Idioms are one way to empower your English language skills. Beyond upgrading the level of your sentence, they aid in making the sentence more creative, crisp and concrete. Additionally, an idiom makes the meaning more clear and explanatory.
The dictionary does not carry the meanings of such phrases as it is, but they sure are something you should secure in your personal vocabulary. Technically speaking, they help shorten the length of sentences many times making it more easily readable. They cover a range of human attributes, qualities, relations and actions in the most creative ways.
Let’s take a look at 26 Idioms/phrases from each alphabet to polish your language.
Idioms
1. A- Add to the Gaiety Of
Meaning: To add more joy or delight at a place, function or gathering. Sentence: No matter where my sister goes, she adds to the gaiety of the gathering.
2. B -Bark at the moon
Meaning: It means to worry about something that is not in our hands or cannot be changed Sentence: The traffic is always bad on these roads; there’s no point cribbing and barking at the moon in this case.
3. C – Crow About
Meaning: To feel proud of something that is done. Sentence: Harry is in the habit of crowing about everything that he does around here. It annoys most of his colleagues.
4. D- Draconian Means
Meaning: To use cruel or oppressive measures to achieve/do something. Sentence: The principal and his management took Draconian means to implement discipline in this institution.
5. E- Epoch Making
Meaning: Something remarkable or exquisite. Sentence: The city has developed many epoch-making infrastructures for the benefit of the people.
6. F- Frontier of Knowledge
Meaning: To have limited knowledge about something. Sentence: Scientists have a frontier of knowledge about this field of science as of today.
7. G-Go great guns
Meaning: To do something with great vigor and energy Sentence: Despite the muddy roads, they conducted the drive with great guns.
8. H- Hard on the pocket
Meaning: Something so expensive that one cannot afford it easily. Sentence: we cannot sell necessary items at such high rates; it is hard on the pockets of an average middle-class family.
9. I – Ivory Tower
Meaning: To be in a disconnect from reality or to be in a state of mental withdrawal from real life. Sentence: Gloria is one of the ivory tower people who also happens to be very creative.
10. J- Jar upon nerves
Meaning: To irritate or annoy or to feel irritated or annoyed. Sentence: People speaking loudly on phones jars upon my nerves.
11. K- Keep a finger on the pulse
Meaning: To be fully aware. Sentence: Parents should try to keep a finger on the pulse of their children’s activities.
12. L- Lord Over
Meaning: To behave arrogantly. Sentence: Some people lord over their subordinates out of their ego.
13. M- Memory like a Sieve
Meaning: Have a bad memory. Sentence: Philip has a memory like a sieve; we cannot be sure that he will remember to buy the things we asked him to this morning.
14. N- Nodding acquaintance
Meaning: To be slightly familiar with something or someone. Sentence: I have a nodding acquaintance with this subject.
15. O- Oust From
Meaning: To remove or exclude. Sentence: Robin was ousted from the party owing to the members’ rage towards his indiscipline and irresponsibility.
16. P- Paper Tiger
Meaning: One can use this idiom to describe an enemy who seems dangerous but isn’t in reality. Sentence: The protestors outside the minister’s house are no more than paper tigers who cannot do anything but scream.
17. Q- Quirk of fate
Meaning: An accidental occurrence that influences future events as well. Sentence: It was merely a quirk of fate that Jacob did not board the flight that crashed even though he had completed his security check; it saved his life!
18. R- Rule the Roost
Meaning: It means to hold an influential place in your group/society. Sentence: My sister is such a great entertainer that she rules the roost at all social gatherings and parties.
19. S- Separate the sheep from the goats
Meaning: It means to separate the good and the bad. Sentence: Only a wise person can separate the sheep from the goats and only then offer a practical judgment.
20. T- Tea and Sympathy
Meaning: It means to comfort someone in times of need. Sentence: We should offer tea and sympathy to Rupert in this distress situation when his father is seriously ill.
21. U- Uncrowned King
Meaning: A person who is considered the best in a particular field or industry is an uncrowned king. Sentence: My late brother was an uncrowned king in the field of soccer, as remembered by his teammates.
22. V- In the vanguard
Meaning: To be in prominence or forefront of activity. Sentence: They were in the vanguard of the freedom struggle of their nation.
23. W- Weather the storm
Meaning: It means to come out of a problematic situation bravely. Sentence: We have weathered the storm of our financial breakdown. We are back on our feet now with newer jobs.
24. X- None
25. Y- spin a yarn
Meaning: To tell false stories. Sentence: The soldier always spins yarns in front of the villagers about his heroism and bravery.
26. Z- Zero in on
Meaning: To focus one’s attention on a particular thing or person. Sentence: The selectors have zeroed in on this cricketer and will interrogate him after the match.
Doesn’t it seem fun to add such idioms and phrases to our daily language? And these are just a few of the plethora of them that exist. Pick your favorite one of these idioms, and leave a sentence using it in the comment section below.
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