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2,287 words — headwords with part of speech, pronunciation, and a plain-language definition.

ne faire que: For non-idiomatic uses: see faire (“do”) and ne...que (“nothing but”); only, merely, just; indicates a continued or repeated action, especially if excessive or undesirable: keep
ne fût-ce que: synonym of ne serait-ce que (“not least because”)
ne jamais dire jamais: never say never
ne m'en parle pas: tell me about it
ne m'en parlez pas: tell me about it
ne parle pas de malheur: God forbid!
ne pas avoir dit son dernier mot: not to have given up, to still be in the game
ne pas avoir froid aux yeux: not to be faint-hearted, not to be backward in coming forward, to have guts, to have plenty of nerves
ne pas avoir inventé l'eau chaude: synonym of ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre
ne pas avoir inventé la poudre: synonym of ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre
ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre: to not be the sharpest knife in the drawer
ne pas avoir la tête à: not feel like (doing something), not be in the mood for (doing something)
ne pas avoir le cul sorti des ronces: not to be out of the woods yet, not to be in the clear
ne pas avoir les yeux dans sa poche: not to miss a thing, to see everything, to notice everything
ne pas avoir les yeux en face des trous: not to see something which is obvious, right under one's nose; to be dim-sighted because one is hungover and half-asleep; to be bleary-eyed
ne pas avoir mis la queue aux cerises: synonym of ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre
ne pas avoir sa langue dans sa poche: to never be at a loss for words, to be very talkative, not to be shy; to have the gift of the gab; to speak plainly, to be very frank
ne pas avoir son pareil: to be second to none, to be without equal, to have no equal
ne pas avoir toutes ses frites dans le même sachet: to have a screw loose, to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, to be one fry short of a Happy Meal
ne pas avoir un mot plus haut que l'autre: to never raise one's voice, to always be calm
ne pas avoir un radis: not to have two pennies to rub together, to be penniless, to be broke
ne pas avoir un rond: not to have two pennies to rub together, not to have a sausage, to be penniless, to be broke
ne pas avoir un sou vaillant: not to have two pennies to rub together, to be penniless, to be broke
ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard: to be nothing to write home about (to be mediocre; to be nothing out of the ordinary; to be nothing special)
ne pas croire si bien dire: not to know how right one is (said when someone who has uttered a statement doesn't know that this statement is even truer than they thought, for example because there is another dimension to it that they weren't aware of)
ne pas dater d'hier: not to be a recent development, not to be recent, not to be new
ne pas desserrer les dents: to keep one's lips sealed, to remain silent
ne pas dire non: not to refuse
ne pas donner cher de la peau de: not to give much for someone's chances, to think someone is dead meat
ne pas donner signe de vie: to show no sign of life, not to let people know that one's alive
ne pas en branler une: to do fuck all, not to do a damn thing, to do nothing
ne pas en croire ses oreilles: not to believe one's ears
ne pas en croire ses yeux: not to believe one's eyes
ne pas en ficher lourd: to laze around
ne pas en foutre une: to do fuck all, not to do a damn thing, to do nothing
ne pas en foutre une rame: synonym of ne pas en foutre une
ne pas en mener large: not to feel at ease, to be terrified or in dread, to have one's heart in one's boots
ne pas en rater une: to do every stupid thing possible, to commit every blunder conceivable, to make gaffe upon gaffe, to do one silly thing after the other
ne pas en toucher une: to be clueless, to be completely unskilled, not to know what one's doing
ne pas en être à son coup d'essai: to be no newbie, not to be a first-timer
ne pas faire dans la demi-mesure: not to go in for half-measures, not to half-ass it; not to embarrass oneself with manners
ne pas faire dans la dentelle: not to embarrass oneself with manners, be indelicate
ne pas faire de cadeaux: to take no prisoners; to do no favours (to); to not make things easy (for); to be very strict (to), to cut (someone) no slack; to be ruthless or merciless (to)
ne pas faire de doute: to be a certainty, to be clear
ne pas faire de mal à une mouche: to not hurt a fly
ne pas faire long feu: not to last very long
ne pas faire un pli: for there to be no doubt about it, to be a certainty, to be clear
ne pas fermer l'œil: not to sleep a wink
ne pas l'emporter au paradis: to live to regret it
ne pas laisser pierre sur pierre: to destroy completely
ne pas lâcher d'une semelle: to follow (someone) everywhere, to stay close to (someone) all the time, to breathe down someone's neck, to stick to (someone) like glue, like a leech, to dog (someone's) footsteps
ne pas lésiner sur les moyens: To go all out; to pull out all the stops
ne pas manger de ce pain-là: to want no part of it, not to be that kind of person, not to be interested
ne pas manquer d'air: to behave in a haughty, insolent, impudent, cheeky, cocky manner; to have some gall, nerve, cheek, etc.
ne pas manquer de sel: not to be lacking in spice, not to be without a certain piquancy, not to lack punch, not to be boring; to be interesting; to be witty; to be surprising; to be a bit rich, to be a bit cheeky
ne pas mâcher ses mots: not to mince words (to speak abruptly, frankly)
ne pas payer de mine: to be not much to look at
ne pas perdre une miette: to take everything in, to drink it all in, not to miss a word, not to miss a thing
ne pas piper mot: to shut up (remain (surprisingly) silent)
ne pas pouvoir ne pas: to be obligated to, to have no choice but to; can't help, can't help but