Idioms related to numbers
Last Modified: 01/12/2016
Remember? An idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own.
There are a lot of English idioms that use numbers to describe different situations. Do you know any of them? Let's take a look!
- If you score full marks in exams, you are 'on cloud nine' because you are very happy.
- Someone 'feel / look like a million dollars' if they feel / look extremely well and healthy, both physically and mentally.
- 'Forty winks' means a short nap during the day - just what you need when you are sleepy!
- Something happens 'nine times out of ten' if it almost always happens .
- Someone is 'at sixes and sevens' when they feel confused and disorganised.
- You are 'dressed up to the nines' if you are wearing very fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion.
- Someone is 'on all fours' when they are on their hands and knees.
- If someone 'looks out for number one', they take care of themselves first and cares for their own interests rather that those of others.
- You can say 'that makes two of us' when you want to tell someone that you are in the same unpleasant situation, or have the same negative feelings as them.
- If someone talks 'nineteen / ten to the dozen', they are speaking very rapidly or energetically.