Are you looking for some good health idioms to improve your English?
You are in the right place.
In this post, we look at 47 idioms about health and talk about how to use them.
47 Health Idioms and Phrases (Meaning & Examples)
1. Alive And Kicking
- Meaning: Someone who is still full of energy and is very active. Usually despite health problems or old age.
- Use In A Sentence: Even though my grandma is 70 years old she is alive and kicking.
2. A Clean Bill Of Health
- Meaning: a written or an oral report that states a person is doing well physically.
- Use In A Sentence: After being anxious for 3 weeks, Cliff was relieved to receive a clean bill of health.
3. To Be As Fit As A Fiddle
- Meaning: to be strong and healthy.
- Use In A Sentence: My grandpa is 92 years old, but he is as fit as a fiddle.
4. To Be Back On One’s Feet
- Meaning: To be healthy again after a period of being sick.
- Use In A Sentence: After being homesick for 2 weeks, Tim is finally back on his feet.
5. To Break Out In A Cold Sweat
- Meaning: To suddenly begin to perspire, due to a strong emotion such as fear or anxiety.
- Use In A Sentence: I was so nervous I began to break out in a cold sweat.
6. To Go Under The Knife
- Meaning: To have a medical operation such as surgery.
- Use In A Sentence: Jill is nervous because she will go under the knife Thursday.
7. To Have One Foot In The Grave
- Meaning: To be very old/sick and thus be very close to dying.
- Use In A Sentence: She has one foot in the grave. She doesn’t look healthy and she isn’t eating very much.
8. Laughter Is The Best Medicine
- Meaning: Having a positive outlook on life or having a good time with friends is the best thing that can make you feel better both physically and mentally.
- Use In A Sentence: If you are sad, you need to spend some time with close friends. After all, laughter is the best medicine.
9. To Be Sick As A Dog
- Meaning: To be very sick.
- Use In A Sentence: Sorry, I haven’t been around lately, it is just that I have been sick as a dog.
10. To Be Sick And Tired
- Meaning: to be annoyed with something or someone.
- Use In A Sentence: Do you have any more bug spray? I am sick and tired of these bugs biting me.
11. To Black Out
- Meaning: To lose consciousness.
- Use In A Sentence: He blacked out after seeing the doctor draw blood from his brother’s arm.
12. To Be Sick To One’s Stomach
- Meaning: to feel nauseated or to want to throw up.
- Use In A Sentence: I don’t feel very good after eating that burrito. What wrong? I feel sick to my stomach.
13. Vim And Vigor
- Meaning: To be full of energy; vitality.
- Use In A Sentence: There is nothing like a cold shower in the morning to start your day with a lot of vim and vigor.
14. To Be Under The Weather
- Meaning: A nice way to say someone isn’t feeling very good.
- Use In A Sentence: How’s Julie? She is at home, she is feeling a bit under the weather tonight.
15. To Be In (Good) Shape
- Meaning: To be in good physical form or condition.
- Use In A Sentence: James has been working out a lot lately. He is in the best shape of his life right now.
16. To Be Out Of Shape
- Meaning: To not be in good physical form or condition.
- Use In A Sentence: I can’t play football anymore, I am out of shape.
17. To Be On Borrowed Time
- Meaning: Somone who is living longer than anticipated or someone who avoided death. Usually used to refer to a person who is terminally ill or who was in a serious accident.
- Use In A Sentence: Julie said that she feels like she is living on borrowed time after being the only survivor of that car accident.
18. Full Of Beans
- Meaning: To be full of energy.
- Use In A Sentence: After two weeks of bed rest, he is back to normal. You couldn’t tell just a few days ago he was sick, because today he is full of beans.
19. To Catch A Cold
- Meaning: To become sick with the common cold.
- Use In A Sentence: Don’t go outside without a hat otherwise, you will catch a cold.
20. To Be On The Mend
- Meaning: To be healthy after a time of sickness or injury.
- Use In A Sentence: After being sick for two weeks, Amy is happy to be on the mend. Hopefully she will make a full recovery soon.
22. To Pass Out
- Meaning: To lose consciousness; to faint.
- Use In A Sentence: Some of the students on the track team passed out because of the extreme heat.
23. To Come Down With Something
- Meaning: To start feeling ill; usually we use it when we are starting to feel sick with a cold or the flu.
- Use In A Sentence: Sorry, I leave work early today, I think I am coming down with a cold.
24. To Feel Fresh As A Daisy
- Meaning: To feel really good with a lot of energy.
