usingenglish.co m http://www.usingenglish.com/members/idioms/index.php?show=IdiomsEnglish Idioms: E Ho me > Me mb e rs > Id io ms & Slang English Idio ms: 62 ent ries beginning wit h 'E' Eve ry To m, Dick and Harry If e ve ry To m, Dick and Harry kno ws ab o ut so me thing , the n it is co mmo n kno wle d g e . Eve ry trick in the b o o k If yo u try e ve ry trick in the b o o k, yo u try e ve ry p o ssib le way, includ ing d isho ne sty and d e ce it, to g e t what yo u want. Eve ryb o d y and the ir uncle This b asically me ans a lo t o f p e o p le o r to o many p e o p le ; e ve ryb o d y and the ir uncle was the re . Eve rything b ut the kitche n sink If p e o p le includ e e ve rything b ut the kitche n sink, the y includ e e ve ry p o ssib ility, re g ard le ss o f whe the r the y are use ful. Exce p tio n that p ro ve s the rule This e xp re ssio n is use d b y many to ind icate that an e xce p tio n in so me way co nfirms a rule . Othe rs say that the e xce p tio n te sts the rule . In its o rig inal le g al se nse , it me ant that a rule co uld so me time s b e infe rre d fro m an e xe mp tio n o r e xce p tio n. In g e ne ral use , the first me aning p re d o minate s no wad ays, much to the anno yance o f so me p e d ants. Exp lo re all ave nue s If all ave nue s are b e ing e xp lo re d , the n e ve ry co nce ivab le ap p ro ach is b e ing trie d that co uld p o ssib ly g e t the d e sire d re sult. Eye cand y Whe n a p e rso n is ve ry attractive , the y can b e d e scrib e d as e ye cand y - swe e t to lo o k at! Eye fo r an e ye This is an e xp re ssio n fo r re trib utive justice , whe re the p unishme nt e q uals the crime . Eye - wash This e xp re ssio n 'e ye -wash' is g e ne rally use d to co ve r up the anxie ty o f a p e rso n who is se e king a co ncre te re p ly o r justificatio n fo r an act o r an e ve nt that had affe cte d his p e rso nal imag e o r cause d him a lo ss. The affe cte d p e rso n usually re p re se nts his case to the hig he r-up s and p uts fo rth his d e mand s fo r re d re ssal. But the autho rity, in o rd e r to avo id e mb arassme nt to his o rg anisatio n o r to himse lf, is no t in a p o sitio n to e xp o se the e ntire mate rial o r e vid e nce which in turn te ll up o n the cre d ib ility o f the o rg anisatio n. In such circumstance s, he will usually call fo r an inve stig atio n to satisfy the co mp lainant, b ut will no t b e ke e n in d isp o sing the case . The autho rity will d rag o n the issue , (at the same time p re te nd ing to b e se rio us) until the se rio usne ss o f the issue d ie s d o wn and no finality is re ache d . So , ' The inve stig atio n o n the issue b y the autho rity is an e ye -wash'. Eye -o p e ne r So me thing surp rising , une xp e cte d which re ve als the truth ab o ut so me thing o r so me o ne . Eye b all to e ye b all If yo u are e ye b all to e ye b all with an e ne my o r rival, yo u co nfro nt o r face the m d o wn the m d ire ctly. Eye s are b ig g e r than o ne 's sto mach If so me o ne 's e ye s are b ig g e r than the ir sto mach, the y are g re e d y and take o n mo re than the y can co nsume o r manag e . Sugge st an Idiom Search Ple ase No te Ple ase no te that the se d atab ase s co ve r co llo q uial lang uag e and co ntain so me te rms that d e al with vulg ar and tab o o sub je cts. Yo u can o p t to filte r-o ut e xp licit co nte nt o n yo ur p re fe re nce s p ag e . Ge ne rate d in 0.013 se co nd s