BODY IDIOMS

Idioms	Explanation	EXAMPLE
A shot in the arm.	Something which has a sudden and positive effect on something.	His son's visits were a real shot in the arm for the old man.
Give your right arm.	To want something very much.	When I'm in Germany I'd give my right arm for some decent bacon.
To chance your arm.	To take a chance in order to get something that you wants.	He chanced his arm on the horses.
To cost an arm and a leg.	Extremely expensive.	Running this web site costs me an arm and a leg.
Strong-arm	To use force and threats to make people do what you demand.	The police used strong-arm tactics to break up the protest.
To twist someone's arm.	To persuade someone to do something they do not want to do.	She didn't want to study English, but the teacher twisted her arm.
Back to back	To be close together and facing in opposite directions.	British cities are full of back to back housing.
Behind someone's back.	To do something without them knowing, in a way which is unfair.	I bought the car behind his back and now he's really angry.
To get off someone's back.	To tell someone to stop criticizing.	If you got off her back about studying she might do better.
To get someone's back up.	To really annoy someone.	She does it deliberately, even though she knows I don't like it, just to get my back up.
To beat your brains out.	To spend a lot of time worrying about a problem and thinking about how to deal with it.	I've been beating my brains out trying to remember more brain idioms.
To pick someone's brain.	To ask for information or advice from someone who knows more about a subject than you do.	People often pick my brain on the forum.
Scatterbrain / Scatterbrained	A flighty and disorganized person.	She had to go home to get her handbag. She's such a scatterbrain!
Brainy	Clever.	He always gets good marks, he's so brainy.
To have a bun in the oven.	To be pregnant.	I didn't know whether she had a bun in the oven, or she'd just put on weight.
Calf length.	Clothing or boots that end at the middle point between the foot and the knee.	She wore a calf length dress to the party.
Tongue in cheek.	When you say something as a joke, although you might appear to be serious.	They said that he was America's greatest President, although I suspect it was tongue in cheek.
Keep your chin up.	Something that you say to someone in a difficult situation in order to encourage them to be brave and to try not to be sad.	I told her to keep her chin up and everything would be ok in the end.
To be all ears.	To be waiting eagerly to hear about something.	When she heard there was an important message for her, Spitz was all ears.
To not believe your ears.	To be unable to believe something you hear.	When he told me he had won the lottery, I couldn't believe my ears!
To go in one ear and out the other.	Used when someone isn't paying attention to what is being said, or obviously has no intention of acting upon it.	I could tell he wasn't really listening to my advice. It was going in one ear and out the other.
The naked eye	If something can be seen with the naked eye, it can be seen without the help of a microscope.	Amoebas are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
eye-catching	When someone or something is particularly attractive or noticeable.	She wore an eye-catching blouse.
In the blink of an eye.	Extremely quickly.	In the blink of an eye, she was gone.
Run your eye over.	To look quickly at the whole of something.	You should run your eye over that message before you send it.
To raise eyebrows.	To shock people.	Her decision to appear in Playboy raised a few eyebrows.
Keep your feet on the ground.	To have a realistic understanding of your own ideas, actions, and decisions.	It is hard to keep your feet on the ground when you suddenly become famous.
To stuff your face.	To eat a lot, very quickly and greedily. (negative)	He's always stuffing his face. No wonder he's so fat."
To face up to something.	To accept a usually unpleasant fact.	We have to face up to the fact that we are losing money hand over fist."
Itchy feet.	To be restless and have a strong desire to travel.	I've been living in Germany for over 12 years, but now I'm getting itchy feet.
To drag your feet.	To be deliberately slow (usually because you don't want to do something).	I suspect the government is dragging its feet over lowering taxes.
To get cold feet.	To suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do.	They're getting married next week - that's if he doesn't get cold feet!
To be a butterfingers.	Somebody who often drops things	He had the ball, but he dropped it! What a butterfingers!
Cross fingers.	People, usually children, sometimes cross their fingers behind their back when they're telling a lie thinking it gives them immunity. (Not to be confused with keeping your fingers crossed for luck.)	It's no good crossing your fingers, I want to know the truth!
"Have a finger in every pie."	To be involved in lots of different things.	He was a very influential man; he seemed to have a finger in every pie.
To point the finger.	To accuse someone of being responsible for something bad that has happened.	He knew that his next door neighbor had pointed the finger at him.
Pull your finger out.	To start working harder.	To pass her exams she had to pull her finger out.
The hair of the dog.	An alcoholic drink taken when one has a hangover.	I felt better after having a hair of the dog. One whisky and the hangover was gone.
To pull your hair out.	To be very worried about something.	She's got a test tomorrow and she's pulling her hair out.
To be a dab hand.	To be very good at something.	She was a dab hand at drawing.
