IDIOM | MEANING | EXAMPLE |
---|---|---|
Have a big mouth | To be a gossiper; to be a person who tells secrets. | She has a big mouth. She told her friends about the meeting. |
Have a card up sleeve | To have an advantage that other people do not know about. | Having a card up his sleeve, he remained calm and waited for the right time to speak. |
Have a bee in bonnet | To talk a lot about something thought to be important. | |
Have a bone to pick with (someone) | To have a disagreement to discuss with someone; to have something to argue about with someone. | I've got a bone to pick with you. Where is the money you owe me? |
Have a brush with (something) | To have a brief contact with something; to have an experience with something. | She had a close brush with the law. She was nearly arrested for speeding. |
Have a chip on shoulder | To blame other people for something bad and to continue to be angry about it. | Even though he went to university, he's always had a chip on his shoulder about his poor upbringing. |
Have a close call (Have a close shave) | To be close to danger; To have a narrow escape from something dangerous. | I almost got struck by a speeding car. It was a close call. He also had a close call yesterday and was almost in a car accident. |
Have a familiar ring | [for a story or an explanation] To sound familiar; you've heard it before. | The story has a familiar ring. I've heard it many times before. |
Have a tiger (bear) by the tail | To be associated with something powerful and potentially dangerous; to have a very difficult problem to solve. | We've had a tiger by the tail ever since we signed the loan agreement. |
Have a good head on shoulders | To have common sense; to be sensible and intelligent. | I always have a good head on my shoulders. Don't worry about me. |
Have a green thumb | To be good at gardening; To have the ability to grow plants well. | My daughter has a green thumb. Look at our garden. |
Have a heart | To be compassionate or generous and forgiving with people. | Let's hope she has a heart and forgive you. |
Have a heart of gold | To be generous, sincere, and friendly. | Many people have a heart of gold. They are always willing to help others. |
Have a heart of stone | To be cold, unresponsive, unforgiving, and unfriendly. | Don't annoy her. She has a heart of stone. |
Have an ax to grind | To complain about something. | May I talk to you? I have an ax to grind. |
Have an in with someone | To have special access to someone ( at work). | He had an in with the manager so he could get a promotion quickly. |
Have a one-track mind | To think entirely about one subject. | She has a one-track mind. She can only talk about jewelry. |
Have a soft spot in heart | To have a fondness for someone, something, or an animal. | He owns several aquariums. He's got a soft spot in his heart for fish. |
Have a sweet tooth | To desire to eat many sweet foods-especially candy and pastries. | You should watch your weight, especially because you have a sweet tooth. |
Have clean hands | To be without guilt, guiltless. | The police took him in, but let him go after questioning because he had clean hands. |
Have egg on face | To be embarrassed by something one has done. (As if one went out in public with a dirty face.) | I was completely wrong, and now I have egg on my face. |
Have eyes in the back of head | To seem to be able to sense what is going on behind or outside of one's field of vision. | The students believed their teacher had eyes in the back his head. |
Have mixed feelings | To be both pleased and not pleased about something at the same time. | He seemed to have mixed feelings about leaving. He enjoyed staying with us but he had to go. |
Have money to burn | To have a lot of money and spend large amounts on things that are not necessary. | When it comes to Lebaran days, people seem to have money to burn. |
Have hands tied | To be prevented from doing something. | He can't help. He has his hands tied by his boss. |
Have head in the clouds | To not pay attention, be unaware of what is going on from fantasies or daydreams. | During lessons, you should not have your head in the clouds. |
Have tail between legs | To be frightened or afraid of doing something. | He seemed to lack courage. He went away with his tail between his legs and didn't tell her that she'd been wrong. |
Have other fish to fry | To have other opportunities; to have more important things to do. | Please make it short. I have other fish to fry. |
Have in hands | To have the responsibility for someone or something. | I'm sorry I won't be able to come. I have many things in my hands. |
have the Midas touch | To have the ability to be successful, especially the ability to make money easily. | The girl seems to have the Midas touch. She can get new clients easily. |
Have the presence of mind to do | To have the calmness and ability to act sensibly in an emergency or difficult situation. | She had the presence of mind to hold on the rope tightly. |
Have stardust in eyes | To be uncritically or unrealistically optimistic. | The Commander seemed to have stardust in his eyes and decided to continue the attack. |
Have one foot in the grave | To be almost dead. | The Commander seemed to have stardust in his eyes and decided to continue the attack. |
English Idioms and Expressions With "Have"
Friday, September 09, 2011
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