Idiom Quiz is a free online idiom quiz game you can play in your browser with no download and no account. Each round shows eight common English idioms — "spill the beans", "on cloud nine", "cost an arm and a leg", "bite the bullet" — and asks what each one means, with four meanings to choose from. After every answer you see the right meaning and an example sentence that uses the idiom, plus a note when it is mainly British or mainly American. Eight levels get harder in a way you can feel: early on, the wrong meanings are about something else entirely, while on the last level every choice is about the same thing and carries the same good or bad news as the right one. Prefer words to meanings? Finish the idiom blanks one word of each phrase, shows the meaning as a clue, and gives you four words to choose from. All 191 idioms and their meanings were written for this game, and idioms that mean the same thing are never offered as each other's wrong answers.
How to play Idiom Quiz
- Choose a mode at the top: What does it mean? (eight levels) or Finish the idiom (practice rounds with a best score).
- In What does it mean?, read the idiom on the card and pick its meaning from the four choices — tap one, or press 1-4 or A-D.
- After each pick the right meaning lights up green, and an example sentence shows the idiom in use, with a note if it is mainly British or mainly American.
- Press Next idiom (or Enter) to move on. A round is eight idioms; the dots along the bottom show which you got right.
- Get at least 4 of 8 right to open the next level, the level's mark for two stars, and all eight for three stars.
- In Finish the idiom, one word of each idiom is blanked out and its meaning is shown underneath; pick the missing word from four choices.
Tips
- Do not read an idiom word for word. "Break the ice" has nothing to do with ice; ask what situation people would say it in.
- Decide first whether the idiom is good news or bad news. "Over the moon" and "down in the dumps" point in opposite directions, and that alone rules out choices on the early levels.
- Then ask what it is about — money, time, talk, trouble, feelings. On the middle levels the wrong meanings share one of those two clues with the right one, so you need both.
- On the last levels every choice is about the same thing and has the same tone, so the detail decides it: is it about losing your temper, or about staying resentful? About paying too much, or about having to spend less?
- Read the example sentence after each answer. Seeing an idiom used once in a real sentence is the quickest way to remember it next time.
FAQ
Is Idiom Quiz free to play?
Yes. Idiom Quiz is free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
How many idioms are in the quiz?
There are 191 common English idioms, each with its meaning and an example sentence written for this game. Eight are mainly British (such as "pull your socks up" and "a storm in a teacup") and three are mainly American (such as "a dime a dozen"); the game says so after you answer.
What makes the later levels harder?
The wrong meanings. On level 1 they are about something else and carry a different tone, so the meaning of "on cloud nine" can sit next to ones about money, trouble and time. By level 8 all four are about the same thing and are all good or all bad news. Measured on 1,000 rounds per level, a player who knows only what each idiom is about, or only whether it is good or bad news, gets all eight right on level 1 but about two of eight on level 8.
Can two answers both be right?
No. Idioms that mean the same thing — "spill the beans" and "let the cat out of the bag", say — share one entry in the game's list and are never offered as each other's wrong answer, and a round never asks two of them. Wrong meanings also always come from the same kind of phrase, so grammar alone never gives the answer away.
How do stars work?
Four right out of eight passes a level and opens the next one. Two stars need the level's own mark, which is one more than that one-clue guesser's usual score there — 7 on the first levels, 3 on the last. Three stars need all eight.
Does the game say where idioms come from?
No, on purpose. The stories told about where many idioms come from are guesses that get repeated as fact, so the game sticks to what each idiom means today and how it is used.
What is Finish the idiom?
A second mode: each idiom has one word blanked out and its meaning shown as a clue, and you pick the missing word from four. It plays in rounds of eight with a best score.
Will I see the same idioms again?
Each new round steers around the last 60 idioms you were asked, so repeats only come back once you have played through much of the list. Playing a level again deals a different round.
Does Idiom Quiz work on mobile?
Yes. Tap a meaning to answer on a phone or tablet; on a computer you can also play with the keyboard, using 1-4 or A-D to pick and Enter for the next idiom.