The complete collection
Browse strange phrases A–Z
1,789 expressions, arranged for wandering. Open any entry for its meaning, history, variants, sources, and examples.
A
160 phrases- A bad egg
- A bad hair day
- A baker's dozen
- A baptism of fire
- A battle of wills
- A bee in your bonnet
- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
- A bit part
- A bitter pill to swallow
- A black day
- A bolt from the blue
- A bull in a china shop
- A bun in the oven
- A cameo appearance
- A canary in the coal mine
- A Cassandra warning
- A cat on a hot tin roof
- A charmed life
- A chip off the old block
- A cock and bull story
- A cross to bear
- A Daniel come to judgment
- A dark horse
- A day late and a dollar short
- A diamond in the rough
- A different kettle of fish
- A dime a dozen
- A dish fit for the gods
- A dog's breakfast
- A drop in the bucket
- A feather in your cap
- A fish out of water
- A flash in the pan
- A fly in the ointment
- A fly on the wall
- A fool and his money are soon parted
- A foregone conclusion
- A friend in need is a friend indeed
- A frog in your throat
- A golden opportunity
- A good egg
- A gut feeling
- A hard nut to crack
- A hard row to hoe
- A knee-jerk reaction
- A labour of Hercules
- A labour of love
- A laughing stock
- A law unto themselves
- A leap of faith
- A leopard can't change its spots
- A level playing field
- A licence to print money
- A litmus test
- A little bird told me
- A lone wolf
- A long shot
- A mentor
- A month of Sundays
- A moveable feast
- A needle in a haystack
- A nemesis
- A nine days' wonder
- A parting shot
- A pat on the back
- A penny for your thoughts
- A perfect storm
- A pretty kettle of fish
- A pretty penny
- A Pyrrhic victory
- A ray of sunshine
- A rearguard action
- A recipe for disaster
- A red rag to a bull
- A red-letter day
- A rising tide lifts all boats
- A rolling stone gathers no moss
- A run for your money
- A sair fecht
- A sea change
- A shaggy dog story
- A shot across the bow
- A shot in the arm
- A shot in the dark
- A shoulder to cry on
- A sight for sore eyes
- A siren call
- A Sisyphean task
- A slap on the wrist
- A smash hit
- A smoke-filled room
- A smoking gun
- A snake in the grass
- A soft answer turns away wrath
- A sop to Cerberus
- A sound bite
- A square meal
- A stab in the back
- A stage whisper
- A stitch in time saves nine
- A stone's throw
- A storm in a teacup
- A storm is brewing
- A straw poll
- A stuffed shirt
- A stumbling block
- A taste of your own medicine
- A thorn in your side
- A tower of strength
- A voice crying in the wilderness
- A war of words
- A watched pot never boils
- A whale of a time
- A wild card
- A wild-goose chase
- A wolf in sheep's clothing
- Above board
- According to Cocker
- Achilles' heel
- Acid test
- Across the board
- Acting the maggot
- After your own heart
- Against the grain
- Aid and abet
- All and sundry
- All at sea
- All ears
- All fur coat and no knickers
- All hands on deck
- All hat and no cattle
- All Lombard Street to a China orange
- All mouth and no trousers
- All my eye and Betty Martin
- All that glisters is not gold
- All that glitters is not gold
- All's well that ends well
- An albatross around your neck
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away
- An elegant sufficiency
- An elephant never forgets
- An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
- An odyssey
- An old wives' tale
- Angst
- Any port in a storm
- Apple of my eye
- Apple of your eye
- As American as apple pie
- As good luck would have it
- As plain as the nose on your face
- Astroturfing
- At close quarters
- At daggers drawn
- At His Majesty's pleasure
- At sixes and sevens
- At the drop of a hat
- At your wits' end
- Avatar
- Away with the fairies
B
107 phrases- Back on your feet
- Back to square one
- Back to the drawing board
- Bad blood
- Bag and baggage
- Ballpark figure
- Bamboozle
- Bandwidth
- Bang for your buck
- Banshee
- Bark is worse than their bite
- Bark up the wrong tree
- Barking mad
- Bat an eyelid
- Bated breath
- Bats in the belfry
- Batten down the hatches
- Bean counter
- Bear market
- Beat a dead horse
- Beat around the bush
- Beat the bushes
- Beck and call
- Bedside manner
- Before you can say Jack Robinson
- Beggars can't be choosers
- Behind someone's back
- Behind the eight ball
- Behind the scenes
- Bell the cat
- Bells and whistles
- Below the belt
- Belt and braces
- Benching
- Bend over backwards
- Beside yourself
- Bet your bottom dollar
- Better late than never
- Between Scylla and Charybdis
- Between the devil and the deep blue sea
