AMERICAN IDIOMS STARTING WITH C
(To) call it a day:
To end work and go home. ex. "Let's call it a day. It's getting late."
(To) carry a tune:
To be able to sing on key (accurately). "She has an awful voice! She can't carry a tune."
(To) cash in on something:
To profit from something. "The actor wanted to cash in on his popularity by opening a restaurant."
(A) catch:
When talking about wives, husbands, girlfriends, etc., people sometimes say "He's quite a catch" or "She's quite a catch" - which means "He/she is a great partner - it's good to be in a relationship with him/her (usually because of his/her personality, money, or looks)"
(To) catch someone's eye:
To get someone's attention through eye contact.
(A) cheap drunk:
Also knows as "a cheap date". A person who becomes drunk after only one or two drinks. "Victor had one gin and tonic and was already slurring - what a cheap drunk!"
(A) clean bill of health:
A report from the doctor that one's health is good. Good results from a doctor's medical examination. ex. "I went in for my yearly physical and got a clean bill of health from Dr. Jones".
(To) clear the table:
To remove all dishes, cutlery, etc. from a table after a meal.
(A) close call:
Something that is close to danger or an accident. "That was a close call! The train almost hit the motorbike."
Coast-to-coast:
From the Atlantic to the Pacific coast in the United States. ex. "Our car made the coast-to-coast trip in 70 hours".
(To) come away empty handed:
To return without anything. To expect to receive something but to end up receiving nothing. ex. "The union workers came away empty handed from the negotiations."
(To) come to an end:
To finish. To stop. ex. "When the road came to an end, we turned left."
(To) come out of the closet:
To reveal that one is gay.
Come to think of it:
I just remembered. ex. "Hey, come to think of it, I do have a sleeping bag you can borrow."
(To) come up short:
To not quite achieve one's goal. ex. "The students tried to raise $1,000 for the school play, but they came up short."
Come what may
Whatever happens. No matter what happens.
Copycat (noun or adjective)
Someone who imitates/mimics another person *not really used in a positive sense*
(To) cover a lot of ground:
To go through a lot of information. "We've covered a lot of ground in my English class in the past two months."
(To) cover for someone:
To make excuses for someone or to conceal someone's errors.
(At the) crack of dawn:
Right at dawn (when the sun comes up). "We left at the crack of dawn."
(To) crash:
To sleep. To go to bed.
(To) cramp someone's style:
To limit someone in some way. To limit someone from expressing themselves fully.
(To) cry one's eyes out:
To cry hard. ex. "When her grandfather died, she cried her eyes out for three days straight."
(To) cut class:
To not go to class. To skip going to class. "Jacob was a very bad student. He was always cutting class to go smoke with his buddies."
(To) cut loose:
To act or speak freely, without holding back ( = without restraint). "When the three of us are together we really cut loose."
(A) cut above (something):
Superior/ better (than something). "The commercial said that this car company is 'a cut above the rest'."