English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are an important part of everyday English. They come up all the time in both written and spoken English. Because idioms don’t always make sense literally, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and usage of each idiom. That may seem like a lot of work, but learning idioms is fun, especially when you compare English idioms to the idioms in your own language.
Here’s a list of “Idioms Beginning With N” in English:
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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 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: Not know anything
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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.