- Between wind and water
- Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
- Big fish in a small pond
- Bigger than Dallas
- Bigwig
- Binge-watch
- Birds of a feather flock together
- Bite off more than you can chew
- Bite someone's head off
- Bite the bullet
- Bite the dust
- Bite your tongue
- Black affronted
- Black and blue
- Blatant
- Blind as a bat
- Blind spot
- Blood is thicker than water
- Blow hot and cold
- Blow off steam
- Blow the cobwebs away
- Blow your own trumpet
- Blue blood
- Blue chip
- Blue-eyed boy
- Bob's your uncle
- Boil the ocean
- Bona fide
- Bone idle
- Bone of contention
- Boondocks
- Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
- Bowdlerize
- Box of birds
- Boycott
- Brain drain
- Brain rot
- Brass neck
- Brave new world
- Bread and butter
- Breadcrumbing
- Breadwinner
- Break a leg
- Break the ice
- Brevity is the soul of wit
- Bring down the house
- Bring home the bacon
- Brownie points
- Bucket list
- Buckley's chance
- Burn the candle at both ends
- Burn the midnight oil
- Burn your bridges
- Bury the hatchet
- Bury your head in the sand
- Bush party
- Butter someone up
- Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth
- Butterfingers
- Buy a pig in a poke
- Buy the farm
- By and large
- By hook or by crook
- By the book
- By the skin of your teeth
- By word of mouth
- Bête noire
C
124 phrases- C'est la vie
- Cabin fever
- Call a spade a spade
- Call it a day
- Call someone's bluff
- Cancel culture
- Cannon fodder
- Cap in hand
- Carpe diem
- Carry coals to Newcastle
- Carry on like a pork chop
- Carry the can
- Carte blanche
- Cash cow
- Cast pearls before swine
- Cast the first stone
- Cat got your tongue?
- Cat nap
- Catamaran
- Catawampus
- Catch someone's eye
- Catch-22
- Catfishing
- Caught between a rock and a hard place
- Caught flat-footed
- Caught in the act
- Caught in the crossfire
- Caught in the crosshairs
- Caught napping
- Caught on the back foot
- Caught on the hop
- Caught red-handed
- Caught with chaff
- Caught with egg on your face
- Caught with your hand in the cookie jar
- Caught with your hand in the till
- Caught with your pants down
- Cause célèbre
- Chain reaction
- Chalk and cheese
- Champ at the bit
- Change of heart
- Chapter and verse
- Charity begins at home
- Chasing rainbows
- Chauvinism
- Cheap at half the price
- Cheapskate
- Cherry-pick
- Cheugy
- Chew the fat
- Chew the scenery
- Chicken feed
- Chicken out
- Children should be seen and not heard
- Chip off the old block
- Chip on your shoulder
- Chock-a-block
- Chortle
- Chutzpah
- Circle back
- Clam up
- Clean bill of health
- Clean the Augean stables
- Clear as a bell
- Clickbait
- Cloak and dagger
- Close ranks
- Close, but no cigar
- Cloud cuckoo land
- Clutch at straws
- Cock a snook
- Cock of the walk
- Cold comfort
- Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
- Cold feet
- Cold fish
- Cold turkey
- Collateral damage
- Come a cropper
- Come from away
- Come hell or high water
- Come into money
- Come rain or shine
- Come the raw prawn
- Come what may
- Comic relief
- Concern trolling
- Cook someone's goose
- Cook the books
- Cool as a cucumber
- Copper-bottomed
- Copycat
- Core memory
- Corpsing
- Cost an arm and a leg
- Couch potato
- Count sheep
- Coup de grâce
- Cream of the crop
- Critical mass
- Crocodile tears
- Cross that bridge when you come to it
- Cross the Rubicon
- Cruel to be kind
- Cry over spilled milk
- Cry wolf
- Crème de la crème
- Cuffing season
- Curiosity killed the cat
- Curry favour
- Curtain call
- Curtain-raiser
- Cushioning
- Cut and dried
- Cut and run
- Cut corners
- Cut from the same cloth
- Cut of your jib
- Cut off your nose to spite your face
- Cut the Gordian knot
- Cut the mustard
- Cut to the chase
- Cut to the quick
D
73 phrases- Damp squib
- Dark horse
- David and Goliath
- Davy Jones's locker
- Daylight robbery
- De facto
- De rigueur
- Dead as a doornail
- Dead ringer
- Deep dive
- Deepfake
- Delulu
- Deus ex machina
- Devil a bit
- Digital detox
- Dine with Duke Humphrey
- Dinna fash yourself
- Dirt cheap
- Do the needful
- Doff your hat
- Dog and pony show
- Dog days of summer
- Dog eat dog
- Dog in the manger
- Dog whistle
- Dogfooding
- Dollars to doughnuts
- Domino effect
- Don't bite the hand that feeds you
- Don't count your chickens before they hatch
- Don't give up the day job
- Don't hold your breath
- Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket
- Don't rest on your laurels
- Don't rock the boat
- Don't shoot the messenger
- Don't take any wooden nickels
- Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs
