Close Idioms

(English Idioms & Sayings) Close Idioms

close at hand

- to be within reach
The day that the new coach would be chosen was now close at hand.

close call/shave

- an accident that almost happens but does not happen
I had a close call this morning when the truck almost hit me.

close in on (someone or something)

- to overwhelm or surround someone or something
The soldiers quickly closed in on the enemy position.

close one's eyes to (something)

- to ignore something
The teacher closed her eyes to the misbehavior of the students.

close ranks

- to come together for fighting, to unite and work together
The political parties closed ranks and stopped arguing among themselves.

close the books (on someone or something)

- to put an end to something (like the books in accounting records)
The owners of the team closed the books on the idea of building a new stadium.

close to home

- to be near to someone`s personal feelings/wishes/interests
My statement about the woman's work habits hit close to home and she became very quiet.

close to (someone)

- to be fond of someone
The boy is very close to his grandfather.


cloud up

- to become cloudy
It began to cloud up and soon started raining.

clue (someone) in

- to inform someone about something
We tried to clue the principal in about why the students were absent.

the coast is clear

- no danger is in sight, no one can see you
When the coast is clear we will try to enter the building.

cock-and-bull story

- a story that is not true
The boys gave us a cock-and-bull story about the tire marks in front of our house.

cog in the machine

- a small and unimportant part of a large organization
The employees felt like they were only cogs in the machine so the atmosphere at the company was not very good.

cold comfort

- no comfort at all
The government offered money to the victims of the fire but it was cold comfort to those who had lost their families.

cold fish

- a distant and unfeeling person
The man was a cold fish and cared little about his family.

cold snap/spell

- a sudden short period of cold weather (usually in winter)
The cold snap lasted for five days.


Posted by Learning English through Idioms and Sayings