Ice, snow and cold feet: winter gives English some of its most useful idioms. You will hear these seven at work, at school and in the news – all year round, not only in December.
B1 vocabulary7 idiomsquiz with answers
1Be on thin ice
To be in a risky situation, where one more mistake could cause trouble.
“You’re already on thin ice, Joan. If you’re late again, you might lose your job.”Legally, the company is on very thin ice.
2Break the ice
To make people feel relaxed when they meet for the first time.
Someone suggested a party game to break the ice.He always tells a joke to break the ice.
3A snowball effect
When something small grows bigger and bigger, faster and faster.
She ignored her debts for so long that they had a snowball effect.
4Put something on ice
To stop a plan for a while and come back to it later.
We’ve put the project on ice until we find a new manager.
5Snowed under
Having too much work or too many things to deal with.
I’m absolutely snowed under with work at the moment.
6Get cold feet
To suddenly feel too nervous to do something you planned.
He got cold feet at the last moment and didn’t sing.
7The tip of the iceberg
A small, visible part of a much bigger problem.
These complaints are just the tip of the iceberg.❓ Which idiom fits?
- I have three tests and a project this week – I’m completely ___.
- Let’s play a quick game to ___ before we start.
- She wanted to jump with a parachute, but she ___ at the last minute.
- The broken window is only ___ – the whole school needs repairs.
- You’ve missed two deadlines. You’re ___ now.
- The trip is too expensive this year, so we’ll ___ until summer.
- One bad review led to another, and soon there was ___.
Show answers
- snowed under
- break the ice
- got cold feet
- the tip of the iceberg
- on thin ice
- put it on ice
- a snowball effect
Worksheet and idiom cards (B1, with audio)
📝 Use it in class
- Show the seven pictures without the idioms: students guess the meaning, then check in the text.
- Mime it: one student acts out an idiom, the class says it.
- Write a short story of five sentences that uses at least three idioms.
📚 More winter reading
Printable winter sets with audio are in Winter Worksheets, and December lessons in the Christmas section.