{"id":71941,"date":"2019-08-31T08:16:34","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T08:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=71941"},"modified":"2019-08-31T08:16:34","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T08:16:34","slug":"body-idioms-idioms-derived-from-body-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/body-idioms-idioms-derived-from-body-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"Body Idioms | Idioms Derived From Body Parts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Idioms<\/strong> are common in all kinds of English, formal and informal, spoken and written. Here is a list of idioms derived from the parts of the body.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Arm Idioms<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep at arm&#8217;s length<\/strong> (If you keep somebody at arm&#8217;s length, you avoid being too friendly with that person.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He is very quarrelsome, so I keep him at arm&#8217;s length.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>With open arms<\/strong> (with great affection and enthusiasm)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He welcomed his friends with open arms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Idioms with Back<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Break the back of something<\/strong> (finish the hardest part of a work)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Since my colleagues had already broken the back of it, I could finish the work easily.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Put one\u2019s back into something<\/strong> (work at something with all one\u2019s energy)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You have to finish this work by tomorrow, so put your back into it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Put someone\u2019s back up<\/strong> (make a person angry)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>His offensive manner put my back up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>With one\u2019s back against\/to the wall<\/strong> (be forced to defend oneself in a difficult situation)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Since there was no one to help him, he had to fight alone with his back against\/to the wall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Be on somebody\u2019s back<\/strong> (keep asking someone to do something, or keep criticizing someone in a way that annoys them)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He&#8217;s still on my back about those ten pounds he lent me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Behind somebody&#8217;s back<\/strong> (if you do something behind someone&#8217;s back, you do it without them knowing)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I don&#8217;t want to talk about it behind his back.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Stab somebody in the back<\/strong> (do something harmful to someone who trusted you)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He was stabbed in the back by people he thought were his friends.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Turn your back on somebody<\/strong> (refuse to help someone)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I appealed for help, but they turned their back on me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Back to square one<\/strong> (If you are back to square one, you have to start working on something from the beginning because your previous attempt failed.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We thought everything was settled, but now they say they&#8217;re not happy with the deal, so we&#8217;re back to square one again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Brain idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Be out of your brain<\/strong> (be very drunk)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When he reached home last night, he was out of his brain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Get your brain in gear<\/strong> (make yourself start thinking clearly and effectively)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I have got an important meeting today, so I have to get my brain in gear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Rack your brain\/brains<\/strong> (think very hard, usually in order to remember something or to find a solution to a problem)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I&#8217;ve been racking my brains but I still can&#8217;t find a solution to this vexed problem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Make a clean breast of it<\/strong> (confess a wrong doing)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At first he denied the offence, but later he decided to make a clean breast of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Cheek Idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Cheek by jowl<\/strong> (very close together)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The children sat cheek by bowl in the packed hall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Turn the other cheek<\/strong> (if you turn the other cheek, you don\u2019t get angry when someone attacks or insults you)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Non-violence policy requires that you turn the other cheek, when someone hits you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tongue in cheek<\/strong> (if you say something tongue in cheek, what you have said is a joke, although it might seem to be serious)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This book is a very engaging and at times tongue-in-cheek account of her brush with stardom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Chest idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Keep\/play your cards close to your chest<\/strong> (not tell anyone what you plan to do)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You will never know what he is going to do next. He plays his cards close to his chest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Get it off your chest<\/strong> (tell someone about something that has been worrying you)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have a problem, get it off your chest and you will feel better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Chin Idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Keep your chin up<\/strong> (stay cheerful)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I was delighted to know that he was keeping his chin up despite all his difficulties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Take it on the chin<\/strong> (be brave and not complain when bad things happen to you or people criticize you)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>John took it all on the chin, though he was severely criticized by his boss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Ear Idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Turn a deaf ear<\/strong> (refuse to listen to somebody or something)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He turned a deaf ear to our warning and thus got into trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Grin\/smile from ear to ear<\/strong> (look extremely happy)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>His latest book is selling well and he is grinning from ear to ear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Up to one\u2019s ears in<\/strong> (deeply involved in)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He is up to his ears in work\/debt\/trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Elbow<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elbow one\u2019s way through<\/strong> (force one\u2019s way by using one\u2019s elbow)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The conference room was so crowded that I had to elbow my way through the crowd to reach my seat.<br \/>\nEye<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Not bat an eye\/eyelash\/eyelid<\/strong> (not show any shock or surprise)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8216;So what did she say when you told her you were leaving?&#8217; &#8216;She didn&#8217;t bat an eyelid.&#8217;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Turn a blind eye<\/strong> (choose to ignore behaviour that you know is wrong)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I knew Peter was taking the money but I turned a blind eye because he was my nephew.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Keep an eye on<\/strong> (keep a watch on)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I decided to keep an eye on him because I found his way of working suspicious.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In the eyes of somebody<\/strong> (in somebody\u2019s judgment)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In my eyes he is a good and honest man.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Before\/under one\u2019s very eyes<\/strong> (in one\u2019s presence)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>These evil practices are happening before your own eyes and you are keeping silence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Doesn\u2019t see eye to eye<\/strong> (If two people don\u2019t see eye to eye, they don\u2019t agree with each other.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He&#8217;s asked for a transfer because he doesn&#8217;t see eye to eye with the new manager.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Face idioms<\/h3>\n<p>Put a brave face\/front on something (behave in a way that makes people think you are happy when you are not)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She&#8217;s very ill but she&#8217;s putting a brave front on it. (= She makes people believe that her illness does not worry her.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Put on a brave face\/front<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I was not feeling well. Nevertheless, I decided to put on a brave face\/front.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In-your-face<\/strong> (shocking or annoying in a way that is difficult to ignore)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They ran an in-your-face campaign to promote the magazine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Face up to<\/strong> (meet or accept challenges boldly)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I never thought that he would be able to face up to the difficult situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In the face of<\/strong> (in spite of)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He could achieve his goal in the face of great difficulties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Lose face<\/strong> (do something that may affect your reputation)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He refused to admit his involvement in the scandal because he didn&#8217;t want to lose face.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Face the music<\/strong> (accept criticism or punishment for something that you have done)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When it was discovered that he was the culprit, he chose to disappear rather than face the music.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Feet Idioms<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Get cold feet<\/strong> (suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They were to get married last Sunday, but unfortunately John got cold feet at the last moment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Drag your feet\/heels<\/strong> (act in a slow and hesitant manner)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Peter wants to purchase a new car, but his father is dragging his feet.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder why the government is dragging its feet over the abolition of job reservation based on caste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Keep your\/both feet on the ground<\/strong> (not have your character spoilt by becoming famous or successful)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Success hasn\u2019t changed him \u2013 he has kept his feet firmly on the ground.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Stand on one\u2019s own feet<\/strong> (become independent)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She has finally got a good job \u2013 she can now stand on her own feet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Think on your feet<\/strong> (think and react quickly)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You must be able to think on your feet if you are doing live stage shows.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Not let the grass grow under your feet<\/strong> (not waste time by delaying doing something)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Students, your exams are fast approaching \u2013 you can hardly afford to let the grass grow under your feet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Have the world at your feet<\/strong> (become extremely successful and popular)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Her first film has just released, but the young actress already has the world at her feet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Idioms are common in all kinds of English, formal and informal, spoken and written. Here is a list of idioms derived from the parts of the body. Arm Idioms Keep at arm&#8217;s length (If&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[947,293,187,1060],"class_list":["post-71941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocabulary","tag-arm-idioms","tag-back-idioms","tag-body-idioms","tag-brain-idioms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71942,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71941\/revisions\/71942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}