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Author:
Chiara Pegoraro
Idioms are such a fun part of learning a language, and English has loads of common idioms related to body parts. You can think of these idioms as a kind of inside joke among English speakers – where the actual meaning differs from the normal meaning of the words – and knowing these body part idioms will really help you improve your English communication skills.
In this article we will focus on idioms related to the human body and see what they mean. We’ll start from the top of the head and move down to the feet to see all the different meanings that these expressions can have. This will also be a great way to review vocabulary about the human body. Ready to start the journey?
A head full of idioms
Our trip through English body idioms starts from the tips of the hair and travels down across the head, mouth, eyes and neck.
Head and hair related idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Let your hair down | Take a relaxed attitude towards something. | She rarely lets her hair down, but after the exams she was the life of the party. |
| Split hairs | Pay too much attention to small details or rules. | Stop splitting hairs about the contract and sign it already! |
| Get in someone’s hair | Annoy or bother someone. | You kids are getting in my hair – get out and play! |
| Not a hair out of place | When someone looks neat and put together. | Even after a 12-hour flight, she didn’t have a hair out of place. |
| Tear your hair out | Display frustration or anxiety. | This is good enough – you don’t need to tear your hair out. |
| Keep your head above water | To cope with difficulties. | They’re barely keeping their heads above water with all the bills they got. |
| Lose your head | To become flustered or panicked. | Don’t lose your head over the results – you’ve done your best. |
| Heads up | A warning. | He gave me a heads up about the traffic on my usual route. |
| Get a head start | To begin something earlier. | We left early to get a head start on the holiday traffic. |
| Heads will roll | Suggesting that people will be punished. | If this order isn’t delivered on time, heads will roll. |
| Keep an eye on | To pay attention to someone or something. | Could you keep an eye on my bag while I use the restroom? |
| A sight for sore eyes | Something pleasing or comforting to see. | After such a long trip, my own bed is a sight for sore eyes. |
| See eye to eye | Agree on something. | They don’t always see eye to eye, but they are a great team. |
| Cry your eyes out | Display deep sadness and anguish. | She cried her eyes out when her cat died. |
| All eyes on | Focus the attention of a group on something. | When the curtain opened, it was all eyes on me. |
| All ears | To be completely focused and ready to listen to someone. | Let me grab a cup of coffee first, and then I’ll be all ears. |
| Right under one’s nose | When something is very obvious, yet unnoticed. | The thief managed to steal the painting right under their noses. |
| Stick your nose in someone else’s business | Interfere with someone. | He’s always sticking his nose in my business – it’s so annoying! |
| Cut off your nose to spite your face | To act out of spite in a way that harms yourself. | You were wrong. Refusing to apologize would be like cutting off your nose to spite your face. |
| Keep your mouth shut | Stay silent about something. | Keep your mouth shut and just listen! |
| My lips are sealed | Vowing not to talk about something. | I won’t tell anyone, my lips are sealed! |
| On the tip of my tongue | When you aren’t able to remember something you are sure you know. | Gosh, what was his name? It’s on the tip of my tongue! |
| Keep your chin up | To remain optimistic in a difficult situation. | You gave it your best, so keep your chin up! |
| Stick your neck out | To take a risk. | I’m not sticking my neck out for him again after he ignored my advice. |
| Breathe down someone’s neck | To put pressure on someone. | I can’t focus if you keep breathing down my neck. |
| Break your neck | To injure oneself. | Get that ball off the floor! Somebody is going to break their neck! |
From the backbone to the belly laugh
Now that we’ve covered the head it’s time to move down on our trip through the human body to idioms that relate to the torso – the back, the sides and the belly. As you read on, you’ll find that there is not a single body part that cannot inspire a little wisdom.
Torso-related idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A shoulder to cry on | A person who can comfort you when you’re sad. | After her divorce, she needed a shoulder to cry on. |
| Stab someone in the back | To betray someone. | He got the promotion by stabbing his colleague in the back. |
| Get off my back | Stop bothering me. | I’ll finish it soon – just get off my back! |
| Turn your back on someone | To refuse to help someone. | When he was in trouble, his so-called friends turned their backs on him. |
| Split your sides | To laugh very hard. | We split our sides at that comedy show. |
| To have a heart of gold | To be a good person. | She has a heart of gold and always helps anyone in need. |
| Break someone’s heart | To hurt someone. | It breaks my heart that you can’t find a good job. |
| To have your heart set on something | To desire something. | She has her heart set on studying in the United States next year. |
| Learn it by heart | Commit something to memory. | We had to learn this poem by heart. |
| To have butterflies in your stomach | To feel nervous or excited, especially when in love. | When I saw him on our first date, I had butterflies in my stomach. |
| Can’t stomach something | To be unable to tolerate something. | I can’t stomach violent movies. |
| To have a gut feeling | To have an instinct for something. | I have a gut feeling that we are on the wrong bus. |
| To go belly up | To fail. | The company went belly up only six months after the inauguration. |
| To have a belly laugh | To laugh very hard when you are sincerely amused. | Her baby has the cutest belly laugh. |
Say it with style!
