de kat uit de boom kijken
Literally to watch the cat out of the tree
Means to wait and see how things develop before acting
Example Laten we de kat uit de boom kijken voordat we een beslissing nemen.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 15 of the most common Dutch idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Dutch idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, de kat uit de boom kijken literally means "to watch the cat out of the tree" but is used to mean to wait and see how things develop before acting. This free tool lists 15 real Dutch idioms, each with its literal translation, meaning, and an example sentence.
All 15 Dutch idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
de kat uit de boom kijken
Literally to watch the cat out of the tree
Means to wait and see how things develop before acting
Example Laten we de kat uit de boom kijken voordat we een beslissing nemen.
iets in de gaten houden
Literally to hold something in the holes
Means to keep a close eye on something
Example De politie houdt het pand al weken in de gaten.
de handdoek in de ring gooien
Literally to throw the towel into the ring
Means to give up, to admit defeat
Example Na drie mislukte pogingen gooide hij de handdoek in de ring.
een appeltje met iemand te schillen hebben
Literally to have a little apple to peel with someone
Means to have a bone to pick with someone
Example Ik heb nog een appeltje met jou te schillen.
de druppel die de emmer doet overlopen
Literally the drop that makes the bucket overflow
Means the last straw, the final small thing that makes a situation unbearable
Example Zijn late aankomst was de druppel die de emmer deed overlopen.
met de deur in huis vallen
Literally to fall into the house through the door
Means to get straight to the point without preamble
Example Sorry dat ik meteen met de deur in huis val, maar we moeten praten.
de kop indrukken
Literally to press the head in
Means to nip something in the bud
Example We moeten dit probleem meteen de kop indrukken.
boter op zijn hoofd hebben
Literally to have butter on one's head
Means to be guilty of the very thing one criticizes in others
Example Hij bekritiseert anderen, maar heeft zelf boter op zijn hoofd.
van een mug een olifant maken
Literally to make an elephant from a mosquito
Means to make a mountain out of a molehill
Example Doe niet zo dramatisch, je maakt van een mug een olifant.
de knoop doorhakken
Literally to cut through the knot
Means to make a final decision after doubt or discussion
Example Na lang twijfelen hakte ze eindelijk de knoop door.
iets onder de knie hebben
Literally to have something under the knee
Means to have mastered something
Example Na veel oefenen heeft ze het Nederlands onder de knie.
de moed zinkt iemand in de schoenen
Literally the courage sinks into someone's shoes
Means to lose heart, to become discouraged or afraid
Example Toen hij de resultaten zag, zonk de moed hem in de schoenen.
iets uit zijn duim zuigen
Literally to suck something out of one's thumb
Means to make something up, to invent a story
Example Die smoes heeft hij duidelijk uit zijn duim gezogen.
de spijker op zijn kop slaan
Literally to strike the nail on its head
Means to be exactly right, to say precisely what is correct
Example Met die opmerking sloeg ze de spijker op zijn kop.
door de mand vallen
Literally to fall through the basket
Means to be exposed as a fraud, to get caught doing something wrong
Example Hij loog over zijn diploma, maar viel al snel door de mand.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real Dutch books with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so you meet idioms in the wild and tap any line you do not get. Save them and review later. Free to start.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: De kat uit de boom kijken comes out as "to watch the cat out of the tree", which makes no sense until you know it means to wait and see how things develop before acting.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Dutch sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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Some of the most common Dutch idioms are de kat uit de boom kijken, iets in de gaten houden, de handdoek in de ring gooien, een appeltje met iemand te schillen hebben. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This tool lists 15 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
In Dutch, "de kat uit de boom kijken" translates literally as "to watch the cat out of the tree", but it actually means to wait and see how things develop before acting. You would use it like this: Laten we de kat uit de boom kijken voordat we een beslissing nemen.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. De kat uit de boom kijken translates literally as "to watch the cat out of the tree", yet it means to wait and see how things develop before acting. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Dutch with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.