Body idioms

The heart

break someone’s heart = upset someone greatly: “She broke his heart when she left him.”

learn something off by heart = learn something completely: “I’ve learnt this off by heart – I’m bound to pass the exam!”

you’re all heart! = when you tell someone sarcastically how kind they are: “Thanks for giving me all this work – you’re all heart!”

hand on heart = promise with sincerity: “Hand on heart, it’s the honest truth.”

have the heart = be able to give someone bad news: “I didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d failed.”

a heart of gold = be a very kind person: “She’ll always help – she has a heart of gold.”

Hands

hand over = pass on something: “Before I leave, I have to hand over all my work.”

get out of hand = become impossible to manage: “You’ll have to deal with this problem before it gets out of hand.”

know something like the back of your hand = know something extremely well: “He knows London like the back of his hand.”

have your hands full = be very busy: “I can’t do anything about it now – my hands are full.”

in hand = under control: “The company report is in hand – you’ll have it next week.”

live hand to mouth = only earn enough money for food: “After he lost his job, he had to live hand to mouth for a couple of months.”

give someone a hand = help someone: “He always gives me a hand with the housework.”

have someone in the palm of your hand = have influence over someone: “He’s got her in the palm of his hand.”

be caught red-handed = be caught doing something bad: “The children were caught red-handed picking the flowers.”

Fingers

butter fingers = be clumsy and drop things: “You’ve dropped my vase! Butter fingers!”

keep your fingers crossed = wish something for someone: “Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow – it’s my job interview.”

under your thumb = control someone: “She’s got him under her thumb – he won’t do anything without asking her first.”

Arms

twist someone’s arm = persuade someone: “I didn’t want to go out, but he twisted my arm.”

cost an arm and a leg = cost a fortune: “The car cost an arm and a leg – it’ll take them ages to pay back the loan.”

Feet and legs

put your foot in it = say or do something you shouldn’t: “I think I’ve put my foot in it – I told her about the party.”

have itchy feet = not able to settle down in one place: “She’s going off travelling again – she’s got really itchy feet.”

keep someone on their toes = keep someone alert: “Our teacher keeps us on our toes – we have to pay attention in class.”

stand on your own two feet = be independent: “I don’t need your help – I can stand on my own two feet.”

have two left feet = be awkward or clumsy: “He’s a terrible dancer – he’s got two left feet!”

walk on eggshells = be careful about what you say or do: “She’s in a terrible mood – you’ll have to walk on eggshells around her.”

foot the bill = pay the bill: “He had to foot the bill for the party.”

The back

go behind someone’s back = do something secretly: “She went behind my back and told my boss I wanted a new job.”

back off = stop trying to force someone to do something: “Will you just back off and let me decide what I should do!”

back down = accept defeat: “He finally backed down and let me buy a pet rabbit.”

back someone up = support someone: “Thank you for backing me up in the meeting.”

put your back into something = work very hard at something: “She put her back into it and got good results.”

stab someone in the back = betray someone: “Be careful of him – he’ll stab you in the back if it gets him what he wants.”