AS (adjective) AS A (noun)
The Phrase Finder, a website, is the source of this list of 163 similes.
The Phrase Finder <http://www.phrases.org.uk/> is a dictionary and thesaurus
of phrases, sayings, idioms and cliches.
The words “meaning” and “origin” that follow some of this list’s entries are links
(at that website) to that phrase’s meaning and origin.
The Phrase Finder is British, so don’t expect Americans to know more than 90% of
these similes.
This list isn’t complete. The book The Cassell Dictionary of Appropriate Adjectives
has a list of about 350 similes of the form “as ADJ as a NOUN.”
As American as apple pie
As alike as two peas in a pod
As bald as a coot (Meaning) (Origin)
As black as Newgate's knocker
(Meaning) (Origin)
As black as coal
As black as pitch
As black as the Earl of Hell's waistcoat
As black as the ace of spades
As black as your hat
As blind as a bat
As blind as a mole
As bold as brass
As boring as a wet weekend in Wigan
As boring as watching paint dry
As brave as a lion
As bright as a button
As bright as a new pin
As brown as a berry (Origin)
As busy as a beaver
As busy as a bee (Origin)
As busy as a one-armed paper hanger
As busy as a one-legged arse kicker
As camp as a row of tents
As clean as a whistle
As clear as a bell
As clear as crystal
As clear as mud
As cold as a well digger's arse
As cold as a witch's tit
As cold as any stone (Origin)
As cold as ice
As common as muck
As cool as a cucumber (Meaning) (Origin)
As crazy as a loon
As crooked as a dog's hind leg
As cute as a bug's ear
As cute as a button
As daft as a brush
As dark as pitch
As dead as a dodo (Meaning) (Origin)
As dead as a doornail
As dead as mutton
As deaf as a post
As different as chalk and cheese
As drunk as a lord
As drunk as a skunk
As dry as a bone
As dry as a pommy's towel (Meaning) (Origin)
As dull as ditchwater
As dumb as a box of rocks
As easy as ABC
As easy as falling off a log
As easy as pie (Origin)
As easy as taking candy from a baby
As fast as greased lightning
As fine as frog's hair
As fit as a butcher's dog
As fit as a fiddle (Origin)
As flat as a pancake
As free as a bird
As fresh as a daisy
As full as a fat lady's sock
As full as an Alabama tick
As good as gold
As good as your word
As green as grass (Meaning)
As happy as Larry (Meaning) (Origin)
As happy as a clam (Origin)
As happy as a dog with two tails
As happy as a lark
As happy as a pig in shit
As happy as a sandboy
As hard as a rock
As hard as iron
As hard as nails
As heavy as lead
As helpless as a baby
As high as a kite
As honest as the day is long
As hot as Hades
As hot as blue blazes
As hungry as a hunter
As keen as mustard
As large as life and twice as handsome
As light as a feather
As long as a month of Sundays
As mad as a bear with a sore head
As mad as a hatter (Meaning) (Origin)
As mad as a march hare (Meaning) (Origin)
As mad as a wet hen
As merry as the day is long (Origin)
As miserable as sin
As naked as a jaybird
As naked as nature intended
As near as dammit
As neat as a new pin
As nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of
rocking- chairs
As nice as ninepence (Origin)
As nutty as a fruit cake
As old as Methuselah (Meaning) (Origin)
As old as the hills (Meaning) (Origin)
As patient as Job
As pissed as a newt
As pissed as a rat
As plain as a pikestaff
As plain as day
As plain as the nose on your face
As playful as a kitten
As pleased as Punch (Meaning) (Origin)
As poor as a church mouse
As pretty as a picture
As proud as a peacock
As pure as the driven slush
As pure as the driven snow (Origin)
As queer as a chocolate orange
As queer as a nine-bob note (Meaning) (Origin)
As quick as a flash
As quiet as a mouse
As rare as rocking-horse shit
As red as a beetroot
As regular as clockwork
As rich as Croesus (Meaning) (Origin)
As right as ninepence (Origin)
As right as rain (Origin)
As safe as houses
As safe as the Bank of England
As scarce as hen's teeth
As sharp as a tack
As sick as a dog
As sick as a parrot
As silent as the grave
As slippery as an eel
As sly as a fox
As small as the hairs on a gnat's bollock
As smooth as a baby's bottom
As smooth as silk
As snug as a bug in a rug (Meaning)
As sober as a judge
As sound as a bell
As stiff as a poker
As straight as a die
As straight as an arrow
As strong as an ox
As stubborn as a mule
As sure as God made little green apples
As sure as eggs is eggs
As sweet as pie
As thick as thieves
As thick as two short planks
As thin as a rail
As thin as a rake
As tight as a drum
As tight as a duck's arse
As tough as old boots
As true as the day is long
As ugly as sin
As useless as a chocolate teapot
As warm as toast
As weak as gnat's piss
As white as a ghost
As white as a sheet
As white as snow
As wise as an owl