idiom meaning example sentence

apple of one's a person that is Baby Jessica is the apple of her

eye adored by father's eye.
someone

(have a) bun in be pregnant I don't think Jan will come to the bar
the oven because she has a bun in the oven.

bad egg a person who is I don't want my little brother

often in trouble hanging around with the bad
eggs on the street.

big cheese very important I thought I was just going to

person (VIP) interview the secretary, but they let
me talk to the big cheese himself.

bread and necessities, the Just explain the bread and

butter main thing butter of your report. You don't
have to go into details.

bring home the earn the income My husband has had to bring home
bacon the bacon ever since I broke my
leg.

butter someone be extra nice to We'll have to butter Angie up before

up someone (usually we tell her the news about the
for selfish broken vase.
reasons)

(have one's) want more than Rick wants to have his cake and
cake and eat it your fair share or eat it too. He wants to be single but
too need he doesn't want me to date anyone
else.
carrot top person with red or Simon is the first carrot top I've
orange hair ever gone out with.

cheesy silly I love reading cheesy romance

novels because I don't have to think.

cool as a very relaxed I thought I was afraid of flying, but I

cucumber was cool as a cucumber all the way
to England.

cream of the the best We hired the cream of the crop to

crop entertain us at the Christmas party.

(don't) cry over get upset over The mirror is broken and we can't fix
spilled milk something that it. There's no need to cry over
has happened and spilled milk.
cannot be
changed

cup of joe cup of coffee Let's stop for a cup of joe before we
head to work.

(not my) cup of something you Opera isn't exactly my cup of tea.
tea enjoy (usually
used negatively)

egg someone urge someone to The gang tried to egg us on but we

on do something didn't want to fight.

freeze one's be very cold I froze my buns off at the ice rink.
buns off

full of beans have a lot of (silly) The kids were full of beans after
 energy the circus.

gravy train extremely good The unionized grocers have been

pay for minimal enjoying the gravy train for twenty
work years.

(have receive without The professor's daughter had her

something) working for college diploma handed to her on a
handed to something silver platter.
someone on a
silver platter

hard nut to difficult to Angelo is a hard nut to crack when

crack understand (often something is bothering him like this.
a person)

hot potato a controversial or Choosing a location for our new store

difficult subject is a hot potato right now.

in a nutshell simply In a nutshell, I'm having a bad day.

nuts about like a lot I'm nuts about classical music these
something, days.
someone

out to lunch crazy or mad Harry has been out to lunch ever
since he lost his job.

one smart a very intelligent Your daughter is one smart cookie.

cookie person She reads much higher than her
grade level.

peach fuzz small amount of Except for a bit of peach fuzz, the
 hair growth baby came out bald.

piece of cake very easy The exam was a piece of cake.

put all of ones rely on one single Even though I'm majoring in Art, I'm
eggs in one thing taking a maths course because my
basket Dad says I shouldn't put all of my
eggs in one basket.

souped up made more The car was souped up with shiny

powerful or stylish rims and a loud stereo.

sell like hot bought by many The new Harry Potter books sold
cakes people like hot cakes.

spice things up make something I wanted to spice things up in the

more exciting office, so I bought some red and gold
paint.

spill the beans reveal the truth On Monday, I'm going to spill the
beansabout my travel plans.

take something don't consider Take Mandy's advice with a pinch of

with a pinch something 100% salt. She doesn't always do her
(grain) of salt accurate research.

use your noodle use your brain You're going to have to really use
your noodle on this crossword
puzzle. It's an extra difficult one.