English Idioms - E

English and American idioms starting with the letter E are a great example of English learning resources

Each to their own
When people have different opinions about things which they won’t change, you can ‘say each to their own’

Eager beaver
A very keen person is an eager beaver

Eagle eyes
Someone with eagle eyes is very good at noticing things

Early bath
Someone who loses their job unexpectedly has gone for an early bath

Early bird catches the worm
The early bird catches the worm refers to people who do things first in order to be successful

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise
An long idiom which has no hidden meaning, so getting a good nights sleep helps you succeed both financially and economically

Earn a living
Earning a living means making money in order to survive, usually by getting a job

Easier said than done
A task which is more complex than it sounds is easier said than done

Easy as ABC
Learning the first three letters of the alphabet is simple, so ‘easy as ABC’ means something easy

Easy as beans
A task which is very easy to complete is easy as beans

Easy as pie
As easy as pie refers to tasks which can easily be completed

Easy come, easy go
Things which are gained through minimal effort tend to be used quickly, as this is the meaning of ‘easy come, easy go’

Easy peasy
When something is described as easy peasy, it means that it’s very easy indeed

Eat crow
Eating crow is having to admit a mistake or that you were wrong about something

Eat humble pie
Eating humble pie is a form of apology which someone does when they are genuinely sorry for something

Eat like a bird
Because a bird eats very little, someone who eats like a bird consumes a small amount

Eat like a horse
Horses eat lots of food, so someone who eats like a horse loves to eat great amounts of food

Eat like a pig
Eating like a pig is similar to eating like a horse, except that it can also stress that the person’s table manners are bad

Eat my hat
Threatening to eat my hat is done in order to show that you think a specific thing will never happen

Eat someone alive
Eating someone alive is a strong statement which relates to a thorough defeat of an opponent

Eat your heart out
Telling another to eat their heart out is done with the purpose of showing you are better at a task than they are

Eat your words
When you eat your words it means that you are admitting publically your opinion was wrong

Economical with the truth
A person who is economical with the truth is selective with the facts in order to prove their point, and purposefully ignores contradicting information

Egg on your face
When you have egg on your face it means that you are embarrassed about something which happened to you publically

Elbow grease
Things which involve a bit of elbow grease take some physical effort to achieve

Elbow room
Not having any elbow room means having not enough space around you

Elephant in the room
When there is an elephant in the room, there exists a large and unresolved issue which everyone knows about but no one tries to solve because of it’s sensitivity

Eleventh hour
Something which happens at the eleventh hour happens at the last moment

Empty vessels make the most noise
Those people who have the least valuable things to say are often the noisiest, so empty vessels make the most noise

End in smoke
When something ends in smoke, all traces of effort are lost and nothing important is remembered

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while
If even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while, then those who don’t really try to succeed can still win by luck

Even a broken clock is right twice a day
People who succeed without even trying are referred to by saying that ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day’

Even keel
A thing in equilibrium called an even keel

Even Stevens
Sharing out the profits of something evenly is called splitting it even Stevens

Even the dogs in the street know
When something is very obvious to all, you can say that even the dogs in the street know

Every ass likes to hear himself bray
When someone likes to listen to themselves talking, then every ass likes to hear himself bray

Every cloud has a silver lining
Looking at the positive points of a problem is the same thing as saying that every cloud has a silver lining

Every dog has its day
Every dog has its day means that all people get a chance in their lives to be famous or find notoriety for something

Every man and his dog
If you want to include everyone altogether in something you can say every man and his dog

Every man for himself
People facing a situation when everyone must look after themselves can say every man for himself

Every man has his price
If you say that everyone has a rice you mean that everyone’s loyalty can be bought for a price

Every man jack
Every man jack is a general way of saying absolutely everyone

Every nook and cranny
When you have searched every nook and cranny, you have looked everywhere possible

Every Tom, Dick and Harry
Every Tom Dick and Harry means everyone possible

Every trick in the book
When trying to succeed by any means possible, you are using every trick in the book

Everybody and their uncle
In order to refer to a large group of people which you generally know, you can say everybody and their uncle

Everything but the kitchen sink
Taking everything but the kitchen sink means to include all possible things, useful or not

Exception that proves the rule
An exception that proves the rule is an odd situation which in some way confirms your opinion

Explore all avenues
Exploring all avenues means to explore and consider all possibilities

Eye candy
A person who is eye candy is pretty to look at, pleasing to the eye

Eye for an eye
An eye for an eye refers to taking revenge equal in power to the original act

Eyes are bigger than one's stomach
If your eyes are bigger that your stomach it means that you want more than you can actually handle