WORDROW Korean Idioms Idioms under “ㄷ” — 329 idioms
Browse idioms by the initial consonant of the first Korean syllable, in Hangul order. On this site, ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, and ㅉ are grouped under ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, and ㅈ, respectively.
A bastard who deserves to be beaten to death An insult directed at someone who has committed a serious wrong. 
Drive something home deeply An emphatic expression for causing deep, lasting resentment in another's heart, or stating a fact precisely and clearly. 
2 meanings open one’s doors To establish external relations in fields such as politics, economics, or culture. 
Serve as a ceremonial attendant Perform the role of attending beside the bride, groom, or accompanying guests at a traditional wedding 
accept a substitute To make up for something with something else. 
plant an intercrop To plant beans, red beans, or the like in the rows of a field planted with another crop. 
use as a rough measure To use something as a standard for estimation. 
Make a rough guess Estimate by approximate guesswork 
Make a rough estimate Calculate by rough estimation. 
Tell outrageous lies Boast or tell utterly groundless lies. 
Long desperately for something Literally, await signs of rain during a great drought; yearn for something to happen 
Blood shed for a righteous cause Blood offered for a righteous cause. 
Shared · 2 Suffer from the heat Develop abnormal physical symptoms from summer heat 
Shared · 2 Suffer from the heat Develop abnormal bodily symptoms from summer heat. 
buy someone’s summer heat An expression from the heat-selling custom on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month: answering when someone calls one’s name means taking on that person’s heat too and suffering from the summer heat. 
Pass one’s summer heat to another From the heat-selling custom on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month: call someone’s name and, when they answer, give them one’s heat so as to avoid heat illness in midsummer 
Benefit from someone Receive benefit or help from another 
Be helpful Be beneficial or helpful. 
have one’s crime exposed For one’s wrongdoing to be revealed. 
Probe someone’s intentions Sound out another’s inner thoughts 
Pressure relentlessly Urge or corner someone severely. 
keep someone pinned down To seize another person’s weakness and prevent them from moving. 
Hold someone fast Make someone unable to move or escape 
be caught red-handed To be discovered while plotting or carrying out wrongdoing. 
2 meanings Grab by the scruff or press hard Seize someone by the nape and lead them away 
Strike a vulnerable point Attack or hit a weak point or the most important place. 
pocket a markup To appropriate an added price margin. 
spend freely when flush and struggle when broke A figurative expression for a person without steady assets to live on spending lavishly whenever money comes in and struggling when none is available. 
Shared · 3 Be trapped with no escape Figuratively, a position from which one cannot escape a predicament. 
be traumatized by a past ordeal A figurative expression for someone badly hurt by an experience becoming frightened at the slightest thing, with their heart pounding abnormally. 
have an official arrive to prepare the royal route For an official to come out to have the road swept and covered with yellow earth in preparation for the king’s procession. 
An unstable household fortune An unstable livelihood whose possessions can suddenly vanish. 
Be impossible to make sense of Be unable to discern a pattern because someone’s actions are unclear 
be utterly bewildered To be unable to understand what is going on because the circumstances are unknown. 
Shared · 2 Hold the real authority Have actual authority over an undertaking 
An ambitious plan abroad Literally, the wings of the great peng bird about to spread southward; figuratively, a plan to go somewhere and undertake a great enterprise 
have all one’s efforts come to nothing A figurative expression for suffering without gaining anything, likening it to a monk chanting Amitabha all his life without effect. 
Cultivate spiritual understanding Devote oneself to spiritual cultivation to attain enlightenment. 
come under criticism For something to become the object of criticism. 
Put under critical scrutiny Make something an issue and criticize or discuss it 
Peddle goods For a merchant to travel about selling goods 
Beat savagely Figuratively, describe striking wildly. 
help and guide An expression meaning to help and guide someone whose strength is insufficient. 
Shared · 2 Stamp a seal Impress a seal. 
2 meanings seal an agreement or claim ownership To stamp a document and enter into an agreement. 
Be unmistakably marked For a fact or trace to stand out clearly 
have enormous feet For feet to be very large. 
Squirm restlessly Be unable to sit quietly, twisting and moving one’s body about 
Be polished by pounding Of paper, cloth, or the like, become glossy and smooth through pounding. 
Shared · 3 Be trapped with no escape Figuratively, a position from which one cannot escape a predicament 
Be as good as caught Be virtually already captured. 
employ a private tutor To keep a private tutor at home. 
Charter a boat exclusively Rent a boat by oneself for payment, or take exclusive possession of it. 
2 meanings Cause poisoning; provoke venomous anger Cause something to be affected by poison. 
Make a fortune Vulgarly, come to earn an enormous amount of money 
Suddenly become rich Suddenly earn a great deal of money and become wealthy. 
Become comfortably wealthy Acquire a very large sum of money and live comfortably 
Lend money for profit Increase profit by lending money here and there. 
Make money Earn money by doing something. 
take a bribe Colloquially, to accept a bribe.