Fun Easy English - American English Idioms letter N.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Learning objectives

Learn American English idioms beginning with the letter N
Learn the definition of each idiom
Study usage of each idiom

American English idioms beginning with the letter N

Idiom	Definition	Usage
nail down	make certain of	I want to nail down the exact time that we will meet tomorrow.
named after	given the name of	She was named after one of her cousins.
name is mud	reputation is ruined	Your name is mud now that you were caught cheating on the exam.
name of the game	main objective	The name of the game is to make money for the company.
narrow escape	barely avoided	She had a narrow escape from injury when she fell off her bike.
neck and neck	nearly equal	The two teams were neck and neck in the game.
neck of the woods	area	She has never been to my neck of the woods.
needle in a haystack	close to impossible	Finding your earrings in this field is like a needle in a haystack.
neither fish nor fowl	not in a definite group	This report is neither fish nor fowl and I am not sure where it should be filed.
neither here nor there	off the topic	What he is saying is neither here nor there.
nervous Nellie	nervous person	Try not to be such a nervous Nellie.
nest egg	amount of money saved	He has a good nest egg in the bank.
never mind	Do not bother	Never mind, I can do the laundry.
new blood	fresh energy	The new employee sure has added new blood to this company.
new deal	complete change	This business plan is certainly a new deal.
new person	person who has become better	Since she lost weight she is a new person.
nice out	nice weather	It sure is nice out today.
nick of time	last possible moment	He got to work in the nick of time.
nip and tuck	evenly matched	The two teams were nip and tuck until the end.
nip it in the bud	prevent it in the beginning	Try to nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem.
no bed of roses	not easy	Trying to work at two jobs is no bed of roses.
no cigar	not agreed to	He almost bought the car but in the end the sale was no cigar.
no deal	not agreed to	He almost bought the car but in the end the sale was no deal.
no dice	no	He wanted to borrow some money but she said no dice.
no doubt	no uncertainty	There is no doubt which team will win this year.
no end	continually	She cried no end after she lost her job.
no end to	no finish point	There appears to be no end to this project.
no go	not happening	The plans for this weekend are no go.
no great shakes	average	The restaurant was no great shakes.
no love lost	ill will	There is no love lost between them.
no matter	regardless of	He cannot get good grades no matter how much he studies.
no picnic	difficult	This new job assignment is no picnic.
no problem	okay	It's no problem if you bring your friend to the party.
no show	absent	I think that she will be a no show.
no sweat	okay	It's no sweat to finish the report on Monday.
no sweat	easily accomplished	Installing the new light in the kitchen was no sweat.
no way	not possible	No way to fit all those things in that purse.
no wonder	not surprising	Since he stayed up all night, it is no wonder that he is tired.
nobody's home	the attention is elsewhere	If you talk to him you will realize that nobody's home.
nobody's fool	an intelligent and independent person	She is nobody's fool.
nose about	look for something kept private	The secretary tries to nose about his desk when he is out.
nose around	look for something kept private	The secretary tries to nose around his desk when he is out.
not give someone the time of day	not give her any attention	I would not give her the time of day.
nothing doing	not possible	Nothing doing. I am not working late tonight.
nothing if not	certainly	He is nothing if not punctual.
nothing to sneeze at	something that should be taken seriously	The new business plan is nothing to sneeze at.
not much of a	not a good	It is not much of a car, but it works.
not on your life	definitely not	You want to borrow the car. Not on your life.
not so hot	not good	She has been feeling not so hot lately.
not touch something with a ten-foot pole	not want involvement with that car	I would not touch that car with a ten-foot pole.
now and then	occasionally	She likes to go to that restaurant now and then.
number cruncher	person who works with numbers	The owner of the company has always been a good number cruncher.
number one	oneself	Always looking out for number one is not the best idea.
nurse a grudge	keep a feeling of dislike	She will probably nurse a grudge towards her old boss for years.
nuts about	enthusiastic	She is really nuts about watching movies.
nutty as a fruitcake	crazy	The woman who lives next door to us is as nutty as a fruitcake.