Idioms & Expressions

In this lesson, you will learn about idioms — phrases whose meaning cannot be understood from the individual words. If someone says "it's raining cats and dogs," they do not mean animals are falling from the sky! Idioms are a colourful and important part of the English language, and they often appear in 11+ comprehension passages and vocabulary questions.

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What Is an Idiom?

An idiom is a phrase or expression that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning. You cannot work out what an idiom means by looking at each word separately — you have to know what the whole phrase means.

Literal meaning	Figurative (actual) meaning
"Break the ice" — to physically break ice	To make people feel comfortable in a social situation
"Piece of cake" — a slice of cake	Something very easy
"Hit the nail on the head" — to hammer a nail	To describe something exactly right

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Why Do Idioms Appear in the 11+ Exam?

Idioms test your understanding of language at a deeper level. In the exam, you might:

1. Read a passage that contains idioms and need to explain what they mean
2. Answer vocabulary questions asking you to match an idiom to its meaning
3. Encounter idioms in cloze passages where you need to choose the right word to complete the expression

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25 Essential Idioms for the 11+

Study these idioms carefully. For each one, learn both the figurative meaning and try to picture the literal image — this will help you remember them.

Idioms About Difficulty and Ease

Idiom	Meaning	Example
A piece of cake	Something very easy	The spelling test was a piece of cake.
An uphill struggle	A task that is very difficult and requires great effort	Learning to play the piano was an uphill struggle at first.
A breeze	Something very easy	The first few questions were a breeze.
In deep water	In serious trouble or difficulty	He was in deep water after forgetting his homework for the third time.
A tall order	A difficult or unreasonable request	Finishing the entire project by Friday is a tall order.

Idioms About Communication

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Break the ice	To make people feel relaxed in a new social situation	The teacher played a game to break the ice on the first day.
Beat around the bush	To avoid saying what you really mean	Stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened.
Let the cat out of the bag	To reveal a secret accidentally	She let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party.
Spill the beans	To tell a secret	Who spilled the beans about the test?
Get the wrong end of the stick	To misunderstand something	I think you have got the wrong end of the stick — I said Tuesday, not Thursday.

Idioms About Feelings

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Over the moon	Extremely happy	She was over the moon when she passed her exam.
Under the weather	Feeling unwell or ill	Tom stayed home because he was feeling under the weather.
On cloud nine	Extremely happy and excited	After winning the competition, she was on cloud nine.
A chip on your shoulder	Being angry or resentful about something	He has had a chip on his shoulder ever since he was not picked for the team.
Butterflies in your stomach	Feeling nervous or anxious	She had butterflies in her stomach before the performance.

Idioms About Effort and Action

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Bite the bullet	To face a difficult situation bravely	I decided to bite the bullet and apologise.
Pull your socks up	To make an effort to improve	If you want to pass the exam, you need to pull your socks up.
Burn the midnight oil	To work or study late into the night	She burned the midnight oil to finish her project.
Back to the drawing board	To start again from the beginning after a failure	The plan did not work, so it was back to the drawing board.
Leave no stone unturned	To try every possible way to achieve something	The detective left no stone unturned in the investigation.

Idioms About Money and Value