20 Animal Idioms in English (with meanings & examples)
English idioms are full of colour, humour, and imagination — and animal idioms are some of the most vivid of all. Native speakers use them constantly to describe emotions, behaviour, relationships, and everyday situations, often without realising they are idioms at all. If idioms are your cup of tea, you are in the right place. In this lesson, we will explore 20 animal idioms in English, each with a clear meaning and a natural example sentence. These expressions are especially useful for speaking, writing, and Cambridge exam tasks, helping you sound more fluent, confident, and natural.
Let’s dive in 🐾
Ants in your pants
Meaning: to feel restless, impatient, or unable to sit still.
Michael has ants in his pants because he has an important exam tomorrow.
Bigger fish to fry
Meaning: to have more important or urgent matters to deal with.
Dan wasn’t interested in small projects — he had bigger fish to fry.
Bull in a china shop
Meaning: a very clumsy person who causes damage without meaning to.
I don’t like John helping in the kitchen. He’s like a bull in a china shop.
Butterflies in your stomach
Meaning: to feel nervous or excited, especially before doing something important for the first time.
I had butterflies in my stomach before giving a speech at my friend’s wedding.
The cat’s pyjamas
Meaning: something or someone that is excellent or highly admired. (Informal, slightly old-fashioned but still playful.)
That concert last night was the cat’s pyjamas!
Crocodile tears
Meaning: tears or sadness that are not sincere.
He shed crocodile tears when the project failed, but he never really cared.
Dark horse
Meaning: a person whose abilities or talents are unexpected.
No one expected her to win — she was a real dark horse.
Dog eat dog
Meaning: describing a very competitive and ruthless environment.
Politics can be a dog-eat-dog world.
The elephant in the room
Meaning: a big problem or issue that everyone knows about but avoids discussing.
His job loss was the elephant in the room during the family dinner.
Fish out of water
Meaning: to feel uncomfortable or out of place in a new situation.
Living abroad made her feel like a fish out of water at first.
Go the whole hog
Meaning: to do something fully, thoroughly, or without holding back.
We decided to go the whole hog and renovate the entire house.
Has the cat got your tongue?
Meaning: used (often humorously or impatiently) when someone is unusually quiet.
Why aren’t you answering me? Has the cat got your tongue?
Let sleeping dogs lie
Meaning: to avoid mentioning something that could cause trouble if discussed.
Don’t bring up the argument again — let sleeping dogs lie.
Let the cat out of the bag
Meaning: to reveal a secret, often accidentally.
Someone let the cat out of the bag, so the party was no longer a surprise.
The lion’s share
Meaning: the largest part of something.
The lion’s share of our budget goes on rent and bills.
Look like something the cat brought in
Meaning: to look very dirty, tired, or untidy. (Informal and humorous.)
After camping all weekend, they looked like something the cat brought in.
Bury your head in the sand
Meaning: to ignore a problem instead of dealing with it.
You can’t bury your head in the sand and hope the issue disappears.
Raining cats and dogs
Meaning: raining very heavily.
We stayed indoors all afternoon — it was raining cats and dogs.
Smell a rat
Meaning: to become suspicious that something is wrong.
I began to smell a rat when he kept changing his story.
Straight from the horse’s mouth
Meaning: information that comes directly from the original or most reliable source.
I heard the news straight from the horse’s mouth, not through rumours.
Final tip for learners
Idioms are best learned in context, not in isolation. Try choosing three idioms from this list and writing your own sentences — or use one naturally in a speaking answer or short paragraph. That’s how they stick.
And remember: idioms don’t just decorate your English — they make it feel alive.
Happy learning 🐶🐱
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