Idioms related to Building: In the English language, there are numerous idioms related to a lot of things. Among those, there are many building-related idioms as well.
There are various building catchphrases, and one might use them in the wrong context since they are unaware of their actual meaning.
Well, for that reason, this article will provide you with a list of building idioms along with their meanings and examples. These idioms will consist of tall building idioms, architecture idioms, and infrastructure idioms.
One can use these idioms and increase their vocabulary and also use them while holding conversations and make a good impression of oneself.
Enrich your Vocabulary by practicing the English Idioms that are commonly used in everyday conversations and understand their actual meaning.
Name of Idioms related to Building
List of Idioms related to Building
- Put one’s house in order
- House of cards
- To stonewall
- Close the stable door after the horse has bolted
- A hole in the wall
- Castle in the air
- Rome wasn’t built in a day
- Hit a brick wall
- Hit the roof
- Make oneself at home
- Hold the fort
- Elephant in the room
- Writing is on the wall
- Window shopping
- Like a ton of bricks
- Close to home
- On the house
- One can’t make bricks without straw
- Go through the mill
- A tower of strength
- Back office
- From pillar to post
- Darken someone’s door
- Window dressing
- Get in on the ground floor
- Off the wall
- Through the back door
- Build something up
- Build up a head of steam
- A bridge too far
- Build bridges
- Chicken come home to roost
- In the doghouse
Meaning and examples of few commonly used idioms related to Building
Put one’s own house in order
Meaning: To solve one’s problems on their own without taking the help of others.
Example: Jake was trying to tell me how to solve my problems, so I asked him first to put his own house in order.
House of cards
Meaning: A specific plan or structure that is not stable and is very fragile and can collapse at any moment.
Example: Diana is a good employee and suggests brilliant ideas, but this time all her thoughts were fragile, like a house of cards.
To stonewall
Meaning: When one avoids giving clear answers and becomes uncooperative to delay a specific discussion or development from progressing.
Example: Julia did her best to stonewall and block the auction from continuing.
Close the stable door after the horse has bolted
Meaning: When someone tries to prevent a specific thing from happening by taking precautions, they are late as something they were preventing has already happened.
Example: Rosa installed CCTV cameras in her house to prevent robbery after the robbery took place.
A hole in the wall
Meaning: A very modest and small place, usually a restaurant.
Example: The restaurant down the street is a hole in the wall, but the Chinese food is plentiful.
Castle in the air
Meaning: When one builds unrealistic and unreasonable plans for their future.
Example: After receiving the huge bonus, Anne indeed started building castles in the air.
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Meaning: This idiom means that one should not rush things and instead complete things steadily because everything takes time.
Example: Ursula tried to complete all her pending projects and her presentation within an hour, but Zack reminded her to do things slowly since Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Hit a brick wall
Meaning: Face a difficult hindrance and have a problem or fail to continue the work.
Example: “Do you understand that it’s the third time we have hit a brick wall. Let us drop investigating this case.”
Hit the roof
Meaning: When an individual gets furious and expresses their fury by shouting and screaming at others.
Example: His mom hit the roof when she found out that Norman had been skipping school.
Make oneself at home
Meaning: To get comfortable and feel at home in a particular place.
Example: When Tessa noticed her colleagues getting worked up, she asked them to make themselves at home and relax.
Hold the fort
Meaning: To do a job or an activity while the person responsible for doing it is away.
Example: Georgia asked Harry to hold the fort until she comes back from her maternity leave.
Elephant in the room
Meaning: It is an important and controversial topic that people usually avoid discussing even when they know everything about it.
Example: Everyone knew about Lisa’s extramarital affair, but nobody dared to bring it up in front of her. Hence, they just avoided it entirely and sat with the elephant in the room.
Writing is on the wall
Meaning: This idiom is used to make it clear and evident that something terrible is about to occur.
Example: Even though Erin was not ousted from her apartment, the writing was on the wall.
Window shopping
Meaning: To look at the items inside a store from outside without having the intention of buying.
Example: Before the holidays began, Joanne and her mom went window shopping to look at the new collection of dresses.
Like a ton of bricks
Meaning: Very unexpectedly and severely.
Example: If the teacher gets even a slight hint of my lies, then she and my parents will come like a ton of bricks.
Close to home
Meaning: This idiom is used when one comments on something that makes the other individual extremely upset or uncomfortable.
Example: The conversation among the friends was too close to home, making everyone feel highly emotional.
On the house
Meaning: This idiom is usually used in restaurants and bars, and it means that something is given to someone for free.
Example: After the bar owner knew about Finn’s marriage, he offered Finn to have a drink that would be on the house.
One can’t make bricks without straw
Meaning: Everyone needs to have the necessities or items to do something or achieve something.
Example: The students made standard looking projects since they were not provided with enough supplies or time. Indeed, one cannot make bricks without straw.
Go through the mill
Meaning: When one receives awful treatment, that is highly intense, rough, abusive, and complex.
Example: The jailers made every criminal go through the mill before putting them back in their cells.
A tower of strength
Meaning: This idiom refers to an individual who is emotionally very strong and provides support to those who are going through difficulties,
Example: After his father’s death, Stefan acted as a tower of strength for his family.
Back office
Meaning: A section or part of an organization or business responsible for taking care of the internal affairs of the management.
Example: Toby was the administrator in the back office of his paper company.
From pillar to post
Meaning: When an individual or a group is forced to be on the move constantly usually in a hurried and disorganized manner causing sufferings for the people.
Example: Due to my mom’s job, my brother and I were constantly moving, and it felt like getting dragged from pillar to post.
Darken someone’s door
Meaning: When an individual visits a place where they are not welcomed.
Example: After the messy breakup, she promised herself never to let her boyfriend darken her door.
Window dressing
Meaning: When one deceives others and pretends to solve an issue by presenting a favorable impression.
Example: The politician showed that he was working towards a better environment, but the public knew he was just window dressing.
Get in on the ground floor
Meaning: This idiom means to get involved in something while it is still in its initial stage
Example: All the old employees were very happy to see the progression of their organization since they were the ones who got in on the ground floor.
Off the wall
Meaning: Something weird and unusual, but amusingly or excitingly.
Example: Her claims about the robbery are entirely off the wall, but some pieces of evidence do support it
Through the back door
Meaning: When someone does something secretly or in an unauthorized manner and hopes that no one gets to know about it.
Example: The thief succeeded in sneaking all the stolen items through the back door.
Build something up
Meaning: When something develops and increases in stages.
Example: The medicines and the strict diet helped Joshua to recover quickly and build up his strength.
Build up a head of steam
Meaning: When one gradually starts piling up their feelings of anger or anxiety inside them until they can no longer hide it.
Example: Arya builds up a head of steam due to the constant work pressure and household issues.
A bridge too far
Meaning: This phrase refers to a specific plan or activity whose ambitions are beyond its reach or ability, and hence it ends up causing danger and trouble or leads to failure.
Example: Not that Jason’s ideas were terrible; it’s just that they seemed like a bridge too far.
Build bridges
Meaning: To do something to improve the relationship between two opposing groups or individuals who have a hard time understanding each other.
Example: Clara and Henry tried their best to build bridges and mend the relationship between the two families.
Chickens come home to roost
Meaning: This idiom means that if an individual has done something wrong or unethical in their past, they will undoubtedly face its repercussions.
Example: Addison was able to fool most everyone about her wrongdoings,, but the chickens came to roost in the end.
In the doghouse
Meaning: When one is in trouble or danger because someone is mad at them.
Example: Riya was in the doghouse when her mom got to know that she broke the vase.