- Use In A Sentence: I woke up this morning feeling fresh as a daisy.
25. As Blind As A Bat
- Meaning: Someone who is not able to see very well.
- Use In A Sentence: Mark is as blind as a bat. He can’t even comb his hair without putting his glasses on first.
26. To Be On One’s Last Leg
- Meaning: to be near death. It can also mean to be about the collapse.
- Use In A Sentence: Today is a sad day. The vet told us our dog is one his last leg.
27. To Feel Blue
- Meaning: To be sad or depressed.
- Use In A Sentence: What wrong? I don’t know, I am just feeling kind of blue today.
28. To Kick The Bucket
- Meaning: slang for to die.
- Use In A Sentence: I hope Mr. Feeney doesn’t kick the bucket anytime soon. He is the best teacher at our school.
29. To Be Weak At The Knees
- Meaning: to feel like you are going to faint.
- Use In A Sentence: Just thinking about going to the doctor and having a medical procedure makes me weak in the knees.
30. Black And Blue
- Meaning: bruised either physically or mentally.
- Use In A Sentence: Cash was certain he would be black and blue in the morning. You don’t take that many hits without having some physical proof.
31. Bag Of Bones
- Meaning: used to describe someone who is extremely thin, usually because they are sick and not eating as much as they should.
- Use In A Sentence: When Tom finally decided to go to the doctor’s he was nothing but a bag of bones.
32. To Take A Turn For The Worse
- Meaning: when a person’s illness or injury becomes worse.
- Use In A Sentence: His father’s health quickly took a turn for the worse and he is now in the hospital.
33. To Take A Turn For The Better
- Meaning: when one starts to feel better or their health condition begins to improve.
- Use In A Sentence: We were worried about Emily, but the doctor told us today that she has taken a turn for the better.
34. To Have A Frog In One’s Throat
- Meaning: Not being able to speak clearly due to a sore throat: hoarseness.
- Use In A Sentence: Nicole was hoping to give the best speech of her career, but unfortunately as she began to speak, she develoepd a frog in her throat.
35. Land Of The Living
- Meaning: a funny way to say someone is still alive.
- Use In A Sentence: He was relieved to learn that she was still in the land of the living.
36. Hard Of Hearing
- Meaning: someone who can’t hear very well.
- Use In A Sentence: Despite her intentions to understand, the elderly woman couldn’t fully grasp the instructions because she is hard of hearing.
37. Pins And Needles
- Meaning: A tingling sensation in your body.
- Use In A Sentence: I don’t think I can play piano right now. My right arm is full of pins and needles.
38. To Pull Through
- Meaning: To survive a life-threatening event or to recover from a serious illness.
- Use In A Sentence: After spending two days in Intensive Care, he pulled through and is doing much better.
39. As Right As Rain
- Meaning: To be in good health.
- Use In A Sentence: After the doctor’s visit, Julie was happy to report she was as right as rain.
40. A Shiver Runs Down Someone’s Spine
- Meaning: A shudder felt in one’s back due to fear, worry, anxiety, or excitement.
- Use In A Sentence: I felt a shiver run down my spine when I thought about my doctor’s appointment tomorrow.
41. Spare Tire
- Meaning: used to refer to someone who is obese. Usually used to refer to someone obese or fat around the midsection (stomach).
- Use In A Sentence: He looks great after going on a diet. He lost that spare tire quick!
42. As Pale As A Ghost
- Meaning: used to describe someone who is really pale usually when they are ill or afraid of something.
- Use In A Sentence: James woke up looking pale as a ghost, we need to take him to the doctor.
43. To Bring Someone To
- Meaning: to help a person regain consciousness.
- Use In A Sentence: The medical staff worked hard to bring him to after he passed out.
44. Burn Out
- Meaning: To be extremely tired because of working too much.
- Use In A Sentence: Brian, you need to take a break before you burn yourself out.
45. Up And About
- Meaning: to be moving around freely, usually after being sick or suffering that didn’t allow the person to move freely.
- Use In A Sentence: It is good to see Paul up and about after being so sick the last couple days.
46. To Nurse Someone Back To Health
- Meaning: to help someone recover from being sick; to care for.
- Use In A Sentence: Don’t worry about your mom, Julie will be there to nurse her back to health.
47. Bundle Of Nerves
- Meaning: used to describe someone who is a very anxious or very nervous person.
- Use In A Sentence: David was a bundle of nerves until the test results came back.
There you have it! 47 Health Idioms. Did we miss one? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
