faire le pont-levis
Meaning: For a horse to rear up very high.
Language: French
Literally: to make the drawbridge
Category: Animals
Origin: The phrase pictures the horse's body tilting back like a raised drawbridge.
More idioms — Animals
- faire dresser l’oreille — To catch someone's attention or spark their interest.
- renaître de ses cendres — To rise again and flourish after near-total destruction.
- donner un coup de pied dans la fourmilière — To strike a major blow or take bold action that stirs up considerable agitation and contr…
- remettre en selle — To help someone recover a former position or regain their footing after a setback.
- tener más conchas que un galápago — To be extremely cunning or crafty; to have many tricks up one's sleeve.
- cachicamo diciéndole a morrocoy conchudo — Calling out someone's faults when the accuser has the very same fault, especially when th…
More French idioms
- faire baiser les verges — To force someone you have mistreated to beg your pardon.
- retourner l’estomac — To disgust or sicken someone, to make them feel nauseous.
- remonter plus haut — To begin a story or explanation at an earlier point in time to clarify or better illumina…
- être victime de son succès — To suffer problems or difficulties that arise as a result of becoming too successful.
- ne pas garder les yeux dans sa poche — To be observant and alert; to miss nothing.
- n’avoir qu’à bien se tenir — A warning or threat implying that one must behave properly or face consequences.
Loading the full interactive collection…