Idiomatic Expressions related to the Word MOTHER

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Idiomatic expressions related to the word “mother” in English can add a rich and nuanced dimension to our language. These expressions often convey a deeper meaning or convey emotions, values, and cultural references. For example, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is an idiomatic expression that means the children tend to resemble their parents. Similarly, “to be a mother hen” means to be protective and attentive, like a mother hen is to her chicks.

Mother Idioms

Mother idioms are idiomatic expressions that include the word “mother” and often reflect cultural and societal values and beliefs related to motherhood. These idioms can add a unique layer of meaning to our communication and often carry a deeper meaning than the literal interpretation of the words used.

1. A mama’s boy

Meaning: A boy or man who allows his mother to have too much influence on him.

E.g. I thought I loved him until I realized he was a momma’s boy who can’t do anything without his mother’s permission or approval.

2. At your mother’s knee

Meaning: If you learned to do something when you were a young child.

E.g. I learned how to bake at my mother’sknee when I was just a girl.

3. Everyone and his mother

Meaning: Used to express a large number or a majority of people.

E.g. I’m so jealous, everyone and his mother is going on a vacation this summer except for me.

4. A mother hen

Meaning: A person who looks out for the welfare of others, especially to an overprotective degree

E.g. Jenny can be a bit of a mother hen when we’re out at the bars.

5. Be tied to (one’s) mother’s apron strings

Meaning: An adult make deeply attached and needing his mother. Dating from the era when mothers wore aprons

E.g. Can you make a decision on your own, or are you tied to your mother’s apron strings?

6.  Like mother, like daughter

Meaning: Daughters tend to do what their mothers did before them.

E.g. My mother loved sweets, and everytime my father saw me with a cookie in my hand, he would sigh, “Like mother,like daughter.

7.  The mother of all (something)

Meaning: A large collection of a particular type of thing

E.g. Wow, that is themother of all sandwiches.It’s a foothigh!

8.  Mother Nature

Meaning: The force that controls the natural world

E.g. Look at all the wonders that Mother Nature provides, from fruit and vegetables to beautiful mountains and oceans.

9. A face only a mother could love

Meaning: A very ugly face

E.g. The poor baby has a face only a mother could love.

10. Expectant mother

Meaning: A pregnant woman.

E.g. I know the subway’s crowded, but you should really give your seat to the expectant mother standing by the door.

11. Experience is the mother of wisdom

Meaning: This idiom is used to mean that people learn from what happens to them.

E.g. You will never understand the love parents have for their children until you get your own children. Experience is really the mother of wisdom.

12. He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin

Meaning:  This is a proverb which means that if you intend to marry a woman, first try to win her mother on your side.

E.g. Listen Joe, if you want to marry Nancy, try to impress her mother first and be sure that she is on your side. He that would the daughter win, must with the mother first begin.

13. A tiger mother

Meaning: A strict and demanding mother

E.g. Two new studies do point out that there are costs to tiger mothering

14. Mother craft

Meaning: Skills related to the care of children

15. Mother’s milk

Meaning: Something necessary and important

16. To keep mum

Meaning: To keep quiet about something

17. Mother house

Meaning: The principle house in a religious order

Idiomatic Expressions related to the Word MOTHER

Idiomatic Expressions Related to the Word Mother – Image