- Don't throw stones in glass houses
- Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater
- Don't upset the apple cart
- Don't wash your dirty linen in public
- Donkey's years
- Doom spending
- Doomscrolling
- Doppelgänger
- Double act
- Double-double
- Doubting Thomas
- Down in the dumps
- Down in the mouth
- Down the rabbit hole
- Down to earth
- Down to the wire
- Doxxing
- Drag your feet
- Draw a blank
- Draw first blood
- Draw the line
- Draw the short straw
- Dressed to kill
- Dressed to the nines
- Dressing down
- Drink like a fish
- Drive someone up the wall
- Drugstore cowboy
- Drummed out of the corps
- Duck soup
- Dutch courage
- Dutch treat
- Dutch uncle
- Déjà vu
E
32 phrases- Easier said than done
- Easy as pie
- Eat crow
- Eat humble pie
- Eat like a bird
- Eat like a horse
- Eat like a pig
- Eat out of house and home
- Eat out of your hand
- Eat your hat
- Eat your heart out
- Eat your words
- Eat, drink and be merry
- Eaten out of house and home
- Echo chamber
- Egg on your face
- Egg someone on
- Elbow grease
- Elephant in the room
- Emotional labour
- Enfant terrible
- Enshittification
- Ersatz
- Esprit de l'escalier
- Eureka
- Even Stevens
- Every cloud has a silver lining
- Every dog has its day
- Every man for himself
- Every trick in the book
- Exit stage left
- Eyes bigger than your stomach
F
73 phrases- Face like thunder
- Face the music
- Facts are chiels that winna ding
- Fair and square
- Fair crack of the whip
- Fair play
- Fair to middling
- Fait accompli
- Fake news
- Fall between two stools
- Fall flat
- Fall off the wagon
- Fall on deaf ears
- Fall on your sword
- Familiarity breeds contempt
- Fancy-free
- Fast and loose
- Fat cat
- Faux pas
- Feast or famine
- Feather your nest
- Feel it in your bones
- Feel your oats
- Fiddle while Rome burns
- Fifth wheel
- Fight fire with fire
- Fight the good fight
- Filibuster
- Filter bubble
- Fine and dandy
- Fine as frog hair
- Fine words butter no parsnips
- First come, first served
- First rate
- First-world problem
- Fish for compliments
- Fish or cut bait
- Fish out of water
- Fit as a butcher's dog
- Fit as a fiddle
- Fit like a glove
- Fit to be tied
- Five by five
- Flak
- Flat as a pancake
- Flat broke
- Flat out like a lizard drinking
- Flesh and blood
- Flotsam and jetsam
- Fly by the seat of your pants
- Fly off the handle
- Fly-by-night
- Follow suit
- FOMO
- Food for thought
- Fool me once, shame on you
- Fool's gold
- Fool's paradise
- Foot the bill
- For a song
- For love or money
- For the birds
- Forbidden fruit
- Foul play
- Friendly fire
- From pillar to post
- From soup to nuts
- From the bottom of your heart
- Front runner
- Full of beans
- Full of hot air
- Full steam ahead
- Funny money
G
85 phrases- Galore
- Gargantuan
- Gaslighting
- Gerrymander
- Gestalt
- Get a leg up
- Get a wiggle on
- Get down to brass tacks
- Get off on the wrong foot
- Get someone's goat
- Get the bit between your teeth
- Get the hook
- Get the sack
- Get wind of
- Get your ducks in a row
- Get your goat
- Get your hands dirty
- Get your money's worth
- Ghosting
- Gig economy
- Girl dinner
- Girl math
- Girlboss
- Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself
- Give a wide berth
- Give as good as you get
- Give it a whirl
- Give no quarter
- Give short shrift
- Give someone a hand
- Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile
- Give someone the boot
- Give someone the cold shoulder
- Give someone the runaround
- Give someone the shirt off your back
- Give someone the third degree
- Give the devil his due
- Give the game away
- Give the green light
- Give the slip
- Give up the ghost
- Give'r
- Glass ceiling
- Glass cliff
- Go bananas
- Go belly up
- Go bung
- Go for broke
- Go for the big skate
- Go out on a limb
- Go overboard
- Go pound sand
- Go the extra mile
- Go the whole hog
- Go to Jericho
- Go to pot
- Go to your head
- Go with the flow
- Golden age
- Golden calf
- Golden handshake
- Golden parachute
- Gone for a Burton
- Gone pear-shaped
- Gone to the dogs
- Good riddance
- Good Samaritan
- Gordon Bennett
- Grasp the nettle
- Grassroots
- Great minds think alike
- Green fingers
- Green flag
- Green light
- Green with envy
- Greenwashing
- Grey area
- Grey matter
- Grin and bear it
- Grin like a Cheshire cat
- Grit your teeth
- Groggy
- Guinea pig
- Gung ho
- Guru
H
88 phrases- Hair of the dog
- Halcyon days
- Hale and hearty
- Half seas over
- Half the battle
- Half-baked
- Ham it up
- Hammer and tongs
- Hand in glove
- Hand over fist
- Hand-me-down
- Handle with kid gloves
- Hands are tied