Body-related idioms make English fun and engaging. With Busuu, you can master phrases like ‘get off my back’ and ‘my lips are sealed’ in no time! We offer hundreds of engaging lessons, interactive exercises, personalized feedback and a community of learners that will help you succeed.
A handful of idioms
If you thought that important body parts like arms and hands must have their own idioms, you were right! A significant number of idioms about body revolve around these parts, reflecting their essential role in human anatomy. Let’s explore some of the most fascinating expressions involving arms, hands and everything in between.
Arm and hand idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Up in arms | To be angry about something. | The fans were up in arms after the referee gave the penalty. |
| Twist someone’s arm | To pressure someone to do something. | You don’t have to twist my arm to convince me to have dessert! |
| Welcome someone with open arms | To be very welcoming. | When he came back from Japan, the family welcomed him with open arms. |
| Keep someone at arm’s length | To keep your distance from someone. | She keeps her coworkers at arm’s length – she’s very private. |
| Rub elbows with someone | To socialize with important people. | She likes her job because it allows her to rub elbows with a lot of football players. |
| Hands down | Without a doubt. | This was hands down the best meal I’ve ever had. |
| Give someone a hand | To help someone. | Can you give me a hand unloading the groceries? |
| The upper hand | To have the advantage. | They got the upper hand after scoring two goals in five minutes. |
| Wash your hands of something | To lose interest in something and give up responsibility for it. | After a long discussion, I decided to wash my hands of the problem. |
| Hands tied | When someone can’t act freely. | I would love to hire more people but my hands are tied. |
| In good hands | In the care of someone capable. | When the emergency response team arrived, I immediately felt in good hands. |
| Out of hand | Out of control. | The argument got out of hand and turned into a shouting match. |
| Point the finger at someone | To blame someone. | The manager pointed the finger at his assistants for the mistakes. |
| Fingers crossed | To hope for good luck. | I have a job interview later today. Fingers crossed! |
| To not lift a finger | When you don’t help someone. | He didn’t lift a finger for Sarah’s birthday party. |
| A pinky promise | To make a sincere promise. | The girls made a pinky promise to keep each other’s secrets. |
| Thumbs up | To approve of something. | The boss gave the project a thumbs up! |
Walking the talk: Idioms about the lower body
We will conclude our journey through the human body with the legs, knees, feet and toes. These idioms capture the essence of movement, balance and determination, highlighting how the lower body supports us not just physically but also metaphorically.
Leg and foot idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Break a leg | Good luck. | Good luck on your audition – break a leg! |
| Pull someone’s leg | To tease someone. | Stop pulling my leg, I know that you planned something for my birthday! |
| Not have a leg to stand on | To have no valid arguments. | His argument fell apart quickly – he didn’t have a leg to stand on. |
| A leg up | To have an advantage. | This training will give you a leg up on your new position. |
| Weak at the knees | Really nervous. | He gets weak at the knees every time he needs to speak in public. |
| Knee-jerk reaction | An instinctive reaction. | Don’t make a knee-jerk reaction – take some time to think it over. |
| Bring someone to their knees | To defeat someone. | The earthquake brought the country to its knees. |
| Head over heels | To be completely in love with someone. | She fell head over heels for him, and now she can’t stop talking about him. |
| Dig in your heels | To refuse compromise. | She dug in her heels and decided to do things her own way. |
| Back on your feet | To recover from an illness or a setback. | Three months after the accident she’s finally back on her feet. |
| Put your foot down | To be firm. | I need to put my foot down here – I said no more candies! |
| Get off on the wrong foot | Make a bad first impression. | They got off on the wrong foot when they argued during their first meeting. |
| Put your foot in your mouth | To say something embarrassing. | I really put my foot in my mouth when I commented on her new haircut. She did not like my comment. |
| Drag your feet | To procrastinate. | He’s been dragging his feet about finishing his homework all afternoon. |
| Step on someone’s toes | To interfere in something. | Be careful not to step on his toes – he’s very protective of his work. |
Wrapping up
As we’ve explored, body part idioms are not only a creative reflection of English-language culture and humor, but also a testament to how intertwined our physical selves are with the way we express thoughts and emotions. Learning English body idioms doesn’t just enrich your vocabulary – it will also help you communicate more effectively and colorfully with English speakers from around the world.
Now that you have taken this journey around the human body, remember to challenge yourself to incorporate these idioms into your everyday conversations. Practice makes perfect, and knowing these expressions will surely give you a leg up!
AUTHOR
Chiara Pegoraro
Newlanguages