clear the air	remove suspicion/bad feeling
all along	from the beginning until now
all but	nearly, almost
all in	exhausted
all in all	when everything is considered
all the same	yet, however
all told	altogether, in total
be the apple of sb's eye	be very precious to sb; be sb's favourite
be up in arms	be very angry
for all	in spite of
for all I care	I don't care
for all I know	as far as I know
in the act of	while performing the act
in the air	uncertain
make allowances for	take special circumstances into consideration
make amends for	try to compensate for a past action
of all people	used to express annoyance/surprise
on account of	because of
on no account	under/in no circumstances
on the air	broadcasting (opp: off the air)
on the alert	watchful and prepared/ on the lookout/ expecting sth
take sth into account	consider sth
on this/that account	for this/that reason
whet sb's appetite	make sb eager to have/experience more
up in the air	existing, but not talked about
above board	honest
bark up the wrong tree	have a false idea about sth
be broke	have no/very little money
be full of beans	be very lively
be in sb's black books	[be] out of favour
beat about/around the bush	avoid saying what one means directly
behind bars	in prison
big-headed	conceited; boastful
black and blue all over	covered with bruises
blessing in disguise	sth which appears bad at first but then turns out favourably
blue-eyed boy / golden boy	a favoured person
bolt from the blue	suddenly
brainwave	sudden clear idea/thought
break even	show neither loss nor profit
browned off	fed up; bored
butter sb up	flatter sb
by and large	generally speaking
catch sb red-handed	catch sb who is commiting a crime
chip off the old block	sb who is very like one of his parents
cost a bomb	very expensive
deal a blow to	damage one's hopes
don't hold your breath	don't wait for sb/sth anxiously
drive a hard bargain	be a tough businessman
drop a brick	say sth tactlessly
feel in one's bones	feeling sth instinctively
get your own back	take/get revenge
have a bee in one's bonnet	have an obsession about sth
have butterflies in one's stomach	be very nervous about sth
in black and white	in writing
in the balance	uncertain (b..)
kick the bucket	die
lay bare	make public
make a clean breast of	confess
make one's blood boil	cause sb become very angry
on the spur of the moment	without thinking about sth
out of the blue	suddenly and unexpectedly
ring a bell	remind sb of sth
see the back of	be glad to see sb leave
take the bull by the horns	deal with sth boldly and directly
wet blanket	dull person who spoils people's happiness
a piece of cake	sth very easy to do
a red-letter day	a very important day
a wild-goose chase	a hopeless search
be caught red-handed	be caught while committing a crime
be on the cards	be likely to happen
be over the moon	be elated
call sb names	insult sb
chair a meeting	preside over a meeting
crocodile tears	false tears
cross one's mind	think of sth
cut sb dead	ignore sb
different as chalk and cheese	totally different
down in the dumps	depressed/miserable
down the drain	wasted; lost
get a bit hot under the collar	get angry, upset or embarrassed
get a problem off one's chest	tell sb else about your problem
go to the dogs	worsen
have the cheek	dare to do sth
keep one's chin up	not be discouraged
let sleeping dogs lie	avoid mentioning a subject which could cause trouble
lost cause	hopeless situation or case
off colour	look/be slightly unwell
on the dole	receiving unemployment benefit/social security
play one's cards right	act cleverly
show one's true colours	reveal one's real character
with flying colours	with great success
not count one's chickens before they're hatched	not assume sth before it happens
be dying for sth	really want sth
be fit for	to be good enough for
be worn out	be very tired
be green	be inexperienced
cook one's goose	end one's plans abruptly
fair and square	within the rules
fall head over heels	fall in love quickly
feel one's ears burning	have a feeling that sb is talking about you
gatecrasher	sb attending a party, event etc without an invitation
get off on the wrong foot	argue or diagree at the beginning of a relationship
give and take	compromise
have a frog in one's throat	inability to speak due to nervousness
have the gift of the gab	be able to talk well, persuasively
hear it through / on the grapevine	find out information indirectly
in a flash	very quickly
it's all Greek to me	sth new or foreign; not easily understood
keep a straight face	manage to look serious under difficult circumstances
keep an eye on sth	guard/protect sth
meet behind closed doors	meet secretly
one's flesh and blood	family member
plenty more fish in the sea	many more opportunities in life for love
put one's foot down	insist on sth
put one's foot in it	make a tactless comment
take it easy	not work too hard / relax
take sb for granted	not appreciate sb
a bit of dark horse	person with hidden abilities
be for the high jump	about to be reprimanded/punished
be in two minds about sth	not be able to decide what to do
be sound asleep	sleep deeply
be the perfect image of sb	look exactly like sb
before one can say Jack Robinson	extremely quickly
break the ice	ease the tension when one first meets people
eat one's heart out	feel jealous/sad about sth
flog a dead horse	waste time doing sth useless
fly off the handle	quickly become very angry
get out of hand	become out of control
get the hang of it	get in the habit of doing sth
go to one's head	make conceited
grey matter	brains; intelligence
hand in glove with sb	be in very close contact with sb