- Hang a Larry
- Hang a Roger
- Hang by a thread
- Hang in there
- Hang out to dry
- Hang up your skates
- Happy as a clam
- Happy as a sandboy
- Happy as Larry
- Hard and fast
- Hard pass
- Harp on
- Hatchet man
- Hate-watching
- Hats off to someone
- Have a beef with someone
- Have a bone to pick
- Have a butcher's
- Have a Captain Cook
- Have a chip on your shoulder
- Have a dekko
- Have a screw loose
- Have a tiger by the tail
- Have an axe to grind
- Have bigger fish to fry
- Have something up your sleeve
- Have the blues
- Have the last laugh
- Have your cake and eat it
- Have your head in the clouds
- Head and shoulders above
- Head over heels
- Head start
- Headliner
- Heads will roll
- Heart in your mouth
- Heart of gold
- Heavens to Betsy
- Helicopter parent
- Hell in a handbasket
- Hell-bent for leather
- Helter-skelter
- Henpecked
- High and dry
- High muckety-muck
- High on the hog
- Highway robbery
- Hit for six
- Hit the ground running
- Hit the hay
- Hit the jackpot
- Hit the nail on the head
- Hither and thither
- Hobson's choice
- Hoist with your own petard
- Hold the fort
- Hold the line
- Hold thumbs
- Hold water
- Hold your horses
- Hold your own
- Hold your tongue
- Holy mackerel
- Honcho
- Horse of a different color
- Hot potato
- Hot under the collar
- How do you like them apples
- Hubris
- Hue and cry
- Humblebrag
- Hunky-dory
- Hurly-burly
- Hush money
- Hustle culture
I
52 phrases- I'll eat my hat
- If it ain't broke, don't fix it
- If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
- Ignorance is bliss
- In a New York minute
- In a nutshell
- In a pickle
- In a pig's eye
- In a stew
- In black and white
- In cold blood
- In deep water
- In fine fettle
- In for a penny, in for a pound
- In good hands
- In hot water
- In like a dirty shirt
- In like Flynn
- In my mind's eye
- In one ear and out the other
- In one's heart of hearts
- In over your head
- In someone's black books
- In stitches
- In the bag
- In the black
- In the cold light of day
- In the doghouse
- In the doldrums
- In the driver's seat
- In the firing line
- In the heat of the moment
- In the lap of luxury
- In the limelight
- In the nick of time
- In the offing
- In the pink
- In the pink (of health)
- In the public eye
- In the red
- In the same boat
- In the soup
- In the spotlight
- In the twinkling of an eye
- In the wake of
- Influencer
- It never rains but it pours
- It takes a village
- It takes two to tango
- It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
- It's not over till the fat lady sings
- It's not rocket science
J
21 phrases- Ja well no fine
- Jack of all trades
- Jack of all trades, master of none
- Janus-faced
- Je ne sais quoi
- Jerusalem cricket
- Joie de vivre
- JOMO
- Juggernaut
- Jump down someone's throat
- Jump on the bandwagon
- Jump on the gravy train
- Jump out of the frying pan into the fire
- Jump out of your skin
- Jump ship
- Jump the gun
- Jump the queue
- Jump the shark
- Jump through hoops
- Jumping Jehoshaphat
- Just what the doctor ordered
K
52 phrases- Kafkaesque
- Kangaroo court
- Karma
- Katy, bar the door
- Keep at bay
- Keep it under your hat
- Keep the ball rolling
- Keep the wolf from the door
- Keep your cards close to your chest
- Keep your chin up
- Keep your ear to the ground
- Keep your eye on the ball
- Keep your eyes peeled
- Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
- Keep your hair on
- Keep your head above water
- Keep your head down
- Keep your nose clean
- Keep your nose to the grindstone
- Keep your pants on
- Keep your pecker up
- Keep your powder dry
- Keep your shirt on
- Kibosh
- Kick against the pricks
- Kick over the traces
- Kick the bucket
- Kick the can down the road
- Kick the habit
- Kick up a fuss
- Kick up your heels
- Kill the fatted calf
- Kill them with kindness
- Kill two birds with one stone
- Kindly revert
- King's ransom
- Kith and kin
- Kitsch
- Klutz
- Knee-high to a grasshopper
- Knight in shining armour
- Knock down a cheque
- Knock for a loop
- Knock into a cocked hat
- Knock on wood
- Knock yourself out
- Know which side your bread is buttered (on)
- Know which way the wind blows
- Know your onions
- Knuckle down
- Kowtow
- Kudos
L
64 phrases- Laconic
- Lame duck
- Lang may your lum reek
- Last-ditch
- Laugh like a drain
- Laugh up your sleeve
- Laughing all the way to the bank
- Lead-pipe cinch
- Learn the ropes
- Leave much to be desired
- Leave no stone unturned
- Left holding the bag
- Left out in the cold
- Legerdemain
- Leitmotif
- Let her rip
- Let sleeping dogs lie
- Let the cat out of the bag
