English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions 

ANIMALS - BIRDS - FISH - INSECTS, page 3

Idioms relating to animals, birds, fish or insects   
from:  'wait for the cat to jump' to   to: 'cash cow'

• wait for the cat to jump
  • If you wait for the cat to jump, or to see which way the cat jumps, you delay taking action until you see how events will turn out.
    "Let's wait for the cat to jump before we decide."
    
    
• cat's lick
  • A cat's lick means a very quick wash.
    "A cat's lick was all he had time for before rushing off to catch the bus."
    
    
• cat's whiskers (also: cat's pyjamas)
  • This expression refers to someone who considers themselves to be better than others in a particular area : beauty, competence, intelligence, sport, etc.
    "Ever since she got a promotion, she thinks she's the cat's whiskers!"
    
    
• a cat-and-dog life
  • A life in which partners are constantly or frequently quarrelling is called a cat-and-dog life.
    "They lead a cat-and-dog life. I don't know why they stay together."
    
    
• raining cats and dogs
  • If it's raining cats and dogs, it is raining very heavily.
    "We'll have to cancel the picnic I'm afraid. It's raining cats and dogs."
    
    
• play cat and mouse
  • To play cat and mouse with someone means to treat them alternately cruelly and kindly, so that they do not know what to expect.
    "He's difficult to work for, always playing cat and mouse with the employees."
    
    
• set ( put) the cat among the pigeons
  • If someone sets the cat among the pigeons, they cause trouble or make a lot of people angry.
    "If Joe is the only one to get a pay increase, that will set the cat among the pigeons.
    
    
• there's more than one way to skin a cat
  • The expression 'there's more than one way to skin a cat' means that there are many different ways of achieving something, or multiple methods can be used to reach the same end.
    "How about trying a different method? There's more than one way to skin a cat you know!"
    
    
• (a) copycat
  • The term ‘copycat’ is a way (often lighthearted) of describing someone who does exactly the same thing as another, imitating them or adopting their behaviour.
    "You’ve chosen the same activity as me – copycat !"
    
    
• chicken feed
  • An amount of money considered small or unimportant is called chicken feed.
    "I got a job during the holidays but the pay was chicken feed."
    
    
• chicken out (of)
  • If you chicken out of something, you decide not to do something because you are afraid.
    "Justin decided to join a karate class, but he chickened out at the last minute."
    
    
• like a headless chicken
  • If a person rushes about like a headless chicken, they act in a disorderly way, without thinking or analysing the situation carefully.
    "As soon as the store opened, my mother started running around like a headless chicken, eager to find bargains."
    
    
• no spring chicken
  • To say that someone is no spring chicken means that they are quite old or well past their youth.
    "How old is the owner? I don't know, but she's no spring chicken!"
    
    
• wave a dead chicken
  • When faced with a serious problem, if you do  something that you know in advance will be useless, in order to show that you at least made an effort, you wave a dead chicken. This term is commmonly used in technology.
    "The TV set was permanently damaged, but the technician decided to wave a dead chicken to satisfy the old lady before announcing the bad news."
    
    
• chickens come home to roost
  • If you say that chickens have come home to roost, you mean that bad or embarrassing things done in the past by someone are now causing problems for that person.
    "As tenants the couple were noisy and disorderly. Now they can't find a place to rent. The chickens have come home to roost!"
    
    
• cash cow
  • A product or service which is a regular source of income for a company is called a cash cow.
    "His latest invention turned out to be a real cash cow."