spill the beans
Means to reveal a secret
Example Come on, spill the beans, what did she say?
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are 16 of the most common English idioms, each with its literal translation, real meaning, and an example sentence, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common English idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, "spill the beans" means to reveal a secret. This free tool lists 16 common English idioms, each with its meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the expressions natives actually use.
All 16 English idioms, with meanings and examples.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of July 2026.
spill the beans
Means to reveal a secret
Example Come on, spill the beans, what did she say?
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.
kick the bucket
Means to die
Example I want to see Rome before I kick the bucket.
piece of cake
Means something very easy
Example The exam was a piece of cake.
under the weather
Means feeling ill
Example She's a bit under the weather today, so she stayed home.
cost an arm and a leg
Means to be very expensive
Example That new phone costs an arm and a leg.
hit the sack
Means to go to bed
Example I'm exhausted, I'm going to hit the sack.
once in a blue moon
Means very rarely
Example We only see each other once in a blue moon.
bite the bullet
Means to force yourself to do something unpleasant
Example I decided to bite the bullet and finally go to the dentist.
hit the nail on the head
Means to describe something exactly right
Example You hit the nail on the head with that answer.
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.
burn the midnight oil
Means to work late into the night
Example She burned the midnight oil to finish the report.
cut corners
Means to do something cheaply or carelessly
Example Don't cut corners when it comes to safety.
the last straw
Means the final problem that makes a situation unbearable
Example His rude comment was the last straw.
on cloud nine
Means extremely happy
Example She was on cloud nine after getting the job.
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.
Idioms stick when you see them in context, not on a list. Lingo7 lets you read real English 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: "spill the beans" has nothing to do with its literal words, it simply means to reveal a secret.
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.
Start reading English with Lingo7 →
Find English books at your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the CEFR test (A1-C2) →
Some of the most common English idioms are spill the beans, break the ice, kick the bucket, piece of cake. 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 16 of them with their meaning and an example sentence.
"spill the beans" means to reveal a secret. For example: Come on, spill the beans, what did she say?
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. "spill the beans", for instance, means to reveal a secret, 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.