Idioms are a surefire way for you to add color to your English. They are not literal sentences; instead, an idiom uses metaphor to convey meaning beyond the words used. Idioms are based on shared cultural knowledge (for example, shared associations with certain colors or commonly eaten foods), which is why they are understandable despite having a different literal meaning. 

That makes idiomatic language more fluid, eloquent, and most importantly, natural-sounding. Native speakers communicate in idioms constantly, which is why they’re crucial for helping you master the language. 

What Are Body Idioms? 

Body idioms are idioms which refer to specific body parts in order to convey their meaning. For example, the phrase “he’s got a good head on his shoulders”, which means “he is a sensible person”, references both heads and shoulders. 

Body idioms make sense because bodies are something everyone has and thus understands. Everyone interacts with their own and other peoples’ bodies every day, so when they hear body idioms used, it’s very easy to infer meaning. This is even true for unfamiliar body idioms. 

Body idioms are useful in a wide range of situations and serve a variety of different functions. They can be used to give advice, describe situations, talk about people, give commands, and more. 

Why Learn Body Idioms?

As an English learner, you’ll encounter body idioms regularly. They’re used in film, books, TV shows, speeches, lectures, and even essays. Learning to express yourself with body idioms helps you speak more engagingly and communicate more impactfully. 

Body idioms are quite expressive and definitive, so understanding their use will lend your speaking and writing extra weight. Studying and incorporating these metaphors into your everyday vocabulary will make your English sound more creative. 

List of Popular Body Idioms 

Almost every body part has several idioms associated with it, and these phrases are very commonly used. Here are some examples of general body idioms. 

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Break a sweat	Make an effort	Moving boxes all day really made him break a sweat.
Pull yourself together	Calm down, control yourself	When he got the news, he needed a minute to pull himself together.
Jump out of your skin	Be very startled or scared	The haunted house had us jumping out of our skins.
Keep body and soul together	Survive with difficulty	It was a long journey home, but she managed to keep her body and soul together.
Get under one’s skin	To annoy or irritate someone	Her dad’s constant questioning really got under her skin.

Head Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
A good head on one’s shoulders	To be reliable, responsible, sensible	His grace under pressure showed that he’s got a good head on his shoulders.
Off the top of my head	From memory, that one can remember	Off the top of my head, I don’t know who would be available for the party tonight.
Use your head	Think carefully	Before you accept an offer, use your head
Turn heads	Attract attention	He’s really starting to turn heads in that jacket
Lose your head	To panic or act irrationally	The stock market crash made investors lose their heads.

Eye Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Keep an eye out	Stay alert	As a security guard, his job was to keep an eye out for shoplifters.
Cry your eyes out	Cry a lot, be very sad	The breakup left her crying her eyes out.
In the blink of an eye	Immediately, incredibly fast	The wind can change in the blink of an eye.
See eye to eye	To agree with someone	I can see eye to eye with anyone.
Catch someone’s eye	Get someone’s attention	As soon as she walked in, she was catching everyone’s eye.

Ear Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Play it by ear	Improvise, proceed without a plan	The coach is sick, so we have to play it by ear.
In one ear and out the other	Forgotten immediately, not listened to	The warning against trespassing went in one ear and out the other.
Fall on deaf ears	Advice or words that aren’t listened to	The cautionary tale against smoking fell on deaf ears.
Grin from ear to ear	To smile widely, exaggeratedly so	John’s promotion had him grinning from ear to ear.
Wet behind the ears	Inexperienced	Everyone’s a little wet behind the ears when they first start working.

Mouth and Lip Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Word of mouth	Heard in person, verbal information	He applied to the job through word of mouth.
Keep your mouth shut	Stay silent, keep a secret	We both swore to keep our mouths shut about the other night.
Mouth-watering	Very appetizing/appealing	The restaurant’s food looks mouth-watering.
Put your foot in your mouth	Say something embarrassing	Jack had to leave the reunion after putting his foot in his mouth.
Put your money where your mouth is	Act according to your words	He’d made some big claims, but now it was time to put his money where his mouth was.

Hand Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Lend a hand	Help out	They finished building a deck after asking the neighbor to lend a hand.
Have a hand in something	To be involved in something	Amanda has a hand in every party that gets organized.
Wash your hands of something	To distance yourself from something, stop your involvement in it	She washed her hands of the scheme.
On hand	Available	He’s always got coffee on hand.
In good hands	Safe, protected	The package is on its way and in good hands.

Finger Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Keep your fingers crossed	Hope for something	He’s keeping his fingers crossed about the promotion.
Point a finger	To blame someone or something	Joan is always pointing a finger at others instead of herself.
Have sticky fingers	To have a habit of stealing	Watch your pockets around Rob, he has sticky fingers.
Lay a finger on someone	Harm someone (usually as in “don’t lay a finger on them”)	If you lay a finger on him, I’ll never speak to you again.
Rule of thumb	Something that is generally true	It’s a rule of thumb to say thank you when you get a gift.

