some useful idioms regarding animals

Animal Idioms
Here are some common idioms based on
animals. Each entry includes the meaning
of the idiom and shows the idiom in
context in an example sentence. [Blur] 1 hold your horses [
/blur] = be patient
idiom meaning example
sentence
ants in
one's
pants unable to sit
still or remain
calm out of
nervousness or
excitement Lisa had ants in
her pants the
day before her
interview.
(the)
birds and
the bees sex education I learned about
the birds and
the bees when
my baby brother
was born.
cat nap a short sleep I'm going to
have a cat nap
while you're
cooking dinner.
cat's got
one's
tongue said about
someone who
doesn't speak
(usually due to
shyness) It looks like the
cat's got your
tongue, Lucy.
Are you always
this quiet?
chicken
out to decide not to
do something
out of fear
(usually just
before) I was going to
take a ride on
Geoff's
motorcyle, but I
chickened out
when he gave
me a helmet to
wear.
clam up become quiet
suddenly Arthur clammed
up when I asked
him about his
family.
copy cat a person who
does the same
thing as
someone else My sister is such
a copy cat. First
she bought the
same car as me,
and now she's
applying to my
school.
dog days very hot days I sleep in the
basement during
the dog days of
August.
dropping
like flies dying/giving up
quickly My roses are
dropping like
flies in this early
frost.
eager
beaver a person who is
excited about
doing certain
work Ever since he got
his new drill set
my husband has
been an eager
beaver around
the house.
fishy odd, suspicious I knew
something fishy
was going on
when I saw all of
my friends' cars
in my mom's
driveway.
have a
cow get extremely
upset (often
over something
minor) My teacher had
a cow when she
realized nobody
had done the
homework.
hold your
horses wait and be
patient Hold your
horses ! I'll be
done in the
washroom in a
minute.
holy cow! Wow, I'm
surprised! Holy cow! I can't
believe you ate
everything on
your plate.
horse
around play roughly If you're going
to horse
around, please
go outside.
get the
lion's
share get the greatest
percentage My aunt got the
lion's share of
the inheritance.
in the dog
house in trouble with
another person I don't think
Marsha is
coming out
tonight. She's
still in the dog
house for
forgetting
Aaron's birthday.
kill two
birds with
one stone get two things
done at once If you pick the
groceries up
when you drop
George off for
his shift, you will
kill two birds
with one stone.
kitty
corner diagonal
direction The gas station is
kitty corner to
the library.
let the
cat out of
the bag reveal a secret Who let the cat
out of the bag
about the
surprise party?
(a) little
bird told
me I heard
something
(usually
secretive or
unknown) from
someone (not
named)
A little bird told
me that you are
thinking of
quitting your
job.
make a
beeline go straight for
something My grandma
made a beeline
for the smoking
room as soon as
she got off the
airplane.
monkey
see,
monkey
do silly/
unintelligent
people tend to
copy each
other's actions Our one-year-
old is saying bad
words now. I
told my
husband,
"Monkey see,
monkey do!"
nest egg money saved
for the future We have a nest
egg that we
might have to
use if Jim goes
on sick leave.
pig out eat a lot of
something I pigged out on
pancakes so I
don't have room
for lunch.
raining
cats and
dogs raining heavily I forgot my
umbrella, and it
was raining cats
and dogs.
rat race fierce,
competitive
struggle for
power, position
etc I'm ready to
leave this rat
race and retire
in Mexico.
smell a
rat begin to
suspect trickery
etc I asked my
brothers not to
tell my parents
that I went out,
but I could smell
a rat as soon as
I opened the
door.
straight
from the
horse's
mouth directly from
the original
source I know Jenny is
pregnant,
because I heard
it straight from
the horse's
mouth .
take the
bull by
the horns face a challenge
or danger
boldly If you really
think you
deserve a
promotion,
you'll have to
take the bull by
the horns .
until the
cows
come
home for a very long
time I could eat pizza
and ice-cream
until the cows
come home .