A Guide to Idioms

To make this guide as easy to use as possible, idioms are listed according to a strict ordering system. Under this sys­tem, any idiom that you are looking for which contains a noun will be found under the  first noun that occurs within it. So  make someone’s blood boil  will be found under blood. I f there is no noun in the idiom, look for the  first verb.
For example not much to look at will be found under look. If there is no noun or verb in the idiom that you are looking for, it will be found at the  first adjective. An example of this kind of idiom would be  alive and kicking, which will be found under alive. I f there is no noun, verb, or adjective, look for the  first adverb. So anywhere from, will be found under anywhere.

There is one notable exception to this rule. This is that idioms of the type happy as a clam, or cool as a cucumber, although they contain a noun, will always be found under the first adjective. This is because there are often several possible nouns which can go with the adjective, and so it is more useful to see them grouped together. This guide also includes Idioms Study panels which present a variety of idioms that can be used in particular situations.
Turn to the panel on anger and you will find sections called being angry, suddenly becoming angry, making some­ one angry, and speaking angrily to someone. These will help you to express anger in many different ways.