read between the lines
/ˌriːd bɪˌtwiːn ðə ˈlaɪnz/NEUTRAL · C2
Meaning
to understand what someone means but does not say
Examples
- 1Her email sounded polite, but reading between the lines, I think she's quite upset.
- 2If you read between the lines, the company is clearly planning to close the shop.
- 3He never said he was unhappy at work, but I could read between the lines when he started updating his CV.
- 4The review only described the food as interesting, so we read between the lines and ate somewhere else.
- 5Why can't Anna just say what she means? I'm tired of having to read between the lines.
Grammar
Only read changes: reads, reading, and the past read is said /red/. Keep lines plural.
More idioms about communication
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →keep someone in the loopto make sure someone knows what is happeninghit the nail on the headto describe exactly what is causing a problemget the wrong end of the stickto misunderstand what someone meansspeak your mindto say honestly and directly what you thinkword of mouthnews passed on by people telling each otherto cut a long story shortused to give only the main point of what happened
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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