A knight in shining armour
A knight in shining armour is someone who saves you from a difficult or dangerous situation.
She is hoping that one day a knight in shining armour will come and rescue her from her dull and boring life.

Fight a losing battle
If you fight a losing battle you are trying to do something that is not possible.
We were fighting a losing battle trying to get him to keep his bedroom tidy.

The whipping boy
A whipping boy is a person whose purpose is to take the blame and/or punishment for the faults and mistakes of others.

Paint in glowing colours
To describe (something or someone) in a way that suggests it is worthy of praise, very pleasant, etc.
The writer paints the simple country life in glowing colours and is clearly against living in a city.

Let sleeping dogs lie
to not talk about things which have caused problems in the past, or to not try to change a situation because you might cause problems
His parents never referred to the shoplifting incident again. I suppose they thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie.
It wasn't that we didn't want to improve the school - it was more a case of letting sleeping dogs lie.

On the receiving end
if you are on the receiving end of something unpleasant that someone does, you suffer because of it
Sales assistants are often at the receiving end of verbal abuse from customers. [usually + of]

Fighting fit
to be very healthy
She was fighting fit after 10 weeks of intense physical training.

A happy hunting ground
a place where you can find exactly what you want
The happy hunting ground was a Native American way of referring to heaven, or where they went when they died.
Flea markets are a happy hunting ground for people looking for antiques at good prices.

Give a helping hand
If you give/lend someone a helping hand, you help them.
These tax cuts will give industry a helping hand.

A leading light (informal)
If someone is a leading light of an organization they are very important in it.

Hopping mad INFORMAL
When I saw her she was hopping (mad) (=very angry).

No laughing matter
if a subject is no laughing matter, it is serious and not something that people should make jokes about
Haemorrhoids are all very funny when other people have them, but if you get them yourself, it's no laughing matter.

The pecking order
the order of importance of the people in a group or an organization
There's a clearly established pecking order in this office.

Have an itching palm (British dated disapproving)
Someone with an itching palm likes to be paid for what they do for you.

A parting shot
a remark that you say as you are leaving somewhere so that it has a strong effect
Her parting shot was 'I'm going to spend the evening with people who appreciate my company!'

A moving spirit (literary)
someone who starts an important organization or course of action
Born in Nkroful, Ghana, he was the moving spirit behind the Charter of African States. [often + behind]

A doubting Thomas
a person who refuses to believe anything until they are given proof
In the Bible, Thomas would not believe that Jesus had come back from the dead until he saw him.
He's a real doubting Thomas - he simply wouldn't believe I'd won the car until he saw it with his own eyes.

A clinging vine
A possessive person, esp. a woman, who wants to be close to and to claim all the attention of another.
He says that he dislikes going anywhere with here because she is such a clinging vine.

Cambridge International Dictionary of English & Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms

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