- Let your hair down
- Lickety-split
- Lie through your teeth
- Lightning never strikes twice
- Like a bat out of hell
- Like a bear with a sore head
- Like a bolt from the blue
- Like a broken record
- Like a bull at a gate
- Like a bull in a china shop
- Like a cat with nine lives
- Like a deer in the headlights
- Like a dog with two tails
- Like a kid in a candy store
- Like a lamb to the slaughter
- Like a moth to a flame
- Like a red rag to a bull
- Like all get-out
- Like billy-o
- Like herding cats
- Like Hogan's goat
- Like pulling teeth
- Like rats deserting a sinking ship
- Like shooting fish in a barrel
- Like the clappers
- Like turkeys voting for Christmas
- Live from hand to mouth
- Living rent-free
- Lock, stock and barrel
- Logrolling
- Lollygag
- London to a brick
- Long in the tooth
- Long may your big jib draw
- Long time no see
- Look before you leap
- Look what the cat dragged in
- Loophole
- Loose cannon
- Lose face
- Lose your head
- Lot's wife
- Loud budgeting
- Love bombing
- Love is blind
- Low-hanging fruit
M
76 phrases- Mad as a cut snake
- Mad as a hatter
- Mad as a March hare
- Madder than a wet hen
- Magnum opus
- Main character energy
- Make a beeline
- Make a beeline for
- Make a clean breast
- Make a clean sweep
- Make a hames of
- Make a holy show of yourself
- Make a meal of it
- Make a mountain out of a molehill
- Make a pig of yourself
- Make a pig's ear
- Make a rod for your own back
- Make a scene
- Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
- Make a song and dance
- Make a virtue of necessity
- Make ends meet
- Make hay while the sun shines
- Make no bones about it
- Make no odds
- Make the grade
- Make waves
- Making waves
- Malapropism
- Man does not live by bread alone
- Mansplaining
- Manspreading
- Many a little makes a mickle
- Many hands make light work
- March to a different drummer
- May Two-Four
- Mea culpa
- Meat and drink
- Meat and potatoes
- Meet one's Waterloo
- Melted into thin air
- Mercurial
- Mesmerize
- Method in the madness
- Mid
- Might and main
- Milk it
- Mind like a steel trap
- Mind your Ps and Qs
- Miss the boat
- Monday morning quarterback
- Money burns a hole in your pocket
- Money doesn't grow on trees
- Money down the drain
- Money for old rope
- Money is the root of all evil
- Money talks
- Money to burn
- Monkey business
- Monkey on your back
- Monkey's wedding
- More haste, less speed
- More in sorrow than in anger
- More sinned against than sinning
- More than meets the eye
- More than one way to skin a cat
- More than you can shake a stick at
- Motte and bailey
- Mountain out of a molehill
- Move fast and break things
- Move heaven and earth
- Move the goalposts
- Mudslinging
- Murder will out
- Music to my ears
- My brother's keeper
N
55 phrases- Nail your colours to the mast
- Namby-pamby
- Ne plus ultra
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- Neck and crop
- Neck of the woods
- Neither a borrower nor a lender be
- Neither use nor ornament
- Nest egg
- Netflix and chill
- Night owl
- Nip in the bud
- Nip it in the bud
- No dice
- No man is an island
- No man's land
- No room to swing a cat
- No rose without a thorn
- No skin off my nose
- No spring chicken
- Non sequitur
- None of your beeswax
- Nose out of joint
- Nosh
- Not a leg to stand on
- Not a patch on
- Not a snowball's chance in hell
- Not all there
- Not born yesterday
- Not cricket
- Not for Joe
- Not give a hoot
- Not give a monkey's
- Not give a tinker's cuss
- Not just whistling Dixie
- Not know someone from Adam
- Not lift a finger
- Not my cup of tea
- Not my pigeon
- Not playing with a full deck
- Not the full quid
- Not within cooee
- Not worth a brass farthing
- Not worth a hill of beans
- Not worth a plugged nickel
- Not worth a red cent
- Not worth a tinker's damn
- Not worth the candle
- Not worth the paper it's written on
- Not worth your salt
- Nothing new under the sun
- Nothing to sneeze at
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained
- Now-now
- Null and void
O
72 phrases- October surprise
- Off the beaten track
- Off the cuff
- Off the hook
- Off the peg
- Off the top of your head
- Off your high horse
- Off your rocker
- Off-colour
- OK boomer
- Old habits die hard
- Old hat
- On a hiding to nothing
- On a shoestring
- On a sticky wicket
- On a wing and a prayer
- On an even keel
- On cloud nine
- On tenterhooks
- On the back burner
- On the back foot
- On the ball
- On the breadline
- On the fiddle
- On the fritz
- On the horns of a dilemma
- On the lam
- On the level
- On the other hand
- On the pig's back
- On the Q.T.
