All Idioms
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Meaning: To grab at any idea or plan, no matter how flimsy or unlikely it is to work, simply because you are desperate and have almost nothing else left to try.
Example: After months of job hunting with nothing but silence, Mike started to clutch at straws and applied for roles he knew he was nowhere near qualified for, just hoping something might work out. Read more ➺
Meaning: While the person involved is not actually there, especially in a formal or legal setting.
Example: The court convicted Mike of fraud in absentia after he fled overseas and never came back for the trial. Read more ➺
Meaning: A spot where someone is likely to catch blame, criticism, or heat for something that went wrong.
Example: After the budget cuts were announced, the department heads found themselves right in the firing line and had to explain every decision to angry staff. Read more ➺
Meaning: Something, especially a decision or choice, that feels so easy and obvious you barely need to think about it.
Example: Mike saw the full scholarship next to the expensive private school and accepted it right away—it was a no-brainer. Read more ➺
Meaning: A crime pulled off by or with help from someone who works or lives there and has trusted access.
Example: The vault was emptied with no forced entry, so the cops called it an inside job. Read more ➺
Meaning: Someone finally gets exactly what they deserve, usually in a way that feels perfectly fitting or a little ironic, so the bad ones end up punished and the good ones come out ahead.
Example: After years of shortchanging his workers on pay, Mike watched his own company collapse and ended up taking a low-wage job himself, and everyone around him said it was pure poetic justice. Read more ➺
Meaning: Put a person back into a healthy or steady state after illness, injury, or emotional pain.
Example: After everything fell apart, Sarah looked at him and said, "Only you can make me whole" Read more ➺
Meaning: The most important or leading person in a group, company, or activity; the boss or the one in charge.
Example: After years of solid work, Mike became the top banana of the sales team and started calling the shots. Read more ➺
Meaning: A person or thing that can suddenly change the way things turn out.
Example: Mike was the real joker in the pack in the election because no one knew how he would change the result. Read more ➺
Meaning: A person with two very different sides to their personality, one good and pleasant and the other bad or evil.
Example: Mike is a real Jekyll and Hyde who chats warmly with the neighbors on the street but turns cold and short-tempered the moment he steps inside his own house. Read more ➺
