100 Animal Idioms and Expressions

No.	Term	Definition
1.	A bird in the hand	A sure thing beats a risk.
2.	A little bird told me	I heard it from someone.
3.	A wild goose chase	A futile search.
4.	Act like a fish out of water	Seem awkward in a place.
5.	All bark and no bite	Threatening but not harmful.
6.	Ants in your pants	Restless; unable to sit still.
7.	As busy as a bee	Very busy.
8.	As happy as a clam	Very content.
9.	As proud as a peacock	Very proud or vain.
10.	As sly as a fox	Very cunning.
11.	As stubborn as a mule	Very stubborn.
12.	As the crow flies	In a straight line.
13.	Bark up the wrong tree	Blame or pursue the wrong thing.
14.	Be a guinea pig	Be used for an experiment.
15.	Be the black sheep	Be the family outsider.
16.	Beat a dead horse	Waste effort on the past.
17.	Bee in your bonnet	An obsession or fixation.
18.	Big fish in a small pond	Important in a small place.
19.	Birds of a feather	Similar people stick together.
20.	Blind as a bat	Having very poor sight.
21.	Bull in a china shop	Clumsy and reckless.
22.	Busy as a beaver	Very hardworking.
23.	Butterflies in your stomach	Nervous excitement.
24.	Buy a pig in a poke	Buy without checking first.
25.	Call the dogs off	Stop attacking or pursuing.
26.	Cat got your tongue?	Why are you silent?
27.	Cat nap	A short sleep.
28.	Cat’s out of the bag	A secret is revealed.
29.	Chickens come home to roost	Past actions bring consequences.
30.	Clam up	Become silent.
31.	Cold turkey	Quit abruptly.
32.	Come out of your shell	Become more confident.
33.	Copycat	Someone who imitates others.
34.	Cry wolf	Give a false alarm.
35.	Curiosity killed the cat	Being nosy brings trouble.
36.	Dark horse	Unexpected winner or contender.
37.	Dog and pony show	A flashy presentation.
38.	Dog days	The hottest summer period.
39.	Dog in the manger	Hoarding what you won’t use.
40.	Dog-eat-dog	Ruthlessly competitive.
41.	Dumb bunny	A foolish person.
42.	Eager beaver	Overly enthusiastic worker.
43.	Eat like a bird	Eat very little.
44.	Eat like a horse	Eat a lot.
45.	Elephant in the room	An obvious issue ignored.
46.	Every dog has its day	Everyone gets a chance.
47.	Fishy	Suspicious or not quite right.
48.	Flea market	Market selling secondhand goods.
49.	Flip-flop like a fish	Change positions repeatedly.
50.	Fly on the wall	Unseen observer.
51.	Follow the herd	Do what others do.
52.	For the birds	Useless or worthless.
53.	Free as a bird	Unrestricted; able to go anywhere.
54.	Get your ducks in a row	Get organized.
55.	Go hog wild	Behave wildly.
56.	Go to the dogs	Decline in quality.
57.	Guinea pig	A test subject.
58.	Have a cow	Overreact; get very upset.
59.	Have a whale of a time	Have a great time.
60.	Have ants in your pants	Be very restless.
61.	Hold your horses	Wait; slow down.
62.	Horse around	Play roughly; fool around.
63.	In the doghouse	In trouble or disfavored.
64.	In the lion’s den	In a dangerous place.
65.	It’s raining cats and dogs	Raining very heavily.
66.	Jackass	A stubborn or foolish person.
67.	Kill two birds with one stone	Achieve two goals at once.
68.	Knee-high to a grasshopper	Very small or young.
69.	Let sleeping dogs lie	Avoid stirring up trouble.
70.	Like a bull at a gate	Charge in aggressively.
71.	Like a cat on hot bricks	Very nervous and restless.
72.	Like a fish out of water	Uncomfortable in surroundings.
73.	Like herding cats	Hard to manage people.
74.	Lion’s share	The largest part.
75.	Look like the cat that ate	Look very smug.
76.	Make a beeline	Go straight to something.
77.	Monkey business	Mischief or dishonest behavior.
78.	More than one way to skin a cat	Many ways to do something.
79.	Night owl	Someone active late at night.
80.	No spring chicken	Not young anymore.
81.	On the lam	Fleeing from the law.
82.	Open a can of worms	Create more problems.
83.	Paper tiger	Seems threatening but is weak.
84.	Play possum	Pretend to be asleep or dead.
85.	Quick as a bunny	Very fast.
86.	Rat on someone	Betray; inform on someone.
87.	Rat race	Frenzied, competitive routine.
88.	Red herring	A misleading clue.
89.	Sacrificial lamb	Someone blamed to protect others.
90.	Scapegoat	Person unfairly blamed.
91.	Sick as a dog	Very ill.
92.	Smell a rat	Suspect a trick.
93.	Snake in the grass	A hidden, treacherous person.
94.	Social butterfly	Person who socializes widely.
95.	Sow wild oats	Behave recklessly when young.
96.	Spill the beans	Reveal a secret.
97.	Straight from the horse’s mouth	From the original source.
98.	Take the bull by the horns	Face a problem directly.
99.	Talk turkey	Speak frankly.
100.	The bee’s knees	Excellent; outstanding.