According to a survey, a native English speaker on average knows about 25,000 idiomatic phrases to enhance the impact of their speech. Idioms are very important to learn, especially for linguistic students and writers. We are here to expand your knowledge about what is an idiom and how you can use all widely used types of idioms in your writing assignments.
Idioms are used to add variety and uniqueness in the context. Let’s be real, there isn’t a topic or genre in the world that hasn’t been talked about. But what makes them unique is the way of putting words together. The style and the speech used to portray characters and information is what makes a content stand out. And that’s when idioms come handy. They are essential in order to improve communication skills.
The author shared, “I didn’t understand what is an Idiom or clear cut idiom definition until I felt like my content is not relatable and engaging. That’s when I incorporate idioms in my writing to create a depth in characters, dialogues, and ideas. It helps me communicate in a better way with the readers.”
A study was conducted to analyze which genres of literature use idioms the most. It allows students to evaluate where idioms are mostly used. Below we are sharing the genres and the percentages by which the common idioms are used in them and by what percentage they are used in one another.
| Genre | Spoken | Fiction | Newspaper | Magazine | Academic |
| Spoken | 40% | 64% | 56% | 34% | |
| Fiction | 40% | 34% | 42% | 20% | |
| Newspaper | 64% | 34% | 74% | 56% | |
| Magazines | 56% | 42% | 74% | 52% | |
| Academic | 34% | 20% | 56% | 52% |
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 | Involve in group studies to practice speaking and memorizing the idioms. |
| The Great Book of American Idioms: A Dictionary of American Idioms, Sayings, Expressions & Phrases. | Reading this book really helps in understanding the meaning and accurately placing them in context. |
| Tandem | A platform that can help you find a native speaking partner with whom you can practice |
You are all excited to learn what Is an example of an idiom, before that understand the definition.
The word Idiom is derived from the Greek word idios, which means ‘private .’It is a common phrase, expression, or saying whose meaning you can’t derive from looking at the individual words.
The idiom definition says that they are figurative terms that have non-literal meanings; we can’t understand them only by deciphering the words.
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.”
Similarly, the idiom “don’t beat about the bush” has a different meaning when broken down into individual words. However, its idiomatic meaning is “Don’t talk about irrelevant and unimportant things; just come to the point.”
The idiom “That’s how the ball bounces” seemingly means ” how balls jump.”. But in idiomatic terms, its correct meaning is that “the things are just out of our control.”
Similarly, when we say “kill two birds with one stone,” we never mean to kill the birds using the stone. We mean to say that “complete two tasks at once.”
To understand what is an idiom more clearly, let’s break them down into simpler steps.
What is an idiom can classify into? Well, there are four types such as (1) Pure Idiom, (2) Binomial Idiom, (3) Partial Idiom, and (4) Prepositional Idiom.
Let us understand the types of idioms one by one.
| Pure Idiom | Meaning | Example Sentences |
| “Spill the bean” | Revealing secret | Nobody will spill the beans about the night party. |
| “Don’t beat about the bush.” | Talking irrelevant and unnecessary things | Please tell me what you want without beating around the bush. |
| “Hard nut to crack” | Very difficult | Writing 5000 words in a single day is a hard nut to crack. |
| “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” | Creating chaos over minor things | It was a mistake, but don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. |
| “The ball is in your court.” | The decision is up to you. | Tell me what to do because now the ball is in your court. |
| “Take a rain check.” | Politely declining someone’s offer | Can I take a rain check and play cricket with you tomorrow? |
| Binomial Idiom | Meaning | Sentences |
| “Back and forth” | “Moving in one direction and then opposite without making any progress.” | He was moving back and forth while eating the food. |
| “Black and white” | “Easy to understand,” | I think this science topic is black and white; no need to revise. |
| “Bits and pieces” | “Scattered parts” | He reached the destination, even having bits and pieces of the information. |
| “Do or die.” | “Succeed at any cost” | This final match is a do-or-die for us to win the World Cup. |
| “Eat or be eaten” | “Be aggressive and proactive to survive the competing environment.” | Be aggressive in this competitive market; it is like eating or being eaten. |
| “High and dry.” | “Leave someone in a difficult situation.” | The company sacked the employees, leaving them high and dry. |
| “My way or the highway” | “Accept someone’s points or order; otherwise, leave.” | I can’t work with managers my way or the highway behavior. |
| “Night and day” | “Shows the difference between two things.” | You have improved your performance like night and day compared to the previous month. |
| Partial Idiom | Meaning | Full Idiom |
| “Blow it.” | “To fail or make a mistake.” | “Blow it all.” |
| “Cracking up” | “Laughing uncontrollably” | “Cracking up with laughter” |
| “Drop the ball” | “Forget something important.” | “Drop the ball on something.” |
| “Have a ball.” | “Have a lot of fun.” | “Have a ball doing something.” |
| “Spill the bean” | “Reveal secret” | “Spill the beans about something.” |
| “Take it easy” | “Relax or calm down” | “Take it easy on someone or something.” |
| Prepositional Idiom | Meaning | Prepositional Idiom | Meaning |
| “Come down hard on someone.” | “Punishing severely” | “Come up with an idea.” | “Event” |
| “Get off on something.” | “Enjoying deeply” | Get on with someone | “Get along” |
| Look down on someone | “Consider someone inferior.” | “Look up to someone” | “Admire” |
| “Run out of something” | “Become depleted” | “Run into someone.” | “Encounter unexpectedly” |
Following are some problems students have reported regarding the use of Idioms.