To be an old hand. .	To have a lot of experience in something.	He's an old hand at difficult negotiations
To have a free hand.	To have the power to do what you want.	When it comes to what appears on this web site, I have a free hand.
To have the upper hand.	To have power and control over someone or a situation.	In the UK the upper classes still have the upper hand.
To be caught red handed.	To be discovered doing something illegal or wrong.	They caught him red-handed as he tried to rob the bank
To be a bighead	We call someone a bighead if they're acting in a conceited way.	Ever since he came top of the class, he's been a real bighead.
Have a heart.	Ask someone to be kinder to you.	Student: Have you marked my homework yet? Teacher: Have a heart! You only handed it in yesterday!
Heartbroken	Suffering from or exhibiting overwhelming sorrow, grief, or disappointment.	She was heartbroken when she found out she hadn't got the job.
Heartwarming	Something that causes a feeling gladness and pleasure.	The story of the dog who saved the life of its owner was such a heartwarming story.
Warmhearted person.	Someone who is very kind and generous.	She'll help anyone who needs it, she's such a warmhearted
To pull someone's leg.	To try to persuade someone to believe something which is not true as a joke?	She was very shocked until she realized he was only pulling her leg.
Many a slip twixt cup and lip "	Used to imply that even when the outcome of an event seems certain, things can still go wrong.	They thought they had the contract all sewn up, but the client didn't sign in the end. There's many a slip twixt cup and lip."
To cross someone's mind.	To think about something or someone.	Do I ever cross your mind?
To have a big mouth.	If someone says you have a big mouth, they think you talk too much, especially about things that should be secret	When I told them he had a girlfriend they looked surprised. Me and my big mouth!
To be down in the mouth.	To feel sad or depressed.	Governments often turn a blind eye to corruption.
Word of mouth	In speech but not in writing.	She was looking really down in the mouth, so I asked her what the matter was.
To breathe down sb's neck.	To stay so close to someone, watching everything that they do, that it's annoying.	It's awful having a boss who breathes down your neck all the time.
To get it in the neck.	To be punished or severely criticized for something that you have.	She'll get it in the neck for not doing her homework.
To stick your neck out.	To take a risk.	She really stuck her neck out expanding the business during a recession.
To get on someone's nerves.	To annoy someone.	The teacher really gets on my nerves when she goes on about correct spelling and grammar.
Cut off your nose to spite your face.	To do something because you are angry, even if it is not in your best interest.	She should have gone with them, she would have enjoyed it. She's just cutting off her nose to spite her face.
To powder your nose.	When a woman says she is going to "powder her nose", she means she is going to the toilet.	Excuse me a moment, I'm just going to powder my nose.
To get up sb's nose.	To annoy someone.	People who don't clean up after their dogs really get up my nose.
Turn your nose up at something.	To not like something because you think it is not good enough for you.	She turned her nose up at my homemade cakes, she only likes shop bought ones.
A shoulder to cry on	Used to describe someone who gives you sympathy when you are upset.	When my mother died, I really needed a shoulder to cry on.
To have a thick skin. / To be thick skinned.	If you are thick-skinned, you do not notice or get upset when people criticize you.	If you work as a salesperson, you soon develop a thick skin.
To have a thin skin. / To be thin skinned.	If you are thin-skinned, you get upset when people criticize you, or think people are critisizing you when they aren't.	Think skinned people shouldn't go into politics.
To jump down someone's throat.	To react angrily to something that someone says or does.	Finding our content on other web pages is a real kick in the teeth for us.
To ram something down someone's throat.	To try and force someone  to accept something against their will.	She's a vegetarian, but she doesn't ram her views down your throat.
To have a frog in your throat.	To have a tight feeling in your throat and be unable to speak clearly until you give a slight cough.	Excuse me (cough cough), I've got a bit of a frog in my throat.
To have a green thumb.	If you have a green thumb or even green thumbs it means you are good at gardening, or growing plants.	Her garden won many prizes. People said she had green thumbs.
To twiddle your thumbs.	To do nothing or to have nothing useful to do while you are waiting for something to happen.	They kept me waiting for two hours with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs.
Toe the line.	To conform to certain rules or standards.	He'll have to learn to toe the line, if he wants to get on in this organization.
To keep on your toes.	To keep on your toes, or to keep someone else on their toes, makes them stay alert and conscious of everything going on.	Aladdin and Leo will have to keep on their toes to find the Live Chat session.
To bite your tongue.	When you stop yourself from saying something because you realize it might cause offense or be hurtful.	Barack Obama said he bit his tongue many times during his primary fight against Hillary Clinton.
Has the cat got your tongue?	Something someone else might say to you if you don't say anything to them.	I know that you know the answer to this question. What's the matter, has the cat got your tongue?
The tip of your tongue.	The feeling you get when you know something, but you just can't actually remember it.	His name is on the tip of my tongue.