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With 464 of them in the Oxford Dictionary, the word SET has the most definitions of any word

Being very successful, or passing with FLYING COLOURS refers to a victorious army leaving the battlefield with its flag (colours) still flying

Not widely known outside the US, CHARLEY HORSE is an expression meaning a leg cramp or pulled muscle

Prior to 1974, an American BILLION was a thousand million and a British billion was a million million

Having a PIPE DREAM seems to have originally resulted from smoking an opium pipe

Cashing in on the popularity of the polka dance in the 19th century, many products were named after the dance. Only the POLKA DOT survives

EAVESDROPPERS used to spy on conversations by standing close to a building where rain would drip from the overhanging roof (eaves)

It's a little ironic that ABBREVIATE, a word meaning to shorten, is such a long word itself. It shares the same origins as 'brief' from the Latin 'brevis' meaning short

Nothing to do with driving, TAKING A BACK SEAT comes from sitting on the back benches of England's parliament

The stern of a ship is called the POOP because of the Latin word 'puppis' which meant stern