piece of cake
Means something very easy
Example The exam was a piece of cake.
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 25 most common English idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its meaning and a real example sentence, so you know what the phrase actually means.
Common English idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, "piece of cake" means something very easy. This free page ranks the 25 most common English idioms by how often you meet them, each with its meaning and a real example sentence, so you learn the expressions natives actually use.
All 25 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
piece of cake
Means something very easy
Example The exam was a piece of cake.
break the ice
Means to ease tension at the start of a social situation
Example He told a joke to break the ice at the meeting.
be on the same page
Means to share the same understanding of a situation
Example Let's have a quick call so we're all on the same page before the launch.
cost an arm and a leg
Means to be very expensive
Example That new phone costs an arm and a leg.
the last straw
Means the final problem that makes a situation unbearable
Example His rude comment was the last straw.
hit the nail on the head
Means to describe something exactly right
Example You hit the nail on the head with that answer.
call it a day
Means to stop working for the day
Example It's almost seven, let's call it a day.
spill the beans
Means to reveal a secret
Example Come on, spill the beans, what did she say?
Note Informal, so it fits everyday chat rather than formal writing.
under the weather
Means feeling slightly ill
Example She's a bit under the weather today, so she stayed home.
cut corners
Means to skip proper steps to save time or money
Example Don't cut corners when it comes to safety.
bite the bullet
Means to force yourself to do something unpleasant
Example I decided to bite the bullet and finally go to the dentist.
beat around the bush
Means to avoid saying what you really mean
Example Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want.
Note British English also uses the form beat about the bush.
once in a blue moon
Means very rarely
Example We only see each other once in a blue moon.
the ball is in your court
Means it is your turn to decide or act
Example I've done all I can, now the ball is in your court.
let the cat out of the bag
Means to reveal a secret by accident
Example He let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party.
the elephant in the room
Means an obvious problem that everyone avoids mentioning
Example Nobody wanted to bring up the elephant in the room, the missing money.
make ends meet
Means to have just enough money to cover your basic costs
Example With rent this high, they can barely make ends meet.
get cold feet
Means to lose your nerve about something you had planned
Example He got cold feet the night before the wedding.
throw someone under the bus
Means to betray someone in order to protect yourself
Example She threw her own team under the bus to save herself.
Note Informal but serious, it accuses someone of genuine betrayal.
hit the sack
Means to go to bed
Example I'm exhausted, I'm going to hit the sack.
Note Very informal and mostly spoken; keep it out of formal writing.
a blessing in disguise
Means something that seems bad at first but turns out well
Example Losing that job turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
break a leg
Means good luck, said to someone before a performance
Example Break a leg tonight, I know you'll be great.
Note It comes from theatre superstition: wishing good luck directly is thought to bring bad luck.
on cloud nine
Means extremely happy
Example She was on cloud nine after getting the job.
burn the midnight oil
Means to work late into the night
Example She burned the midnight oil to finish the report.
kick the bucket
Means to die
Example I want to see Rome before I kick the bucket.
Note Jokey and blunt, so avoid it about a death that matters to the people listening.
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: "piece of cake" has nothing to do with its literal words, it simply means something very easy.
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 English sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common English idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with piece of cake, break the ice, be on the same page, cost an arm and a leg, the last straw. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 25 of them with meanings and example sentences.
"piece of cake" means something very easy. For example: The exam was a piece of cake.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. "piece of cake", for instance, means something very easy, which you could never work out from the words themselves. That is why idioms are learned as whole units, ideally in context.
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 English with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.