American English Idioms - A

Idiom Definition Usage
about time more than long enough It's about time that you returned that book to me.
absent minded forgetful She is really absent minded.
according to Hoyle Strictly by the rules According to Hoyle, you are not allowed to enter this room.
across the board which included everyone The employees received a salary increase across the board.
add up be reasonable His excuse didn't seem to add up.
ahead of time early We started the meeting ahead of time.
air one's dirty laundry reveal his embarrassing secrets She began to air his dirty laundry at the party.
all along the entire time I knew you were seeing someone else all along.
all at once Suddenly All at once, the fans rushed onto the field.
all day long the entire day She has been waiting for the mail to arrive all day long.
all ears listening to everything You can tell me your story now because I am all ears.
all in all After considering everything All in all, the meeting was a success.
all of a sudden Suddenly All of a sudden, the tornado hit the small town.
all right okay She said that it would be all right for me to come to the party.
all the time continually She asks for money all the time.
all thumbs clumsy He is all thumbs when it comes to fixing things around the house.
an arm and a leg a lot of money His new car must have cost him an arm and a leg.
apple of one's eye favorite His youngest daughter is the apple of his eye.
as a rule Usually As a rule I usually get up at 8:00 AM every morning.
as far as To the extent As far as I know he will be here in a few minutes.
asking for trouble probably going to have a problem He is asking for trouble if he misses another class.
asleep at the switch not alert to the opportunity He missed the chance to apply for the job because he was asleep at the switch.
as long as Provided that As long as you promise to be careful you can borrow my car.
as the crow flies Taking the most direct route As the crow flies it is about 8 kilometers to my house.
as usual most of the time She forgot to bring her book to class as usual.
as well as in addition to You should bring paper as well as a pen.
as yet Until now As yet, she has not told me about her plans.
at a loss for less than the company paid for them The cars were sold at a loss.
at an end over The long career of the company's president appears to be at an end.
at cross purposes have opposite ways to do something They are at cross purposes and are always arguing about what to do.
at fault to blame The truck driver was at fault in the accident.
at first At the beginning At first she did not want to go but later she changed her mind.
at first blush When first seen At first blush he seemed like a good worker but he is actually lazy.
at heart basically She is a very nice person at heart although many people dislike her.
at home in the house Her shoes are at home.
at last finally I was waiting all morning for her call and at last it came.
at loggerheads opposing each other We have been at loggerheads over the new business plan.
at odds in disagreement He has been at odds with his boss for many weeks now.
at one's beck and call ready to serve him His eldest daughter is always at his beck and call.
at the end of one's rope at the limit of his ability to cope He is at the end of his rope with this situation.
at wit's end frustrated and upset He seems to be at wit's end after spending over two hours trying to solve the math problem.
attend to take care of The clerk decided to attend to another customer first.