Includes more than 5,000 entries This Dictionary covers metaphorical phrases, familiar sayings and proverbs, and similes, providing illustrative quotations from sources as varied as the Bible, the Spectator, and Agatha Christie. Explore the meanings and origins of such well-known idioms as 'set the world alight', 'cost an arm and a leg', 'once in a blue moon', and 'the tip of the iceberg'.