have a job to do sth	find sth difficult to do
have many irons in the fire	have lots of plans/possibilities in progress at the same time
have one's heart in one's mouth	be extremely anxious about sth
have time on one's hands	have free time
hold one's horses	wait, be patient
ill at ease	embarassed; uncomfortable
keep sth under one's hat	keep sth secret
keep up with the Joneses	compete with others in status/material goods
lend sb a hand	give help to sb
like the back of one's hand	give help to sb
lose heart	become discouraged
make head nor tail of	understand sth
off the cuff	without preparation
stew in one's own juice	suffer the consequences of one's own actions
straight from the horse's mouth	from the most direct source
have sb's hands full	be very busy with sth
sth comes in handy	be very useful, practical
strike gold	come across sth useful
take sth to heart	take personally / be influenced by
take to one's heels	run away
the ins and outs	the details of an activity
the tip of the iceberg	small evident part of a much larger, concealed situation
at large	free, not caught
be in the know	be well-informed
bring to one's knees	destroy, humble
bury one's head in the sand	avoid or ignore reality/responsibility
come to a head	reach a critical point
drop sb a line	send sb a letter
fine kettle of fish	confused state of affairs
get rid of sth	give sth unwanted away
go to any lengths	do anything necessary to get sth you want
have kittens	be nervous/anxious about sth
keep one's fingers crossed	hope that sth will turn out well
keep oneself to oneself	live quietly, privately
make a killing	have a sudden, great success/profit
make light of	treat sth as unimportant
make/earn a/one's living	earn money
on the level	honest/sincere
pull one's leg	tease or trick sb
shed light upon	give new/further information
sleep like a log	be sound asleep
the life and soul of sth	the most lively and amusing person present somewhere
the lion's share	the biggest part/portion
turn over a new leaf	make a new start
with a view to doing sth	with the intention or hope of doing sth
a night owl	person who enjoys staying up late
be second to none	be the best
cross one's mind	occur to one, have a sudden idea, recall sth
cry over spilt milk	grieve over sth that can't be put right
every nook and cranny	everywhere
feel/be down in the mouth	feel discouraged/depressed
get a move on	hurry up
get on one's nerves	irritate/annoy sb
have an early night	go to bed early
hit the nail on the head	say exactly the right thing
in a nutshell	briefly; in a few words
lose one's nerve	lose courage
make a name for oneself	become famous/respected for sth
make hay while the sun shines	take advantage of favourable circumstances
make money hand over fist	make a lot of money quickly and easily
make one's gataway	escape
moon around	look miserable
null and void	invalid; not legally binding
once in a blue moon	very rarely
put sb's name forward	nominate sb
put words into one's mouth	pretend that sb has said sth that they haven't actually said
slip one's mind	forget about sth
work a miracle	make sth almost impossible happen
give the green light to sth	give permissiob to proceed with sth
a bitter pill to swallow	a difficult fact to accept
against all odds	despite the difficulties
be out of practice	lacking practice
come to the point	reach the main point in a discussion
fall into place	become clear
get the sack	be dismissed from one's job
get the wrong end of the stick	misunderstand completely what has been said
golden opportunity	the best chance to gain sth
grease sb's palm	bribe sb
grow out of sth	become too big for sth
have no option but	must; have no choice
in public	in the presence of other people
in the offing	likely to happen
off the point	irrelevant
once and for all	for the last time
out-and-out	complete, total
out in the open	(of secrets) revealed, known
out of print	(of books) not available anymore
out of the frying pan into the fire	from a situation to a worse/similar one
part and parcel of	basic part of
past one's prime	growing old/not at one's best
pop the question	make a proposal of marriage
short and sweet	brief but pleasant (usu ironic)
status symbol	property/possession that shows sb's high social rank wealth etc
take things to pieces	dismantle things
throw a party	have/hold a party
white elephant	useless/unwanted possession
an unknown quantity	person or thing that one has no experience of
as a last resort	when all else has failed
at close quarters	from a short distance
be in a quandary	be confused; undecided
beg the question	makes people want to ask a particular question
call it quits	give up/stop
cut sb to the quick	deeply hurt sb's feelings
hit the roof	get very angry
in a rut	be stuck in a monotonous routine
in the long run	after a long period of time
it stands to reason	it is logical
keep sth quiet	keep sth secret
know the ropes	know all the details of sth
off the record	unofficial(ly)
on the quiet	secretly
open to debate	not decided/settled
out of the question	impossible
put down roots	settle down
work to rule	adhere strictly to the rules as a form of protest
rack sb's brains	think very hard about sth
a long shot	a wild guess / a risk
a memory like a sieve	a poor memory
be all at sea	be in a state of confusion
be in sb's shoes	be in sb's position
be in the same boat	be in the same (usu bad) situation
be the spitting image of sb	look exactly like sb
be/get soaked to the skin	be/get very wet
be/have a close shave	barely avoid an accident/ a bad situation
behind the scenes	in secret
come out of one's shell	gain personal confidence
does it show?	is it obvious?
