when I was
depressed about my parents’
divorce, which made me believe
that “a friend in need is a friend
indeed.”
I went over and struck up a
conversation, and we got on like a
house on fire.
Barry and Iris are always
together, they both love horse
racing, it just shows that birds of a
feather flock together.
I just think you should know a
person inside out before you
decide to marry them.
We go back a long way, and she’s
always kept in touch, always been
there for me.
It must be so hard to exercise for
long. – Yeah, but I want to look
good, and you know, no pain, no
gain.
She’d been burning the candle at
both ends for months to prepare
for her exam.
10
 Pull your socks up Kéo đôi tất lên He’s going to have to pull his
socks up if he wants to stay in the
⇒ Cải thiện phong độ, hiệu team.
suất

Not do things by Không làm nửa vời “I didn’t realize you were
halves decorating the whole house.” “Oh,
⇒ Làm hết sức mình we don’t do things by halves
around here.”

Go the extra mile Đi thêm 1 dặm nữa He’s a nice guy, always ready to
go the extra mile for his friends.
⇒ Cố gắng hơn so với yêu
cầu

A dream come true đạt được những gì mà mình Meeting you is a dream come true
mong muốn trong một for me.
khoảng thời gian dài

Beyond one’s wildest tốt đẹp hơn những gì mình The project succeeded beyond
dreams tưởng tượng our wildest dreams.

Win hands down Thắng cái gì đó dễ dàng We were really unprepared for
our last game, and the other team
Success won hands down.

Plain sailing Thuận buồm xuôi gió Once I got used to the diet, it was
plain sailing and I lost six kilos
over a four-month period.

Work like a charm Thành công tốt đẹp và Our little arrangement worked
nhanh chóng, như có bùa like a charm
phép

11
 Play with fire Chơi với lửa In this economic climate, union
leaders who are thinking about
⇒ Làm điều gây nguy hiểm strikes are playing with fire.

To be on the safe Ở phía an toàn I didn’t think it was serious but I

side took her to the doctor’s just to be
⇒ Cho chắc ăn, tránh rủi ro on the safe side.

A close shave Cú cạo sát Seventeen school students had a

close shave when a tree fell on
Life ⇒ Thoát khỏi tình huống their bus yesterday.
nguy hiểm

Dog-eat-dog world Thế giới cạnh tranh The music industry is a

dog-eat-dog world; one day
you’re on top and the next,
everyone forgets you.

An even playing field Sân chơi công bằng Given an even playing field, girls
tend to do better at school than
boys.

12