noun
idiom
ID-ee-um/ˈɪdiəm/
A phrase whose meaning cannot be predicted from its individual words.
The friends use the idiom break the ice during their warm greeting.
Etymology
A peculiarity of speech became an expression characteristic of a language. The selected sense focuses on expressions whose established meaning cannot be worked out simply from their individual words.
In context
"Straight edge" is a newer idiom for abstaining from alcohol and other intoxicants
More examples
- The translator explained an unfamiliar idiom.
- The idiom cannot be understood by translating each word separately.
- She collected idioms used by her grandparents.
Forms
idiom · idioms
idiomatic adjective — using natural or established expressions