| No. | Item | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | A blessing in disguise | A hidden good in bad. |
| 2. | A foregone conclusion | An outcome already decided. |
| 3. | All that glitters | Appearances can be misleading. |
| 4. | All’s well that ends well | A good ending justifies trouble. |
| 5. | As good luck would have it | By fortunate chance. |
| 6. | As luck would have it | By chance, luckily or not. |
| 7. | Bated breath | Anxious anticipation. |
| 8. | Be-all and end-all | The most important thing. |
| 9. | Brave new world | A strange, new situation. |
| 10. | Break the ice | Ease tension in a new situation. |
| 11. | Budge an inch | Change position or opinion slightly. |
| 12. | By the skin of your teeth | Barely succeed. |
| 13. | Call a spade a spade | Speak plainly and directly. |
| 14. | Cast pearls before swine | Offer value to the ungrateful. |
| 15. | Catch-22 | A no-win situation. |
| 16. | Cold comfort | Small consolation. |
| 17. | Come what may | No matter what happens. |
| 18. | Cruel to be kind | Harshness meant to help. |
| 19. | Dead as a doornail | Completely dead. |
| 20. | Devil incarnate | A very evil person. |
| 21. | Don’t count your chickens | Don’t assume success too early. |
| 22. | Down in the dumps | Feeling sad. |
| 23. | Draw the line | Set a limit. |
| 24. | Easy come, easy go | Gained easily, lost easily. |
| 25. | Eat humble pie | Admit you were wrong. |
| 26. | Eaten out of house and home | Consume all someone’s food. |
| 27. | Elbow room | Enough space to move. |
| 28. | Every dog has its day | Everyone gets a chance. |
| 29. | Fancy-free | Without responsibilities or attachments. |
| 30. | Flesh and blood | A real human being. |
| 31. | For my mind’s eye | In my imagination. |
| 32. | For the nonce | For the present purpose. |
| 33. | Forever and a day | A very long time. |
| 34. | Foul play | Dishonest or criminal action. |
| 35. | Get cold feet | Lose courage at the last moment. |
| 36. | Give someone the cold shoulder | Ignore someone deliberately. |
| 37. | Give the devil his due | Acknowledge an enemy’s merits. |
| 38. | Go to the dogs | Decline badly. |
| 39. | Good riddance | Glad someone is gone. |
| 40. | Green-eyed monster | Jealousy. |
| 41. | Heart of gold | A very kind nature. |
| 42. | High time | Long overdue. |
| 43. | Hoist with his own petard | Harmed by one’s own plan. |
| 44. | Household words | Widely known phrases or names. |
| 45. | In a pickle | In a difficult situation. |
| 46. | In hot water | In trouble. |
| 47. | In my heart of hearts | Deep down, truly. |
| 48. | In stitches | Laughing uncontrollably. |
| 49. | In the blink of an eye | Very quickly. |
| 50. | It’s Greek to me | I don’t understand it. |
| 51. | Keep an eye on | Watch carefully. |
| 52. | Kill with kindness | Overwhelm with niceness. |
| 53. | Laughing stock | Someone widely mocked. |
| 54. | Lead on | Continue; go ahead. |
| 55. | Lie low | Avoid attention. |
| 56. | Love is blind | Love ignores faults. |
| 57. | Make a virtue of necessity | Turn need into a positive. |
| 58. | Melted into thin air | Disappeared completely. |
| 59. | Method in the madness | Sense behind strange behavior. |
| 60. | Milk of human kindness | Natural compassion. |
| 61. | More sinned against than sinning | Wronged more than guilty. |
| 62. | Much ado about nothing | Fuss over something trivial. |
| 63. | Mum’s the word | Keep it secret. |
| 64. | Naked truth | The plain, unvarnished truth. |
| 65. | Neither rhyme nor reason | No logic or sense. |
| 66. | Not budge an inch | Refuse to change at all. |
| 67. | Not sleep a wink | Not sleep at all. |
| 68. | Odd man out | The one who doesn’t fit. |
| 69. | Off with his head | Call for harsh punishment. |
| 70. | Once more unto the breach | Try again with courage. |
| 71. | One fell swoop | All at once. |
| 72. | Out of the jaws of death | Saved from near death. |
| 73. | Over my dead body | I will never allow it. |
| 74. | Parting is such sweet sorrow | Goodbyes are painful yet pleasant. |
| 75. | Pound of flesh | A harsh, exact demand. |
| 76. | Primrose path | An easy road to trouble. |
| 77. | Quick and dead | The living and the dead. |
| 78. | Salad days | Youthful, inexperienced time. |
| 79. | Seen better days | Once was in better condition. |
| 80. | Send packing | Dismiss or drive away. |
| 81. | Set my teeth on edge | Make me very irritated. |
| 82. | Short shrift | Little time or attention. |
| 83. | Sick at heart | Deeply saddened. |
| 84. | Something is rotten | Something is very wrong. |
| 85. | Star-crossed lovers | Lovers doomed by fate. |
| 86. | Strange bedfellows | Unlikely partners. |
| 87. | The game is afoot | The action has begun. |
| 88. | The lady doth protest too much | Overdenial suggests guilt. |
| 89. | The time is out of joint | Things are disordered. |
| 90. | The world is my oyster | I can go anywhere, do anything. |
| 91. | There’s the rub | That’s the main problem. |
| 92. | Too much of a good thing | Excess can be harmful. |
| 93. | Vanish into thin air | Disappear suddenly. |
| 94. | Wear my heart on my sleeve | Show feelings openly. |
| 95. | What’s done is done | The past can’t be changed. |
| 96. | What’s in a name? | Names don’t change essence. |
| 97. | Wild-goose chase | A pointless search. |
| 98. | Witching hour | Late night, eerie time. |
| 99. | With bated breath | In anxious suspense. |
| 100. | Without rhyme or reason | Without logic. |