365 American English Idioms

This book includes and explanation, the structure, and an example sentence for each idiom. Learning these English idioms can help your English sound more natural, and can help you prepare for TOEIC, TOEFL, and IELTS exams.

An idiom is a word or set of words that have a different meaning than the usual & literal meaning of those words. For example, let’s look at the idiom, “a piece of cake.” The literal meaning of “a piece of cake” is “one section or part of a whole cake.” However, as an idiom, we use “a piece of cake” to mean, “something that is very easy to do.” For example, Jack has been building and repairing computers for a long time. For him, repairing a computer is a piece of cake.

Idioms are commonly used in everyday, conversational English. It is more natural to say, “That job was a piece of cake,” than “That job was rather easy for me.” I encourage you to study the lessons in this book, and begin using these idioms in your conversations. You will sound more natural when you do so.