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IDIOMS - PAGE T

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IDIOM: to take after
MEANING: to resemble; to look like another person
EXAMPLE: "I take after my mother, but my sister takes after my father."


IDIOM: to take it easy
MEANING: to relax; be calm
EXAMPLE: Tanya doesn't have any plans for the weekend. She's just going to take it easy.


IDIOM: to take the bull by the horns
MEANING: to confront a problem directly
EXAMPLE: When Wade took the bull by the horns, he really surprised a lot of people! He's usually a very quiet person who avoids conflict.


IDIOM: to talk (one's) head off
MEANING: to talk a lot
EXAMPLE: Wendy can talk your head off if you let her. Sometimes I just rudely tell her, "I have to go now, bye!" and walk away, or else she'd talk to me for hours!


IDIOM: to talk through one's hat
MEANING: to voice irrational, illogical, or erroneous ideas
EXAMPLE: Nolan always talks through his hat. Last week he told us that he was going to invent a flying car to fly to the moon!


IDIOM: to tell a white lie
MEANING: a lie that is told to avoid offending someone or hurting (one's) feelings
EXAMPLE: My brother is a terrible singer. When he asked me if I liked his song, I told him a little white lie. I told him he sang well because I didn't want to hurt his feelings.


IDIOM: There, there.
MEANING: an expression of comfort
EXAMPLE: There, there, little girl. We'll find your mommy. Don't cry.


IDIOM: through the grapevine / I heard it through the grapevine.
MEANING: to get information indirectly
EXAMPLE: May: "How did you know that we were going to get a new supervisor?"
                 Val: "I heard it through the grapevine. Susie told Kelly, who told Chris, who told me."


IDIOM: to tick (someone) off
MEANING: to irritate or annoy someone
EXAMPLE: It really ticked me off when Randy kept tapping the desk with his keys!


IDIOM: tight-fisted (adj)
MEANING: a very frugal person; unwilling to spend money unnecessarily
EXAMPLE: Sara is so tight-fisted that she is using a broken string to tie her shoes. She won't even spend one dollar to buy a new shoelace!


IDIOM: a tightwad (n)
MEANING: a very frugal person; unwilling to spend money unnecessarily
EXAMPLE: Sara is such a tightwad that she is using a broken string to tie her shoes. She won't even spend one dollar to buy a new shoelace!


IDIOM: tip of (one's) tongue / on the tip of (one's) tongue
MEANING: to be very close to figuring out or remembering the answer
EXAMPLE: Beth: "What's the word for the other animal that looks like a crocodile?"
Lee: "Give me a second - it's on the tip of my tongue. Ummm...hmm...allisaur...no... I got it - alligator!"


IDIOM: tongue-in-cheek
MEANING: characterized by insincerity, irony, or whimsical exaggeration; in a joking manner
EXAMPLE: Tongue-in-cheek, Charles said that I need three arms to hold all the stuff I try to carry to class every day.


IDIOM: to toot (one's) own horn
MEANING: to brag or boast about oneself.
EXAMPLE: I don't usually too my own horn, but I baked this cake all by myself and it's delicious!


IDIOM: topsy-turvy (adj)
MEANING: in confusion or disorder; with the top or head downward; upside down
EXAMPLE: During the car crash, everything flew around topsy-turvy inside the car.


IDIOM: to toss something
MEANING: to throw something away; put something in the trash
EXAMPLE: My jeans have too many holes in them to wear now. I guess I'll have to toss them.


IDIOM: tough (adj)
MEANING: difficult
EXAMPLE: That's a  tough question. Do you know the answer?


IDIOM: tricky (adj)
MEANING: something that is easily confused or misunderstood
EXAMPLE: This math problem is tricky. I don't understand it.


IDIOM: to turn the tables
MEANING: to bring about a reversal of the relative conditions or fortunes of two contending parties
EXAMPLE: I was winning the chess match, but suddenly Fred turned the tables on me and announced, 'Checkmate!'


IDIOM: to turn a blind eye
MEANING: to refuse to see; be oblivious
EXAMPLE: The judge turned a blind eye to his son, who was using drugs.


IDIOM: to turn a deaf ear
MEANING: to refuse to listen


IDIOM: to turn loose (1)
MEANING: to set free
EXAMPLE: The animal activists turned the captured animals loose from the laboratory.


IDIOM: to turn loose (2)
MEANING: to free from all restraints
EXAMPLE: The professor turned the students loose to write whatever they liked.


IDIOM: to turn (one's) back on
MEANING: to reject, deny; forsake
EXAMPLE: Mary turned her back on Steve when he asked her to talk to him.


IDIOM: to turn (one's) head
MEANING: to cause to become infatuated or conceited
EXAMPLE: I wish I could say that success hasn't turned Bill Gate's head, but it has.


IDIOM: to turn (one's) stomach
MEANING: to disgust completely; sicken, nauseate
EXAMPLE: The smell of the dead rabbit under the house turned his stomach.


IDIOM: to turn tail
MEANING: to turn away so as to flee; to run away in cowardice
EXAMPLE: When the soldiers invaded the city, the rebels turned tail and ran.


IDIOM: to turn the other cheek
MEANING: to respond to injury or unkindness with patience; to forgo retaliation
EXAMPLE: The Bible tells us that if someone offends us, we should turn the other cheek, but it's hard to do sometimes!


IDIOM: to twiddle one's thumbs
MEANING: to spend time idly; do nothing
EXAMPLE: Don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs! Help me clean the house!


IDIOM: two-faced (adj)
MEANING: deceitful; disolyal; a person who pretends to be a friend but really isn't
EXAMPLE: I thought Natalie was my friend, but she's two-faced. She says nice things to me when we're together, but makes jokes about me when she is with other people.


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More idioms

COMING SOON:
take advantage of
take it easy
that makes two of us
to tell you the truth
turn someone down
two-faced

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