- On the razzle
- On the rocks
- On the ropes
- On the same wavelength
- On the skids
- On the straight and narrow
- On the stump
- On the wagon
- On the wallaby track
- On the warpath
- On the wrong side of the tracks
- On your beam-ends
- On your high horse
- On your last legs
- Once bitten, twice shy
- Once in a blue moon
- Once more unto the breach
- One fell swoop
- One for the books
- One for the road
- One over the eight
- One swallow doesn't make a summer
- One-horse town
- One-trick pony
- Open a can of worms
- Orbiting
- Other fish to fry
- Out in the cold
- Out of left field
- Out of sight, out of mind
- Out of station
- Out of the blue
- Out of the frying pan into the fire
- Out of the woods
- Out of your depth
- Out to lunch
- Over a barrel
- Over the moon
- Over the top
- Over your head
- Over-egg the pudding
P
91 phrases- Packed like sardines
- Paint the town red
- Pandora's box
- Panic
- Paparazzi
- Paper over the cracks
- Paper tiger
- Paradigm shift
- Parasocial
- Part and parcel
- Pass muster
- Pass the buck
- Pass the hat
- Pay dirt
- Pay lip service
- Pay through the nose
- Peaches and cream
- Pecking order
- Pell-mell
- Penny dreadful
- Penny pincher
- Penny wise and pound foolish
- People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
- Perp walk
- Persona non grata
- Photo finish
- Pick someone's brain
- Pie in the sky
- Piece of cake
- Pied-à-terre
- Piggy bank
- Pigs might fly
- Pile-on
- Pin money
- Ping me
- Pink slip
- Pipe down
- Piping hot
- Plain sailing
- Play cat and mouse
- Play hooky
- Play it by ear
- Play second fiddle
- Play to the gallery
- Plead the Fifth
- Pleased as Punch
- Plough the sands
- Poacher turned gamekeeper
- Pocket money
- Poetic justice
- Poker face
- Pomp and circumstance
- Pop your clogs
- Pork barrel
- Posh
- Post-truth
- Prima donna
- Promethean
- Pull out all the stops
- Pull someone's leg
- Pull the other one, it's got bells on
- Pull the plug
- Pull the wool over someone's eyes
- Pull the wool over your eyes
- Pull your finger out
- Pull your punches
- Pull your socks up
- Puppy love
- Purple prose
- Push the boat out
- Put a damper on
- Put a sock in it
- Put all your eggs in one basket
- Put in your two cents
- Put on your thinking cap
- Put paid to
- Put the cart before the horse
- Put the comether on
- Put the heart crossways in someone
- Put the kibosh on
- Put the screws on
- Put the wind up
- Put through the wringer
- Put up your dukes
- Put wood in the hole
- Put your back into it
- Put your best foot forward
- Put your foot down
- Put your foot in it
- Put your money where your mouth is
- Put your oar in
Q
11 phrasesR
61 phrases- Rack and ruin
- Rack your brains
- Rags to riches
- Rain on someone's parade
- Rain on your parade
- Raining buckets
- Raining cats and dogs
- Raining pitchforks
- Raise Cain
- Raise the roof
- Raison d'être
- Rank and file
- Rara avis
- Rattle your dags
- Reach for the stars
- Read between the lines
- Read the Riot Act
- Read the room
- Realpolitik
- Reap the whirlwind
- Reap what you sow
- Receipts
- Red flag
- Red herring
- Red mist
- Red tape
- Reinvent the wheel
- Rest on one's laurels
- Ride herd on
- Ride roughshod over
- Ride shotgun
- Ride the coattails
- Ride the wave
- Right as rain
- Ring the changes
- Rizz
- Road to Damascus
- Rob Peter to pay Paul
- Robot
- Roll out the red carpet
- Rolling in the aisles
- Rome wasn't built in a day
- Root and branch
- Root, hog, or die
- Rose-tinted spectacles
- Rough and ready
- Round the bend
- Rub shoulders with
- Ruffle some feathers
- Rule of thumb
- Rule the roost
- Run a mile
- Run a tight ship
- Run around like a headless chicken
- Run like the wind
- Run of the mill
- Run off your feet
- Run out of steam
- Run ragged
- Run rings around
- Run the gauntlet
S
156 phrases- Sabre rattling
- Sackcloth and ashes
- Saddle someone with
- Sadfishing
- Safe and sound
- Safe as houses
- Sail close to the wind
- Salad days
- Salt of the earth
- Sang-froid
- Save for a rainy day
- Saved by the bell
- Savoir-faire
- Say uncle
- Scapegoat
- Scarce as hen's teeth
- Scarlet woman
- Schadenfreude
- Schlep
- Schmooze
- Scot-free
- Scraping the barrel
- Screw the pooch
- Scuttlebutt
- Sea legs
- Sealioning
- Second wind
- See a man about a dog
- See eye to eye
- See pink elephants
- See red
- See the elephant
- See which way the wind blows
- Seen better days
- Sell like hot cakes
- Sell someone down the river
- Send someone packing
- Send someone to Coventry
- Separate the wheat from the chaff
- Serendipity
- Set your teeth on edge
- Shake a leg
- Shanghai
- Shanks's pony
- Sharenting
- Sharp as a tack
- Shell out
- Shipping
- Ships that pass in the night
- Shipshape and Bristol fashion
- Shoot from the hip
- Shoot the breeze
- Shoot the messenger
- Shoot your mouth off
- Shoot yourself in the foot
