100 Home and Household Idioms

No.	Item	Definition
1.	A drop in the bucket	A very small amount.
2.	A man’s home is his castle	Home is one’s private refuge.
3.	A storm in a teacup	Big fuss over little.
4.	A watched pot never boils	Waiting makes time feel slower.
5.	As safe as houses	Very safe and reliable.
6.	At your doorstep	Very close to you.
7.	Behind closed doors	In private.
8.	Between a rock and a hard place	Facing two bad choices.
9.	Boil down to	Reduce to essentials.
10.	Bread and butter	Basic income or livelihood.
11.	Bring the house down	Get huge applause or laughter.
12.	Butter someone up	Flatter to gain favor.
13.	Butter wouldn’t melt	Seem innocent but isn’t.
14.	Charity begins at home	Care for family first.
15.	Chickens come home to roost	Past actions bring consequences.
16.	Clean as a whistle	Very clean.
17.	Clean slate	A fresh start.
18.	Clean up your act	Improve your behavior.
19.	Close to home	Personally relevant or sensitive.
20.	Cool as a cucumber	Very calm.
21.	Cry over spilled milk	Regret what’s already done.
22.	Dead as a doornail	Completely dead.
23.	Dog’s breakfast	A complete mess.
24.	Dog’s dinner	A complete mess.
25.	Don’t put all eggs in one basket	Don’t risk everything on one plan.
26.	Door to door	Going house to house.
27.	Dust off	Revive or reuse something.
28.	Empty nest	Children have left home.
29.	Feel at home	Feel comfortable and relaxed.
30.	Fight like cats and dogs	Argue constantly.
31.	Fill someone’s shoes	Replace someone successfully.
32.	Fly the coop	Leave home or escape.
33.	Get your house in order	Organize your affairs.
34.	Go to the dogs	Decline badly.
35.	Half-baked	Poorly planned or done.
36.	Have a bun in the oven	Be pregnant.
37.	Have your cake and eat it	Want incompatible advantages.
38.	Hit close to home	Affect someone personally.
39.	Home away from home	A second comfortable place.
40.	Home in on	Focus in on something.
41.	Home sweet home	Home is comforting and dear.
42.	House of cards	A fragile plan or system.
43.	Icing on the cake	An extra benefit.
44.	If the shoe fits	If it applies to you.
45.	If you can’t stand the heat	Avoid pressure if you can’t cope.
46.	In someone’s shoes	In another person’s situation.
47.	In the doghouse	In trouble with someone.
48.	Iron out	Resolve small problems.
49.	Keep it under your hat	Keep it secret.
50.	Keep the home fires burning	Maintain things while others away.
51.	Keep the kettle on	Be ready to welcome guests.
52.	Keep the wolf from the door	Avoid hunger or poverty.
53.	Knock your socks off	Amaze or impress greatly.
54.	Know which side bread’s buttered	Know where advantage lies.
55.	Leave no stone unturned	Search everywhere.
56.	Let sleeping dogs lie	Avoid restarting old trouble.
57.	Like a house on fire	Very quickly; very well.
58.	Like taking candy from a baby	Very easy to do.
59.	Lock, stock, and barrel	Completely; everything included.
60.	Loose ends	Unfinished details.
61.	Make a clean sweep	Win everything; remove all.
62.	Make yourself at home	Be comfortable here.
63.	Milk it	Exploit something for gain.
64.	Nest egg	Money saved for future.
65.	New broom sweeps clean	New leaders make quick changes.
66.	Not a dry eye in the house	Everyone was moved to tears.
67.	Not fit to hold a candle	Not nearly as good.
68.	Not my cup of tea	Not to my taste.
69.	Not worth a hill of beans	Not important or valuable.
70.	On the front burner	High priority now.
71.	On the house	Free of charge.
72.	Open the door to	Create an opportunity for.
73.	Out of the frying pan	From bad to worse.
74.	People in glass houses	Don’t criticize if you’re flawed.
75.	Piece of cake	Very easy.
76.	Pot calling the kettle black	Accusing others of your fault.
77.	Pull your socks up	Improve your effort.
78.	Put a sock in it	Be quiet.
79.	Put it on the back burner	Delay dealing with it.
80.	Raining cats and dogs	Raining very heavily.
81.	Rainy day	A time of need.
82.	Rub salt in the wound	Make pain worse.
83.	Salt away	Save for later.
84.	Show someone the door	Make someone leave.
85.	Smart cookie	A clever person.
86.	Spring cleaning	Thorough cleaning and clearing out.
87.	Stone’s throw	A very short distance.
88.	Sweep under the rug	Hide a problem.
89.	Take the cake	Be the most remarkable.
90.	Take with a pinch of salt	Be skeptical about it.
91.	Tie up loose ends	Finish remaining details.
92.	Tighten your belt	Spend less money.
93.	Too many cooks spoil the broth	Too many helpers ruin things.
94.	Tough cookie	A strong, resilient person.
95.	Under lock and key	Securely locked away.
96.	Wait for the other shoe to drop	Expect more trouble coming.
97.	Walk on eggshells	Act very carefully.
98.	Work like a dog	Work very hard.
99.	Worth one’s salt	Competent and deserving pay.
100.	Write home about	Worth mentioning with pride.