Chess: king, queen, knight, pawn
Chess Pieces
Idiom | Explanation | Example |
---|---|---|
king of the castle(BrE)/hill(AmE) | the most successful/powerful person | Mark Zuckerberg is king of the social networking castle. |
a king’s ransom | a large sum of money | We paid a King’s ransom for a simple hotel room in the centre of New York City. |
live like a king/queen | live in luxury/comfort | Live like a king for two weeks with our unbeatable holiday packages. |
to queen it | act in a superior way to others | I don’t really like Janine. She’s always queening it over us. Telling us what to do, treating us like slaves. |
A knight in shining armour | a person who helps or saves someone in a difficult situation | If things go wrong, will you be my knight in shining armour? |
be a pawn in someone’s game | have no power/be manipulated or used by others | To him, I wasn’t a friend. I was there to help him. I was a pawn in his game of power. |