Idioms Beginning with s

• scared to death

  Extremely frightened
  Max is scared to death of being alone with Mary.

• scope out

  To scout; to investigate; to check out.
  We scoped out the perfect location for our beach party.

• scratch the surface

  To treat superficially; to barely begin.
  Finished? We haven't even scratched the surface yet. There is a lot more to do.

• see eye to eye

  To agree; to have similar views; to get along.
  Max and Mary rarely see eye to eye on anything.

• see red

  To become very angry; to be furious.
  Max saw red when he found out that Mary went to Paris with John.

• sell like hot cakes

  To sell fast
  Astronaut diapers are selling like hot cakes.

• set straight

  To correct with accurate information.
  The presidential candidates have their facts wrong. Someone needs to set them straight.

• shake a leg

  To hurry; to get going.
  Let's shake a leg! We need to finish this project today.

• shoot the breeze

  To talk or converse idly.
  Do you want to have a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze for a while?

• shoot yourself in the foot

  To do something that unintentionally harms yourself.
  He shot himself in the foot by quitting his job before finding another one.

• shrug off

  To disregard; to minimize the importance of something.
  Max shrugged off Mary's accusations and went on with his normal routine.

• sit tight

  To wait patiently.
  Just sit tight; the hot dog vendor will be by in a few minutes.

• sitting pretty

  To be in a good financial situation.
  Once we get the insurance money, we'll be sitting pretty.

• skeletons in the closet

  Hidden secrets from the past that could cause embarrassment if revealed.
  Every politician has a few skeletons in the closet.

• slip of the tongue

  A mistake in speaking.
  For a politician, a simple slip of the tongue can be detrimental.

• slip one's mind

  To forget; to overlook.
  I was supposed to do some homework last night, but it totally slipped my mind.

• smell a rat

  To suspect trickery or deception
  Something is not right. I smell a rat.

• spill the beans

  To reveal a secret.
  We were going to surprise Max with a party, but somebody spilled the beans.

• stand one's ground

  To firmly maintain one's opinion or position.
  Everyone in the room disagreed with Mary, but she stood her ground.