Word lists · C2
Advanced idioms
Spanish words for “advanced idioms”, most frequent first.
| # | Word | Type | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7749 | la rienda | noun · f | rein; control; free rein (figurative) | C2 |
| 7944 | la agalla | noun · f | gill (of a fish); guts; nerve (agallas) | C2 |
| 8020 | el gorro | noun · m | cap; woolly hat; fed up (estar hasta el gorro) | C2 |
| 8170 | el talón | noun · m | heel (of the foot); stub; cheque (Spain) | C2 |
| 8285 | resbalar | verb | to slip; to slide; to roll off (me resbala: I couldn't care less) | C2 |
| 8300 | el granito | noun · m | granite; small grain (granito de arena: a small contribution) | C2 |
| 8386 | matarse | verb | to get killed; to kill oneself; to work oneself to death | C2 |
| 8400 | la tecla | noun · f | key (of a keyboard or piano); hit the nail on the head (dar en la tecla) | C2 |
| 8458 | el pajarito | noun · m | little bird; a little bird told me (me lo dijo un pajarito) | C2 |
| 8706 | la ostra | noun · f | oyster; gosh! (¡ostras!, Spain) | C2 |
| 8957 | el higo | noun · m | fig; once in a blue moon (de higos a brevas) | C2 |
| 9000 | el paño | noun · m | cloth; rag; woollen fabric; underwear (en paños menores) | C2 |
| 9047 | el telón | noun · m | curtain (theatre); backdrop (telón de fondo) | C2 |
| 9091 | la liebre | noun · f | hare; to let the cat out of the bag (levantar la liebre) | C2 |
| 9189 | el cosaco | noun · m | Cossack; Cossack (adjective) | C2 |
| 9200 | el torero | noun · m | bullfighter; flouting rules (saltarse algo a la torera) | C2 |
| 9217 | el charco | noun · m | puddle; pool; the pond (el charco: the Atlantic, colloquial) | C2 |
| 9249 | el microscopio | noun · m | microscope; under the microscope (close scrutiny) | C2 |
| 9332 | el farol | noun · m | streetlamp; lantern; bluff (tirarse un farol) | C2 |
| 9439 | la pulga | noun · f | flea; bad temper (tener malas pulgas) | C2 |
| 9628 | la saliva | noun · f | saliva; gastar saliva: to waste one's breath | C2 |
| 9763 | agachar | verb | to bend down; to crouch (agacharse); to bow (one's head); to back down | C2 |
| 9822 | la porra | noun · f | truncheon; club; (mandar a la porra) to tell to go to hell; (¡y una porra!) no way | C2 |
| 9834 | remar | verb | to row; to paddle; to struggle on; to keep pushing (remar contra la corriente) | C2 |
| 9897 | el pimiento | noun · m | sweet pepper; (importar un pimiento) not to care a bit | C2 |
| 9905 | la sardina | noun · f | sardine; (como sardinas en lata) packed tight | C2 |
| 10066 | el pancho | noun · m | hot dog (Argentina, Uruguay); tan pancho: calm and unfazed (informal) | C2 |
| 10118 | el chivo | noun · m | goat (billy goat; Latin America); scapegoat (chivo expiatorio) | C2 |
| 10202 | la cátedra | noun · f | university chair; professorship; sentar cátedra: to lay down the law; to be the authority | C2 |
| 10212 | la sartén | noun · f | frying pan; tener la sartén por el mango: to have the upper hand | C2 |
| 10241 | el peine | noun · m | comb; fine-tooth comb (peine fino: a thorough search) | C2 |
| 10479 | la anguila | noun · f | eel; slippery person (escurridizo como una anguila) | C2 |
| 10614 | el anzuelo | noun · m | fish hook; bait; lure (figurative) | C2 |
| 10694 | el pepino | noun · m | cucumber; me importa un pepino: I couldn't care less | C2 |
| 10702 | la legua | noun · f | league (old unit of distance, about 5.5 km); a la legua: obviously, from a mile off | C2 |
| 10792 | el estribo | noun · m | stirrup (horse riding); perder los estribos: to lose one's temper | C2 |
| 10807 | el pedestal | noun · m | pedestal; plinth; poner en un pedestal: to put on a pedestal (idealise) | C2 |
| 10893 | el pajar | noun · m | hayloft; straw barn; buscar una aguja en un pajar: to look for a needle in a haystack | C2 |
| 10915 | el adivino | noun · m | fortune-teller; seer; mind reader (no soy adivino) | C2 |
| 11032 | la puñalada | noun · f | stab; stab wound; stab in the back (puñalada trapera) | C2 |
| 11204 | el olmo | noun · m | elm (tree); pedir peras al olmo: to ask for the impossible | C2 |
| 11210 | el resorte | noun · m | spring (metal coil); lever; means (tocar resortes: to pull strings) | C2 |
| 11363 | envidiar | verb | to envy; no tener nada que envidiar: to be every bit as good as | C2 |
| 11407 | el cascabel | noun · m | jingle bell; rattle (of a rattlesnake) | C2 |
| 11424 | el sepulcro | noun · m | tomb; sepulchre; callado como un sepulcro: silent as the grave | C2 |
| 11433 | la miga | noun · f | crumb; soft inside of bread; tener miga: to be more substantial than it looks | C2 |
| 11488 | el moco | noun · m | mucus; snot (informal); no ser moco de pavo: to be no small thing (Spain) | C2 |
| 11695 | el rabo | noun · m | tail (informal, of an animal); rabo del ojo: corner of the eye | C2 |
| 11790 | el bacalao | noun · m | cod (fish; salted cod); cortar el bacalao: to call the shots (informal) | C2 |