English idioms - Alphabetical list E

	Idiom	Meaning
E	An eager beaver	The term eager beaver refers to a person who is hardworking and enthusiastic, sometimes considered overzealous. "The new accountant works all the time - first to arrive and last to leave -a real eager beaver!"
	Eagle eyes	Someone who has eagle eyes sees or notices things more easily than others. "Tony will help us find it - he's got eagle eyes!"
	In one ear and out the other	To say that information goes in one ear and out the other means that it is immediately forgotten or ignored. "I keep telling him about the risks but it goes in one ear and out the other. He never listens to anyone!"
	Keep your ear to the ground	If you keep your ear to the ground , you make sure that you are aware of all that is happening and being said
	Lend an ear	If you lend an ear to someone, you listen carefully and sympathetically.
	Music to your ears	To say that something is music to your ears, means that the information you receive makes you feel very happy.
	Turn a deaf ear	A person who turns a deaf ear to something such as a request or a complaint refuses to pay attention to it.
	Play it by ear	This expression means to improvise or act without preparation, according to the demands of the situation. Music : to play by remembering the tune, without printed music.
	Earn while you learn	This expression refers to the possibility of earning a salary while in training. "Become an apprentice and get paid while in training. Earn while you learn!"
	Easier said than done	To say that something is easier said than done means that what is suggested sounds easy but it is more difficult to actually do it. "Put the TV aerial on the roof? Easier said than done!"
	Easy as pie	To say that something is easy as pie means that it is very easy to do. "How did the English test go? - No problem - it was easy as pie!"
	Eat crow	If you eat crow, you admit that you were wrong about something and apologize. "He had no option but to eat crow and admit that his analysis was wrong."
	Eat a horse	To say that you could eat a horse means that you are very hungry. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving. I could eat a horse!"
	Eat you out of house and home	This is a humorous way of saying that someone is eating large quantities of your food. "I stock up with food when my teenage sons invite their friends. They'd eat you out of house and home!"
	Eat /dip into one's savings	If you eat or dip into your savings, you spend part of the money you have put aside for future use. "I had to dip into my savings to have the car repaired."
	Eat out of somebody's hand	If you eat out of someone's hand, you are eager to please and accept to do anything that person asks. "She is so persuasive that she has people eating out of her hand in no time."
	Eat one's words	If you eat your words, you have to admit that what you said before was wrong. "After predicting disastrous results, he had to eat his words with the success of the new product."
	Eat, sleep and breathe something	If you eat, sleep and breathe something, you are so enthusiastic and passionate about something that you think about it constantly. "He's an enthusiastic golfer; he eats, sleeps and breathes it!"
	Economical with the truth	To say that a person is economical with the truth means that, without actually lying, they omit important facts or give incomplete information. "The politician was accused of being economical with the truth."
	On edge	A person who is on edge is anxious or nervous.
	On the edge of one's seat	Someone who is on the edge of their seat is very interested in something and finds it extremely exciting. "Look at Bob! He's on the edge of his seat watching that rugby match."
	A bad egg	To refer to someone as a bad egg means that they cannot be trusted. "I don't want my son to be friends with Bobby Smith. Bobby's a bad egg."
	Egg someone on	If you egg somebody on, you urge or strongly encourage them to do something. "She didn't really want to learn to drive but her children kept egging her on."
	Have all your eggs in one basket	If you have all your eggs in one basket, you depend on one plan or one source of income. "If you invest your savings in one bank, you'll have all your eggs in one basket."
	One over the eight	If a person has had one over the eight, they are slightly drunk. "Don't listen to him. You can see he's had one over eight!"
	Use elbow grease :	If you use elbow grease, you need energy and strength to do physical work such as cleaning or polishing. "It took a considerable amount of elbow grease to renovate the house."
	Elbow room	If you need some elbow room, you need more space to move. "We shared a small office where neither of us had enough elbow room."
	In one's element	When you are in your element, you are doing something that you do well and you are enjoying yourself. "My brother, who is an estate agent, was in his element house- hunting for our parents."
	Elephant in the room	A problem that no one wants to discuss, but is so obvious that it cannot be ignored, is called an elephant in the room. "Let's face it - his work is unsatisfactory. That's the elephant in the room that we need to discuss."
	At the eleventh hour	If something happens at the eleventh hour, it happens when it is almost too late, or at the last possible moment. "Our team won after they scored a goal at the eleventh hour."
	Make ends meet	If you find it difficult to make ends meet, you find it difficult to pay for your everyday needs because you have very little money. "Anne's salary is so low she finds it hard to make ends meet."
	Err on the side of caution	When uncertain about what to do, if you err on the side of caution, you do more than what is adequate rather than take any risks. "When I'm not sure how much food to prepare, I tend to err on the side of caution and prepare far too much."
	Every nook and cranny	Every nook and cranny refers to every possible part of a place. "She searched every nook and cranny of the old town looking for antiques."
	Every Tom, Dick and Harry	This expression means everyone or everybody. "Every Tom, Dick and Harry has a credit card these days!"
	The exception proves the rule	If something is different from a general belief or theory, it shows that the belief or theory is true. "Most teenagers love fast food, but Ben is the exception that proves the rule - he insists on healthy food."
	Excuse/pardon my French	This expression is used as an apology for using crude or offensive language. "He's a bloody nuisance, if you'll excuse my French."
	Explore all avenues	If you explore all avenues, you try out every possibility in order to obtain a result or find a solution. "We can't say it's impossible until we've explored all avenues."
	The apple of your eye	If somebody is the apple of your eye, this means that you like them very much : "My grandson is the apple of my eye".
	Eyes in the back of one's head	To say that someone has eyes in the back of their head means that they are very observant and notice everything happening around them. "You need eyes in the back of your head to look after young children."
	More than meets the eye	This expression means that something is more complicated or more interesting that it first appears. "They say it's just a little disagreement, but we think there's more to it than meets the eye."
	See eye to eye with someone	To see eye to eye with somebody means that you agree with them.
	Turn a blind eye	If you turn a blind eye to something, you ignore it intentionally.
	The eye of the storm	A person or organization who is in the eye of the storm is deeply involved in a difficult situation which affects a lot of people "The minister was often in the eye of the storm during the debate on the war in Iraq."
	Keep one's eyes peeled	To keep one's eyes peeled means to watch very carefully for something "I mislaid my wedding ring at home, so I asked my children to keep their eyes peeled."
	Eyes wide open	If you do something with your eyes open, you are fully aware of what you are doing. "I took on the job with my eyes wide open, so I'm not complaining."
	Look someone in the eyes	If you look someone in the eye, or eyes, you look at them directly so as to convince them that you are telling the truth, even though you may be lying.
	Not bat an eyelid	To say that somebody does not bat an eyelid means that they do not seem shocked or surprised, nor are they nervous or worried. They show no emotion.