IdiomQuest Beginner Idioms
Learn beginner English idioms by category.
Choose a category to see simple meanings and example sentences. These pages are designed for quick website reading first, with games and app links added later.
Talking & Social Life
Use these beginner idioms when people are meeting, sharing news, listening, agreeing, or keeping something quiet.
Social
Break the ice
To help people feel comfortable.
Questy broke the ice by cracking the awkward ice block and letting the party confetti escape.
Secrets
Spill the beans
To tell a secret.
Questy spilled the beans, and the surprise-party beans ran out wearing tiny hats.
Communication
Zip your lip
To stay quiet.
Star Guide zipped her lip so the surprise gift would stay a secret.
Secrets
A little bird told me
Someone told me a secret.
Star Guide said a little bird told her about the surprise, but the bird was Book Bot wearing a paper beak.
Listening
All ears
Listening carefully.
Tell me your idea. I am all ears.
Teamwork
See eye to eye
To agree with someone.
We see eye to eye about which game to play next.
People & Feelings
These idioms help learners talk about emotions, personality, sleep, health, and everyday behavior.
Feelings
Butterflies in my stomach
Feeling nervous.
Rocket Pal had butterflies in his stomach before show-and-tell.
Feelings
Cool as a cucumber
Very calm.
Star Guide stayed cool as a cucumber while the classroom fan spun in circles.
Feelings
On cloud nine
Extremely happy.
She was on cloud nine after hearing the good news.
Feelings
Pull yourself together
Calm down and get ready.
Book Bot had to pull himself together after his sticky notes formed a tiny panic tornado.
Personality
Smarty pants
A person who acts very smart.
Book Bot wore his smarty pants and solved the puzzle before the pencil sat down.
Sleep
Hit the sack
To go to bed.
Rocket Pal hit the sack so dramatically that his pillow applauded and asked for an encore.
Choices, Problems & Courage
These idioms are useful when someone needs to decide, try, help, hurry, or handle a problem.
The ball is in your court
It is your turn.
Star Guide noticed the giant ball in her court and knew it was her turn.
Bite the bullet
To do a hard thing bravely.
Book Bot had to bite the bullet and clean the toy bin before playtime.
In a pickle
In a difficult or tricky situation.
I forgot my lunch and my homework, so I was in a pickle.
In hot water
In trouble.
I was in hot water after forgetting my project at home.
Give it a shot
To try something.
The game looked hard, but Mia decided to give it a shot.
Save the day
To fix a problem just in time.
Questy saved the day by finding the missing marker right behind the marker-shaped superhero cape.