- Short shrift
- Show a leg
- Show the white feather
- Show your true colours
- Showstopper
- Shrinkflation
- Sick as a dog
- Sick as a parrot
- Sick as a pig
- Sick to death
- Sick to the back teeth
- Signs of the times
- Silver bullet
- Simmer down
- Sine qua non
- Sing for your supper
- Sing like a bird
- Sing like a canary
- Sink or swim
- Sit on the fence
- Sitting duck
- Situationship
- Six of one and half a dozen of the other
- Skating on thin ice
- Skeleton in the closet
- Skin and bones
- Skosh
- Slacktivism
- Sling your hook
- Slip through your fingers
- Slippery as an eel
- Slogan
- Slow and steady wins the race
- Slush fund
- Sly as a fox
- Small potatoes
- Smart aleck
- Smart cookie
- Smell a rat
- Smithereens
- Smoke and mirrors
- Snake oil
- Snowball effect
- Snowed under
- Soft day, thank God
- Soft launch
- Son of a gun
- Sour grapes
- Sow wild oats
- Sowing dragon's teeth
- Spare the rod and spoil the child
- Spartan
- Spend a penny
- Spick and span
- Spiel
- Spill the beans
- Spill the tea
- Spin a yarn
- Spin doctor
- Spit and image
- Splice the mainbrace
- Split hairs
- Sportswashing
- Square peg in a round hole
- Square the circle
- Stag and doe
- Stage fright
- Stan
- Star-crossed lovers
- Status quo
- Steady as she goes
- Steady the ship
- Steal someone's thunder
- Steal the scene
- Steelman
- Stem the tide
- Stentorian
- Step into someone's shoes
- Step up to the plate
- Stew in your own juice
- Stick to your guns
- Stick your neck out
- Stiff upper lip
- Still waters run deep
- Stir up a hornets' nest
- Stool pigeon
- Straight from the horse's mouth
- Straight man
- Strange bedfellows
- Strapped for cash
- Straw man
- Strike it rich
- Strike while the iron is hot
- Suffer fools gladly
- Sunsetting
- Swan song
- Sweet as
- Sweet tooth
- Sweetheart deal
- Swing the lead
- Swings and roundabouts
T
201 phrases- Tabula rasa
- Take a back seat
- Take a rain check
- Take centre stage
- Take French leave
- Take it offline
- Take it on the chin
- Take it with a grain of salt
- Take the bit between your teeth
- Take the bull by the horns
- Take the cake
- Take the gilt off the gingerbread
- Take the high road
- Take the mickey
- Take the rough with the smooth
- Take the sting out
- Take the wind out of someone's sails
- Take the wind out of your sails
- Take to something like a duck to water
- Taken aback
- Talk the hind leg off a donkey
- Talk through your hat
- Talk turkey
- Tantalizing
- Teach your grandmother to suck eggs
- Tell it to the marines
- That dog won't hunt
- That's the way the cookie crumbles
- The almighty dollar
- The apple doesn't fall far from the tree
- The ball is in your court
- The be-all and end-all
- The best thing since sliced bread
- The best-laid schemes of mice and men
- The better part of valour is discretion
- The big cheese
- The bitter end
- The black market
- The black sheep
- The blind leading the blind
- The boot is on the other foot
- The bully pulpit
- The calm before the storm
- The camel's nose under the tent
- The cat's pajamas
- The cat's pyjamas
- The clothes make the man
- The cut of your jib
- The devil finds work for idle hands
- The devil to pay
- The die is cast
- The dogs of war
- The early bird catches the worm
- The eleventh hour
- The emperor's new clothes
- The end justifies the means
- The eye of the storm
- The game is afoot
- The gloves are off
- The Golden Fleece
- The grass is always greener on the other side
- The gravy train
- The green room
- The green-eyed monster
- The icing on the cake
- The ick
- The kiss of death
- The lady doth protest too much
- The last best West
- The last hurrah
- The last straw
- The law is an ass
- The letter of the law
- The life of Riley
- The lion's den
- The lion's share
- The long and the short of it
- The long arm of the law
- The man on the Clapham omnibus
- The Midas touch
- The milk of human kindness
- The more the merrier
- The mote in your eye
- The pen is mightier than the sword
- The penny dropped
- The pot calling the kettle black
- The powers that be
- The primrose path
- The prodigal son
- The proof of the pudding is in the eating
- The rat race
- The root of all evil
- The root of the matter
- The scales fell from his eyes
- The short end of the stick
- The show must go on
- The silent majority
- The silver screen
- The sound and the fury
- The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease
- The sun is over the yardarm
- The sword of Damocles
- The tail wagging the dog
- The thin end of the wedge
- The thin red line
- The third degree
- The third rail
- The tide is turning
- The upper crust
- The upper hand
- The wheel has come full circle
- The whole ball of wax
- The whole enchilada
- The whole nine yards
- The whole shebang
- The winds of change
- The winter of our discontent
