ALT A black, white and green comic-style illustration of a tense poker table, with a man's wide eyes peering over a fan of cards on the left, a hand reaching across the green felt, an ace of spades lying on the table and stacks of poker chips beside it. Text reads 'idiom: an ace up your sleeve', 'Sam wasn't nervous about the job interview. He had an ace up his sleeve: a glowing reference from the CEO.' and 'meaning: a secret advantage that you keep hidden until you need it.'

ALT A storybook-style illustration of a friendly white ghost walking down an empty British high street at dusk, with every shop shuttered, autumn leaves blowing along the road and a pigeon in the foreground. A text box reads 'idiom: a ghost town' and 'The high street is a ghost town.'

ALT A pop-art comic illustration against a bright yellow background of an excited teenage girl in a pink hoodie holding a phone and whispering to her grandmother, who raises an eyebrow as she pours tea from a floral teapot beside scones and a floral cup. Text reads 'Spill the tea!' and 'meaning: tell me the gossip!'

ALT A storybook-style night scene of a terrified man in blue and white striped pyjamas on a staircase, holding a lit candle with his hair sticking straight up, while a cat's glowing eyes peer from a dark doorway below and rain falls outside the window. A text box reads 'idiom: make your hair stand on end' and "Those glowing eyes made my hair stand on end!", with 'meaning: to frighten you so much you shiver all over.'

ALT A storybook-style illustration of a woman in a pink cardigan clutching her face in horror in a doorway, with a tiny kitten peeking from her pocket, as two children in muddy raincoats and wellies and a muddy spaniel stand on a new cream carpet covered in paw prints and boot prints. A text box reads 'idiom: have kittens' and "Mum's having kittens about the new carpet!", with 'meaning: to be extremely worried, upset or angry.'

ALT A vintage-style painting of three smiling children in Halloween costumes, two in pointed black witch hats and dark outfits and a blonde girl with a hair bow holding a small carved pumpkin, with a boy on the right carrying a pumpkin bucket, against a plain beige background. Text reads 'dress up', 'phrasal verb', 'to put on special clothes to look like someone or something else' and 'We're dressing up as witches this year!'

ALT An illustration of a startled man in a brown cardigan leaping out of a green armchair, with his newspaper and a teacup flying through the air, while a smiling child in a white sheet ghost costume peeks out from behind the chair and a terrier hides under the coffee table in a cosy living room. A text box reads ‘idiom: jump out of your skin’ and ‘You made me jump out of my skin!’

ALT An illustration of a nervous man in a brown tweed coat clutching a paper bag and glancing sideways at a tall, grinning shopkeeper leaning over a wooden counter in an old-fashioned shop, with a black cat sitting on the counter staring at the customer, shelves of tins and jars of sweets behind them. A text box reads ‘idiom: give someone the creeps’ and ‘That shopkeeper gives me the creeps.’

ALT An illustration of a British family having tea in a cosy living room, with a father in a knitted vest, a mother in a floral dress and pearls, a teenage boy in a blue jumper, a girl with a blue hair bow and a terrier on the rug, while a skeleton peeks out of the open cupboard under the stairs, between coats, wellies and a hoover, with a finger to its lips. A text box reads ‘idiom: skeleton in the cupboard’ and ‘Every family has a few skeletons in the cupboard.’