All Idioms
Dark horse
A candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who wins unexpectedly.
Dead end
A position or situation with no room for progress.
Devil's advocate
To argue against an idea just to test its validity.
Do or die
An urgent situation requiring extreme action.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Do not harm those who support or assist you.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch
Do not rely on something before it happens.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
Do not criticize something that is given to you for free.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Do not risk everything on a single venture.
Down in the dumps
Feeling depressed or unhappy.
Down to earth
Practical, realistic, and unpretentious.
Down to the wire
Until the very last moment.
Drive someone up the wall
To irritate or annoy someone immensely.
Drop in the bucket
A very small part of something much bigger.
Drop the ball
To make a mistake or fail in one's responsibility.
English Idioms: Meaning, Usage and Equivalents
English idioms are expressions whose meaning cannot always be understood from the individual words they contain. Their meaning often depends on context, usage, and the situation in which they appear. Learning an idiom therefore means learning not only what it means, but also how and when it is used.
Understanding English Idioms
Meaning depends on context
An idiom can have a clear meaning in one situation but sound unnatural or inappropriate in another. Context helps determine whether an expression is suitable, how formal or informal it is, and what exactly the speaker intends to convey.
For this reason, idioms are best learned together with examples rather than as isolated definitions.
Literal meaning vs. figurative meaning
The literal meaning of an idiom’s words is often different from its actual meaning. Spill the beans, for example, is not about spilling beans; it means to reveal a secret. Understanding this distinction is essential when learning idiomatic English.
English Idioms and Their Equivalents in Other Languages
Why idioms are rarely translated word for word
Idioms are closely connected to the way each language expresses ideas. A literal translation may preserve the individual words while losing the meaning or producing an expression that native speakers would never use.
A natural equivalent can use completely different imagery while expressing essentially the same idea. This is why translating an idiom often requires finding an expression with the same function and meaning rather than translating its words.
Equivalent does not always mean identical
Some idioms have close equivalents in another language: they may use similar imagery or have a comparable structure. Others share only the underlying meaning.
Akcento distinguishes between these cases rather than treating every equivalent as an exact match. The difference can be useful for understanding how languages express the same ideas in different ways.
How to Learn English Idioms Effectively
Idioms are easier to remember when learned in context. Pay attention to example sentences, the situations in which an expression is normally used, and whether it is formal, informal, humorous, old-fashioned, or specific to a particular context.
It is also useful to compare an English idiom with a natural equivalent in another language. The comparison can reveal both similarities and differences in the way languages express the same idea.
Explore the Idiom Collection
Browse the complete collection of English idioms by category or initial letter. Each entry includes the meaning, origin, example sentences, and natural equivalents in Russian, Spanish, and French.