The answer to all those challenges mentioned above is that students need to ask others about the meaning of idioms. The biggest solution is to practice using the idioms. That’s why below we’ve shared what is an idiom example list for students is and what they mean in the given context.
“Hit the books.”
“Ace the test.”
“Think outside the box.”
“Burn the midnight oil.”
“Brain Drain”
“Cram for the exam”
“Get cold feet.”
“Play it by ear”
“All-nighter”
“Piece of cake”
“Go down the wire”
“A penny for your thoughts.”
“Actions speak louder than words.”
“All that glitters is not gold.”
“Barking up the wrong tree.”
“Beat around the bush.”
“Better late than never.”
“Bite the bullet.”
“Break a leg.”
“By the skin of your teeth.”
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
“Every cloud has a silver lining.”
“Fit as a fiddle.”
“Give the benefit of the doubt.”
“Go the extra mile.”
“Haste makes waste.”
“Hit the nail on the head.”
“In the heat of the moment.”
“It’s raining cats and dogs.”
“Kill two birds with one stone.”
Now that you have an idea of what is an idiom, we can categorize idiomatic expressions into six categories depending on their characteristics and usage. So we have crafted them to help you differentiate between idioms by looking at them.
Proverbs or Sayings: They are historical and offer truth, guidance, or wisdom. For example, “Actions speak louder than words”.
Metaphors: Metaphors explicitly compare two unrelated things. E.g. “kick the bucket”
Similes: Similes are those idiomatic expressions that use words such as “like” and “as” to compare things. E.g. “As busy as a bee,” “Like a fish out of water.”
Phrasal Verbs: Phrasal verbs are those idiomatic expressions that contain verbs followed by prepositions or adverbs. e.g.” Take off,” “put up with.”
Fixed Expressions: Fixed expressions have a static structure, and we can’t change them to deduce their meanings from individual words. e.g. “bite the bullet” and “cost an arm and a leg.”
Colloquialism: Colloquialism is informal and culturally specific. They belong to a specific dialect or region. E.g. “Hit the hay” and “Break a leg.”
| 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. |
| “Head in the Clouds” | Lost in daydreaming, busy | Asim had his head in the clouds and did not notice the storms. |
| “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. |
| “Cut someone some slack.” | Forgive someone | He cut him some slack due to his illness. |
| “On the same page” | Agree with each other | All political parties are on the same page for boosting the country’s economy. |
| “Thick as thieves.” | Close friends | They belong to the same village and are thick thieves. |
| “Two peas in a pod” | Very similar | Shoaib and Asif are two peas in a pod. |
| “Every cloud has a silver lining.” | A good time comes after a bad | “Don’t worry; even if things seem bad now, every cloud has a silver lining.” |
| “Keep your chin up.” | Don’t give up. | Work hard and keep your chin up to pass the exam. |
| “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 to invest in a property. |
| 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” |
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Do You Know?
There are some people who consider idioms as English phrases that make no sense because they take the literal meaning seriously. Are you one of them?
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You made it to the end and now we hope you have a clear idea of idioms especially what Is an example of an Idiom. They are very important to learn because they are a part of the academic syllabus, and students have to use different idioms in their assignments, essays, or exams. This exclusive guide comes handy while you practice your idioms.
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