Arm Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Cost an arm and a leg	Very expensive	George’s new car cost an arm and a leg.
At arm’s length	At a distance, to keep someone distant	They have a mutual friend, but they’re always at arms length.
Up in arms	Very upset about something	He was up in arms about the oil spill.
With open arms	Eagerly	He welcomes his grandchildren with open arms.
Twist someone’s arm	To convince someone to do something	She got a fancy night out after twisting his arm.

Back Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Break your back	Work really hard	Don was breaking his back working in the lumber yard
Watch your back	Be careful	If you go home too late at night, you should watch your back.
Back to the wall	A difficult situation	A sudden layoff left him with his back to the wall.
Put your back into it	To put a lot of energy and effort into something	He really put his back into it getting the sofa through the hallway.
Behind one’s back	To do something without one’s knowledge	He was meeting friends after work behind his wife’s back.

Heart Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Change of heart	A change in your ideas, feelings, or opinion	In light of the new information, I’ve had a change of heart.
Young at heart	Feeling young/youthful	He admired his aunt for being so adventurous and young at heart.
Eat your heart out	Feel very jealous	Watching his rival get promoted had him eating his heart out.
Pour your heart out	To let all your emotions be known	Once she starts talking, she pours her heart out.
Learn by heart	To memorize something	She learned her English grammar by heart.

Leg and Foot Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Break a leg	Exclamation of good luck	My parents told me to break a leg in the play tonight.
Get a leg up	Get an advantage	His connection to the CEO gave him a leg up in the hiring process.
Put your foot down	To be firm and decisive about something	When it comes to the kids’ bedtime, we’ve put our foot down.
Shake a leg	Move faster	Shake a leg before the store closes.
Drag your feet	Delay something, act slowly	He was dragging his feet signing the new contract.

Stomach and Gut Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Have butterflies in your stomach	To be nervous/nervously excited	Their first date gave her butterflies in her stomach.
An uneasy stomach	Feeling worried or unsettled	They’ve called a big meeting out of nowhere; that gives me an uneasy stomach.
Gut feeling	A strong instinct	He had a gut feeling that she was his future wife.
Spill your guts	Reveal everything	After a couple drinks, he spills his guts.
Stomach something	Accept or put up with something unpleasant	It’s hard to stomach when people lie to your face.

Bone Idioms

Idiom	Meaning	Example
No bones about it	No doubt about something	That’s a great deal, no bones about it.
A bone to pick	A disagreement or grievance	They had a bone to pick with each other after the party.
Chilled to the bone	Very very cold	This winter has me chilled to the bone.
Throw someone a bone	To give someone a reward or generosity	He’s been working all day, why not throw him a bone?
Feel it in your bones	To know something instinctively	I feel it in my bones that it’s going to rain.

Fun Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Body Idioms

Now that you’re familiar with a number of popular body idioms, see how well you’ve understood them with this quiz. Here are several sentences with the body idiom missing. Do your best to find the correct one!

1. The rent increase at the same time he lost his job meant his ___ was to ___.
2. He had ___ with the bartender after their argument.
3. Judy may be 92 years old, but she’s still ___. 
4. ___ at the show tonight!
5. Fred was ____ about the new tax law. 

If you want to learn more about idioms, check out our lists of idioms about clothes, idioms about money, or IELTS idioms. 

Everyday Use of Body Idioms in Conversation

Phrases like “give me a hand,” “a leg up,” or “throw him a bone” show up regularly in conversations. They’re common ways that native speakers describe situations. 

Body idioms are common when giving advice or making requests; for example when telling someone to “use their head” or saying “you should put your foot down”. They also show up in writing, commonly as a way to describe the way characters are acting. 

Here’s an example conversation you might apply body idioms to. 

Person 1: “My kid was up in arms when I gave him a time out, but as a parent, you need to know when to put your foot down.”

Person 2: “I completely agree; you have to keep an eye out for that sort of behavior and address it early.”
You can make these idioms easier to learn with mnemonic devices, by making yourself flash cards, and filling out quizzes like these daily. Just a few minutes of work a day will have you incorporating these phrases into your speech naturally.

Conclusion

Body idioms have many uses in the English language, and they’re effective because our bodies are how we relate to the world. Idioms that reference body parts make an impact because everyone can imagine themselves acting out the idiom. 

The best way to solidify your knowledge of body idioms is to use them. Start small and pay attention to sentence context, but try to regularly include idioms in your speaking and writing from now on. 

Do you have a favorite body idiom we didn’t cover? Drop it in the comments!