Don’t you dare to think that learning idioms is a piece of cake? What we just do is mention an idiom. Here, “piece of cake” means that learning idioms is not easy. Sounds interesting? You will get more like this by reading more.
But first, you need to understand what is an idiom and then analyze why learning idioms is important in English. After that, you will get through idiom examples for students, writers, and little kids too. Finally, idiom types are there to help you get an in-depth understanding of idioms.
Idiom is derived from the Greek word idios, which means “peculiar phraseology.” A simple idiom definition says that it is a combination of words that has a different meaning than its literal meaning.
In other words, an idiom is a figurative phrase that we can’t understand only by translating it into its exact meaning. Another definition depicts that an idiom phrase has to be adjusted with some other words to fully understand the sentence’s purpose.
For example, when someone says, “It’s raining cats and dogs, ” it does not illustrate that the cats and dogs are falling from the sky. Instead, it means that “it’s raining heavily.”
English is a widely spoken language around the world, so learning English idioms alongside writing essentials is important to improve your daily conversations and writing tasks. Whether a casual writer or an academic student, learning idioms is gonna make your writing more flowery and engaging to the reader.
In most instances, idioms allow us to express complex ideas in a simplified manner so that other people can relate to them more quickly. Above all, non-natives need to learn useful English idioms because if they don’t, they would think that in the idiom “a piece of cake,” the writer is really talking about a dessert.
Below, we’ve shared a list of common idioms for students and what they mean in the given context.
| Idioms | Meaning | Sentence |
| Hit the books | Study hard | Instead of watching funny studying memes, David hit the books to pass the 9th exam |
| Ace the test | Perform exceptionally well in the exam. | You can ace the test if you work hard. |
| Think outside the box | Be creative and bring new ideas | Think outside the box to stay ahead of the competition. |
| Burn the midnight oil | Study day and night, work hard | He burnt the midnight oil to pass the subjects |
| Brain Drain | wasting the talent | Lack of job opportunities is causing a major brain drain to nearby cities |
| Cram for the exam | Studying intensively | He has been cramming for the exam since last year. |
| Get cold feet | Getting nervous about something | Don’t get cold feet due to your presentation. |
Not just for students, even professional writers can use these unique and interesting idioms examples to make their writing more figurative and engaging to the audience.
1) “A penny for your thoughts.”
2) “Actions speak louder than words.”
3) “All that glitters is not gold.”
4) “Barking up the wrong tree.”
5) “Beat around the bush.”
6) “Better late than never.”
7) “Bite the bullet.”
8) “By the skin of your teeth.”
9) “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
Little kids are more eager to learn writing, and to make their writing more interesting and engaging, teach them idioms with meaning and example sentences. Here’s the list of idioms to utilize.
| Idiom | Meaning | Example Sentence |
| “All thumbs” | Clumsy, uncoordinated. | “I’m all thumbs this morning; I can’t seem to button my shirt!” |
| “Butterfly in your tummy” | Nervous | I had butterflies in my tummy before the quiz. |
| “Raining Cats and Dogs” | Raining heavily | We could not reach the spot because it was raining cats and dogs. |
| “A Piece of Cake” | Easy task | Writing 500 words in an hour is a piece of cake for me. |
| “Break a Leg” | Good luck | Break a leg on your CSS exam. |
| “Give it a Shot.” | Try once | Although I was nervous, finally, I gave it a shot. |
| “Hit the books.” | Study hard | Babr hit the books to pass matriculation. |
| “Think outside the box.” | Be Creative | Think outside the box to survive in Web Development. |
| “Birds of a feather flock” | Similar people are often friends | Umar and Ali are friends because birds of a feather flock together. |
| “On the same page” | Agree with each other | All political parties are on the same page for boosting the country’s economy. |
| “Never say never.” | Anything is possible | Never say never; you can still qualify for the final. |
| “The sky’s the limit.” | No limit; you can achieve anything. | Go ahead, and the sky’s the limit for you. |
| “Miss the boat.” | To miss the opportunity | You miss the boat when investing in a property. |
What is an idiom classified into? Well, there are four types. Let’s discuss each one with an example.
As per pure idiom definition, these are typical idioms that we use regularly in an English assignment and projects. This means that when people think or talk about idioms, they refer to these kinds of idioms. In these phrases or expressions, the individual word or component does not contain any relationship or resemblance with the actual meaning of the phrase.
The binomial idioms contain exactly two words. These are joined or connected using a conjunction or any preposition. They work as a single idiomatic unit or expression to convey meaning.
Partial idioms are those idiomatic phrases or expressions that are not complete on their own. They are sometimes called clipped idioms because they contain only a partial or single part of the original idioms. “kick the bucket” is a partial idiom, while its complete version is “Kick the bucket like a horse.”
As per the idiom definition of prepositional idioms, they are those expressions or phrases in which the meaning of the entire Idiom depends upon the preposition. This means that changing the preposition alters the context of the entire idiomatic phrase.
Idiom definitions say that they are phrases or expressions with a symbolic meaning different from their literal meanings.
A metaphor explicitly compares two different or unlike things using words such as “like,” “as,” etc. People widely use metaphors in literature, music, poetry, etc., because they bring clarity and depth to our communication.
| Idioms | Phrases |
| They have symbolic or non-literal meanings. | Phrases can have figurative and literal meanings. |
| Idioms are fixed structures. | Phrases have flexible word order and structure. |
| Idioms are complex and hard to understand. | Phrases are simpler and easy to understand. |
| Idioms have cultural or historical roots. | We can make a phrase readily or on the spot. |
| What is an idiom example? “Kick the bucket.” | What is a phrase example? ” The red car” |
Important Note: Don’t you know what is an idiom and how to optimally use it in your thesis writing or research paper? Take quick help from our experts at the thesis writing service platform.
Following are the few resources that are going to help you practice after learning what is an Idiom.
| Source | Benefits |
| Netflix | Watch movies and shows and notice how characters use idioms in particular situations and scenes. |
| Kwiziq | A language learning platform with question papers and daily quizzes. |
| Group Studies | Instead of focusing on other things to do in class, engage in group studies to practice speaking and memorize the idioms. |
| Tandem | A platform that can help you find a native-speaking partner with whom you can practice |
Are you still confused about what is an idiom and how to use it in your next academic assignment? Want our expert English writers to do it for you that pushes you ahead of the class? Don’t hesitate to get our cheap assignment writing services right now.
You made it to the end, and now we hope you have a clear idea of what is an idiom and what potential idiom examples there are for students and kids. These idioms are very important to learn because you can use them in your academic writing and daily conversations to make your words more flowery.
We'll revise your work until you're 100% satisfied or refund your payment to make up for the trouble.
