| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
| light up |
light a cigarette, begin to smoke
|
As Ken left the school, he lit up. It was okay to smoke outside.
|
| lighten up |
relax, do not be so serious
|
Lighten up, Charles. Try to see the humor in life.
|
| lighthearted |
humorous, joking
|
His lighthearted approach to life is popular with students.
|
| lightning fast |
very quick, super fast, faster than a speeding bullet,
greased lightning
|
The black mamba is lightning fast - one of the fastest - and
is the most deadly of African snakes.
|
| lights are on but... |
(See the lights are on but nobody's home)
|
|
| like a bat out of hell |
very fast, go like stink
|
When Harriet is late for work, she drives like a bat out of hell.
|
| like a bolt from the blue |
like a sign from heaven, like a flash of light
|
Like a bolt from the blue, I got the idea to shave my head.
|
| like a broken record |
repeating the same sound, saying it over and over again
|
From morning till night I hear that complaint - like a broken record!
|
| like a chicken on a June bug |
very quickly, in a flash, before you can say Jack Robinson
|
If you leave a chocolate bar on the table, Kathie will be on it - like a
chicken on a June bug!
|
| like a dirty shirt |
always there - like shirts that need to be washed
|
If you have a garage sale, Jim will be there like a dirty shirt.
|