- The world and his wife
- The world is your oyster
- The world's your oyster
- The writing on the wall
- There's method in the madness
- There's no such thing as a free lunch
- There's the rub
- Thick as thieves
- Think on your feet
- Think outside the box
- Third time lucky
- Thirty pieces of silver
- Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
- Thought leader
- Three sheets to the wind
- Throw a monkey wrench into the works
- Throw a spanner in the works
- Throw caution to the wind
- Throw down the gauntlet
- Throw in the towel
- Throw shade
- Throw someone to the lions
- Throw someone to the wolves
- Throw the book at
- Throw the cat among the pigeons
- Throw your hat in the ring
- Throw your hat into the ring
- Throw your weight around
- Thumb your nose at
- Tickety-boo
- Tickled pink
- Tie the knot
- Tighten the purse strings
- Tighten your belt
- Tilt at windmills
- Time and tide wait for no man
- Time is money
- Tip of the iceberg
- Tipping point
- To a T
- To and fro
- To thine own self be true
- Toe the line
- Tongue in cheek
- Too big for your boots
- Too big to fail
- Too many cooks spoil the broth
- Too much of a good thing
- Tooth and nail
- Top banana
- Top billing
- Topsy-turvy
- Touch and go
- Touch grass
- Tough cookie
- Tour de force
- Tread the boards
- Trip the light fantastic
- Trojan horse
- True blue
- Truth is stranger than fiction
- Truth will out
- Tuckered out
- Tug at the heartstrings
- Turn a blind eye
- Turn King's evidence
- Turn on a sixpence
- Turn over a new leaf
- Turn tail
- Turn the other cheek
- Turn the tables
- Turn the tide
- Turn up trumps
- Turncoat
- Twenty-three skidoo
- Twist in the wind
- Twist someone's arm
- Two left feet
- Two peas in a pod
- Two solitudes
- Two-four
- Tycoon
- Tête-à-tête
U
39 phrases- Ugly duckling
- Under a cloud
- Under bare poles
- Under false colours
- Under fire
- Under lock and key
- Under the gun
- Under the knife
- Under the sun
- Under the table
- Under the thumb
- Under the weather
- Under the wire
- Under your belt
- Under your thumb
- Understood the assignment
- Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown
- Unicorn (startup)
- Until you're blue in the face
- Up a blind alley
- Up a gum tree
- Up and running
- Up in arms
- Up in the air
- Up the ante
- Up the boohai
- Up the creek
- Up the creek without a paddle
- Up the duff
- Up the wall
- Up to scratch
- Up to snuff
- Up to the mark
- Up to your ears
- Up to your neck
- Up your sleeve
- Upset the applecart
- Upstage someone
- Utopia
V
3 phrasesW
66 phrases- Waiting in the wings
- Walk on eggshells
- Walk the plank
- Wallflower
- Walls have ears
- Wanderlust
- War chest
- Warts and all
- Wash your hands of something
- Watch like a hawk
- Water off a duck's back
- Water under the bridge
- We're all Jock Tamson's bairns
- Wear and tear
- Wear my heart upon my sleeve
- Wear the trousers
- Wear your heart on your sleeve
- Weather the storm
- Weltanschauung
- Wet behind the ears
- Wet blanket
- Wet your whistle
- What in Sam Hill?
- What is your good name?
- What the dickens
- What's done is done
- What's the craic?
- Whataboutism
- When hell freezes over
- When in Rome
- When in Rome, do as the Romans do
- When life gives you lemons, make lemonade
- When pigs fly
- When push comes to shove
- When the cat's away
- When the cat's away, the mice will play
- When the chips are down
- When the cows come home
- When the dust settles
- When the fat lady sings
- When the going gets tough
- When your ship comes in
- Where there's muck there's brass
- Where there's smoke there's fire
- Whet your appetite
- Which came first, the chicken or the egg
- Whistleblower
- White elephant
- White lie
- Whiter than white
- Whoop it up
- Wild and woolly
- Willy-nilly
- Win hands down
- Win the battle but lose the war
- Wise as an owl
- Witch hunt
- With bells on
- With flying colours
- Without let or hindrance
- Without rhyme or reason
- Wolf in sheep's clothing
- Wooden nutmeg
- Wool-gathering
- Worth its weight in gold
- Wunderkind
X
2 phrasesY
21 phrases- Yellow-bellied
- Yeoman's service
- You can lead a horse to water
- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink
- You can't get blood out of a stone
- You can't have it both ways
- You can't have your cake and eat it too
- You can't judge a book by its cover
- You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
- You can't polish a turd
- You can't put the genie back in the bottle
- You can't take it with you
- You can't teach an old dog new tricks
- You can't win them all
- You're pulling my leg
- You're the bee's knees
- You've got another think coming
- You've got rocks in your head
- You've got your work cut out
- Young at heart
- Your name is mud
Z
4 phrasesNo phrase matches that filter
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