Sayings That Start With The Letter A

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A bolt from the blue
A bun in the oven
A bunch of fives
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
A change is as good as a rest
A country mile
A countenance more in sorrow than in anger
A Daniel come to judgement
A diamond in the rough
A diamond is forever
A different kettle of fish
A dish fit for the gods
A dog is a man's best friend
A drop in the bucket
A drop in the ocean
A fate worse than death
A feather in one's cap
A fish rots from the head down
A fish out of water
A fly in the ointment
A fool and his money are soon parted
A fool's paradise
A foot in the door
A foregone conclusion
A friend in need is a friend indeed
A golden key can open any door
A good beginning makes a good ending
A good hiding
A good man is hard to find
A hard man is good to find
A hiding to nothing
A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse
A house is not a home
A house divided against itself cannot stand
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
A king's ransom
A knight in shining armour
À la carte
À la mode
A legend in one's own lifetime
A leopard cannot change its spots
A little bird told me
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
A little of what you fancy does you good
A load of cobblers
A load of codswallop
A long chalk
A man after my own heart
A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client
A millstone around one's neck
A ministering angel shall my sister be
A miss is as good as a mile
A nation of shopkeepers
A nest of vipers
A no-brainer
A nod is as good as a wink
A norange
A penny for the guy
A penny for your thoughts
A penny saved is a penny earned
A picture is worth a thousand words
A piece of the action
A pig in a poke
A place for everything and everything in its place
A plague on both your houses
A priori
A problem shared is a problem halved
A red rag to a bull
A riddle wrapped up in an enigma
A rising tide lifts all boats
a rod for your own back
A rolling stone gathers no moss
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
A rose is a rose is a rose
A safe pair of hands
A sea change
A skeleton in the closet
A sledgehammer to crack a nut
A shadow of a doubt
A shot in the arm
A sight for sore eyes
A sorry sight
A spanner in the works
A stitch in time saves nine
A stone's throw
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
A tinker's damn
A turn up for the books
A watched pot never boils
A wet blanket
A wolf in sheep's clothing
A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle
A woman's place is in the home
A word in edgeways
A word in your shell-like
A worm will turn
A young man's fancy
A1 at Lloyds
Abandon all hope ye who enter here
Abide with me
About face
About turn
Above board
Above my pay grade
Abracadabra
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Absent-minded professor
Absent without leave
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
Accident of birth
Accidentally on purpose
Accidents will happen
According to Hoyle
Ace in the hole
Achilles' heel
Acid test
Acronyms
Across the board
Across the pond
Act of God
Act the giddy goat
Action man
Actions speak louder than words
Adam's ale
Adversity makes strange bedfellows
After the fact
Aga saga
Against the clock
Against the grain
Age before beauty
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety
Agree to disagree
Aid and abet
Aide-mémoire
Air kiss
Air quotes
Al fresco
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio
Alike as two peas in a pod
Alive and kicking
All agog
All and sundry
All at sea
All fingers and thumbs
All Greek to me
All in all
All intents and purposes
All of a sudden
All present and correct
All publicity is good publicity
All singing, all dancing
All systems go
All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold
All the tea in China
All things come to he who waits
All things must pass
All you can eat
All's fair in love and war
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Alter ego
Amber nectar
An accident waiting to happen
An Aladdin's cave
An albatross around one's neck
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
An arm and a leg
An axe to grind
An Englishman's home is his castle
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
An ill wind
An offer he can't refuse
An Oxford scholar
Anchors aweigh
Angry young man
Ankle biter
Annus horribilis
Another day, another dollar
Another think coming
Any port in a storm
apple never falls far from the tree
apple of my eye
Apple pie order
April fool
ear candy
Arms akimbo
Artificial intelligence
Ars longa, vita brevis
Arty-farty
Asap – As soon as possible
As X as Y
As alike as two peas in a pod
As bald as a coot
As black as Newgate's knocker
As bold as brass
As brown as a berry
As busy as a bee
As busy as a one-armed paperhanger
As cold as any stone
As cool as a cucumber
As cute as a bug's ear
As daft as a brush
As dead as a dodo
As dead as a doornail
As different as chalk and cheese
As easy as pie
As easy as taking candy from a baby
As fast as greased lightning
As fine as frog's hair
As fit as a butcher's dog
As fit as a fiddle
As good as gold
As good luck would have it
As happy as…
As happy as a clam
As happy as a sandboy
As happy as Larry
As high as a kite
As keen as mustard
As mad as a hatter
As mad as a March hare
As nice as ninepence
As old as Methuselah
As old as the hills
As pleased as Punch
As pure as the driven snow
As queer as a nine bob note
As safe as houses
As sick as a parrot
As snug as a bug in a rug
As straight as a die
As the crow flies
As thick as thieves
As thick as two short planks
As white as snow
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer
for whom the bell tolls
asta la vista, baby
At loggerheads
At one fell swoop
At one's beck and call
At one's wit's end
At sixes and sevens
Attack is the best form of defence
Augur well
Auld lang syne
Away with the fairies

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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Gary Martin

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