VOCABULARY - IDIOMS
Idioms beginning with N
Idioms beginning with N
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Nail-Biter
Meaning: A suspenseful event
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Nailing Jelly/Jello/Pudding To A Wall/Tree
Meaning: An impossible task
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Neck and Neck
Meaning: Very close in a competition, with neither of two entities clearly in the lead
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Neck of the Woods
Meaning: A region, especially one’s home region
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Nest Egg
Meaning: Retirement savings; wealth saved for a future purpose
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Never in A Million Years
Meaning: Absolutely never
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Never Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
Meaning: It’s rude to examine a gift closely; accept gifts politely.
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New Wrinkle
Meaning: A novel aspect to a situation, a new development
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Nice Chunk of Change
Meaning: A large amount of money
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Nickel and Dime
Meaning: To negotiate over very small sums; to try to get a better financial deal, in a negative way
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Nine Times Out of Ten
Meaning: Almost always
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Nine-to-Five Job
Meaning: A routine job in an office that involves standard office hours
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Nip (Something) In The Bud
Meaning: Deal with a problem before it becomes large
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No Holds Barred (usually adj., often hyphenated)
Meaning: Unrestricted, without rules
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No Love Lost Between
Meaning: There is a mutual animosity between two people
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No Names, No Pack Drill
Meaning: By not accusing anyone specifically, I may avoid trouble.
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No Names, No Pack Drill
Meaning: If no one can be identified, no one will be punished.
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No Rhyme or Reason (to)
Meaning: Without logic or pattern
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No Room to Swing A Cat
Meaning: Very small, not big enough
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No Shit, Sherlock
Meaning: That’s very obvious!
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No Tree Grows to the Sky
Meaning: Growth cannot continue indefinitely.
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Not Cut Out for (Something)
Meaning: Not naturally skillful enough to do something well
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Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat
Meaning: A very small or cramped space.
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Not Give A Fig
Meaning: To not care at all about something
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Not Have A Cat In Hell’s Chance
Meaning: Have no possibility of succeeding, coming to pass, or achieving something
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Not Have a Prayer
Meaning: Have no chance of success
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Not Know Jack
Meaning: To have no knowledge or understanding of something. It implies complete ignorance.
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Not Lift a Finger
Meaning: Do nothing to help
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Not Mince Words
Meaning: Moderate or weaken a statement
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Not One’s Cup of Tea
Meaning: Not something one is interested in
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Not Playing with A Full Deck
Meaning: Stupid, mentally deficient or impaired
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Not Ready for Prime Time
Meaning: Not yet perfected; inexperienced
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Not Sit Well with (Someone)
Meaning: Be difficult to accept; make someone uncomfortable
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Nothing to Write Home About
Meaning: Unspectacular, ordinary
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Nuts and Bolts
Meaning: Everyday details of something
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Nutty as a Fruitcake
Meaning: Crazy; idiotic; wacky.