give sb a slip	escape from sb
go for a song	be sold very cheaply
go without saying	be a foregone conclusion
hit the sack	go to bed
live out of a suitcase	travel often/not have a permanent home
make quite a scene	become angry in a dramatic way
on a shoe string	on a very small budget
pull a few strings	use influential contacts in order to obtain an advantage
pull one's socks up	make a greater effort
sleep on it	think about sth
smell a rat	suspect that sth is wrong
spill the beans	reveal a secret/the facts
stand in sb's way	prevent sb from doing sth
take ... with a pinch of salt	not believe sth completely
the last straw	the last and worst episode in a chain of bad experiences
thick-skinned	insensitive
(by) trial and error	learning from one's mistakes
be ahead of one's time	have modern ideas
be (as) thick (as a brick)	be stupid
be tickled pink	be really pleased
come to a standstill	not progress/stop
come to terms with	accept a difficult situation
for the time being	temporarily
in a tick	shortly, soon
in the nick of time	just in time
kill time	pass time while waiting for sb/sth
lay the table	prepare/set the table for a meal
not be one's cup of tea	not suit one's taste
on second thoughts	having changed one's mind
out of turn	not in the correct order/time
paint the town red	have a great time
play truant	stay away from school without permission
put two and two together	arrive at the truth by looking at facts
red tape	unnecessary bureaucracy
take one's time	not to hurry
through thick and thin	whatever happens
touch and go	with uncertain result
be all very well	appear satisfactory but in fact not be
be on the up and up	improve steadily
be up and about	have recovered from an illness
drive (sb) up the wall	make sb angry/annoy sb
frosty welcome	unfriendly reception
get out of bed on the wrong side	be in a bad mood
get wind of	receive information about sth indirectly
give vent to	express sth freely
give way to	give in/yield
not hold water	not seem reasonable or in accordance with the facts
make a flying visit	make a quick trip
make waves	cause trouble
no/little wonder	not surprising
quick/slow on the uptake	quick/slow to understand
set in one's ways	fixed in one's habits/routines
speak volumes	be strong evidence of sb's feelings, merits etc
under the weather	depressed/unwell
up and coming	likely to be successful
ups and downs	good things alternating with bad ones
wet behind the ears	inexperienced
an old wives' tale	false belief (usually about health)
be born yesterday	be easily deceived/naive
beat sb black and blue	hit sb repeatedly until bruised
go back on one's word	not fulfil a promise
kee one's word	fulfil a promise
have a yellow streak	be a coward
not have it both ways	refuse to make a decision between two pleasant things ("You can't ...!")
in the red	owe money to a bank
in the black	not owe money to bank
see red	suddenly become very angry
green belt	the area on the outskirts of a town adjoining the country
pitch black	very dark
black tie	formal clothing
green with envy	very jealous
green (matter/issue)	concerned with ecology
have words with sb	have an argument
have/keep one's wits about one	be alert and able to deal with difficulties
in deep water	in trouble/difficulty
make sb's day	make sb very happy
see/look at sth through rose-coloured spectacles	see sth from an unrealistically positive point of view
the black sheep of the family	a disgraced family member
the pot calling the kettle black	accusing sb of a fault one has oneself
the year dot	a long time ago
until one is blue in the face	as hard/long as one possibly can (usu without success)
red herring	sth which distracts you from sth important
(fight) like cat and dog	(disagree) violently