M

Mad as a badger
If someone is as mad as a badger, they are crazy.
Mad as a hornet
If someone is as mad as a hornet, they are very angry indeed.
Mad as a March hare
Someone who is excitable and unpredictable is as mad as a March hare.
Mailed fist
Someone who rules or controls something with a mailed fist is in absolute control and tolerates no dissent.
Major league
Something major league is very important.
Make a better fist
If someone makes a better fist of doing something, they do a better job.
Make a killing
If you make a killing, you do something that makes you a lot of money.
Make a mint
If someone is making a mint, they are making a lot of money.
Make a monkey of someone
If you make a monkey of someone, you make him look foolish.
Make a mountain out of a molehill
If somebody makes a mountain out of a molehill, he exaggerate the importance or seriousness of a problem.
Make a pitch
If you make a pitch for something, you make a bid, offer or other attempt to get it.
Make a request
If you request something, or make a request, you are asking for something you want or need.
Make a song and dance
If someone makes a song and dance, they make an unnecessary fuss about something unimportant.
Make an enquiry
If you make an enquiry, you ask for general information about something.
Make bets in a burning house
If people are making bets in a burning house, they are engaged in futile activity, while serious problems around them are getting worse.
Make ends meet
If somebody finds it hard to make ends meet, they have problems living on the money they earn.
Make hay
If you make hay, or may hay while the sun shines, you take advantage of an opportunity as soon as it arises and do not waste time.
Make headway
If you make headway, you make progress.
Make no bones about it
If somebody make no bones about a scandal in their past, they are open and honest about it and show no shame or embarrassment.
Make out like a bandit
If someone is extremely successful in a venture, they make out like a bandit.
Make waves
If someone makes waves, they cause a lot of trouble.
Make your blood boil
If something makes your blood boil, it makes you very angry.
Make your hair stand on end
If something makes your hair stand on end, it terrifies you.
Man in the street
The man in the street is an idiom to describe ordinary people, especially when talking about their opinions and ideas.
Man of letters
A man of letters is someone who is an expert in the arts and literature, and often a writer too.
Man of means
A man, or woman, of means is wealthy.
Man of straw
A weak person that can easily be beaten is a man of straw.
Man of the cloth
A man of the cloth is a priest.
Man’s best friend
This is an idiomatic term for dogs.
Man’s man
A man’s man is a man who does things enjoyed by men and is respected by other men.
Many a slip twixt cup and lip
There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip means that many things can go wrong before something is achieved.
Mark my words
Mark my words is an expression used to lend an air of seriousness to what the speaker is about to say when talking about the future.
Marked man
A marked man is a person who is being targetted by people who want to do them harm or cause them trouble.
Matter of life and death
If something is a matter of life and death, it is extremely important.
Mealy-mouthed
A mealy-mouthed person doesn’t say what they mean clearly.
Meet someone halfway
If you meet someone halfway, you accept some of their ideas and make concessions.
Meet your expectations
If something doesn’t meet your expectations, it means that it wasn’t as good as you had thought it was going to be; a disappointment.
Meet your match
If you meet your match, you meet a person who is at least as good if not better than you are at something.
Megaphone diplomacy
If negotiations between countries or parties are held through press releases and announcements, this is megaphone diplomacy, aiming to force the other party into adopting a desired position.
Memory like a sieve
If somebody can’t retain things for long in his or her memory and quickly forgets, he or she has a memory like a sieve.
Memory like an elephant
‘An elephant never forgets’ is a saying, so if a person has a memory like an elephant, he or she has a very good memory indeed.
Method in his madness
If there’s method in someone’s madness, they do things in a strange and unorthodox way, but manage to get results.
Mickey Mouse
If something is Mickey Mouse, it is intellectually trivial or not of a very high standard.
Midas touch
If someone has the Midas touch, they make a lot of money out of any scheme they try.
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
It means big or great things start very small.
Millstone round your neck
A millstone around your neck is a problem that prevents you from doing what you want to do.
Mind the gap
Mind the gap is an instruction used on the Underground in the UK to warn passengers to be careful when leaving the tube or train as there is quite a distance between the train and the platform.
Mind Your P’s and Q’s
If you are careful about the way you behave and are polite, you mind Your P’s and Q’s.
Mint condition
If something is in mint condition, it is in perfect condition.
Misery guts
A misery guts is a person who’s always unhappy and tries to make others feel negative.
Miss is as good as a mile
A miss is as good as a mile means that if you fail, even by the smallest margin, it is still a failure.
Miss the boat
If you miss the boat, you are too late to take advantage of an opportunity.
Money laundering
If people launder money, they get money made illegally into the mainstream so that it is believed to be legitimate and clean.
Money to burn
If someone is very rich, they have money to burn.
Monkey business
If children get up to monkey business, they are behaving naughtily or mischievously.
Moot point
If something’s a moot point, there’s some disagreement about it; a debatable point.
More haste, less speed
The faster you try to do something, the more likely you are to make mistakes that make you take longer than it would had you planned it.
More heat than light
If a discussion generates more heat than light, it doesn’t provide answers, but does make people angry.
More than one string to their bow
A person who has more than one string to their bow has different talents or skills to fall back on.
Move the goalposts
When people move the goalposts, they change the standards required for something to their advantage.
Mover and shaker
A person who is a mover and shaker is a highly-respected, key figure in their particular area with a lot of influence and importance.
Mud in your eye
This is a way of saying ‘cheers’ when you are about to drink something, normally alcohol.
Mud-slinging
If someone is mud-slinging, they are insulting someone and trying to damage that person’s reputation.
Muddy the waters
If somebody muddies the waters, he or she makes the situation more complex or less clear.
Murky waters
Where people are behaving in morally and ethically questionable ways, they are in murky waters.
Music to my ears
If something or someone says is music to your ears, it is exactly what you had wanted to hear.
Mutton dressed as lamb
Mutton dressed as lamb is term for middle-aged or elderly people trying to look younger.
My hands are full
If your hands are full, you have so much to do that you cannot take on any more work, responsibilities and so on.
My hands are tied
If your hands are tied, you are unable to act for some reason.