like a hot knife through butter

like a (hot) knife through butter

Quickly and easily with very little effort required. (Used to describe both the physical and figurative act of cutting through something.) An industrial machine like that can cut through any material like a knife through butter. Because of his close connections with government officials, he was able to get through the bureaucratic red tape like a hot knife through butter.

See also: butter, knife, like, through

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

like a hot knife through butter

BRITISH, AMERICAN or

like a knife through butter

BRITISH

1. If something goes through something else like a hot knife through butter or like a knife through butter, it goes through it very easily. The edge of the plastic cut through my top lip like a knife through butter. Lasers can slice through rock like a hot knife through butter.

2. If you deal with a problem or difficult situation like a hot knife through butter or like a knife through butter, you deal with it quickly and easily. My sister is practical. She would steer through a situation like ours like a hot knife through butter.

See also: butter, hot, knife, like, through

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012