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idiom definition

idi·om (id′ē əm)

noun

  1. the language or dialect of a people, region, class, etc.
  2. the usual way in which the words of a particular language are joined together to express thought
  3. a phrase, construction, or expression that is recognized as a unit in the usage of a given language and either differs from the usual syntactic patterns or has a meaning that differs from the literal meaning of its parts taken together (Ex.: not a word did she say; she heard it straight from the horse's mouth)
  4. the style of expression characteristic of an individual the idiom of Hemingway
  5. a characteristic style, as in art or music

Etymology: < Fr & LL: Fr idiome < LL idioma < Gr idiōma, peculiarity, idiom < idios: see idio-

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

idiom Synonyms

idiom

n.

expression, colloquialism, language, vernacular; see dialect, jargon 2, 3, language 1, phrase.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

idiom Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • music: More extended string repertoire from the classical and popular idioms of music are performed.

Converse of object

  • translate: Moreover, the rules that translate idioms or which replace them by single lexical items may have to be rather complex.

Preposition: in

  • language: The best way to learn the idioms in a language is to read well-written code.

Adjective modifier

  • harmonic: It has wit, economy and intellectual control, in a richly expressive harmonic idiom.

Noun used with modifier

  • vernacular: However, with few exceptions, the cottages are styled within the vernacular revival idiom.
idiom usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"idiom." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/idiom>

APA Style

idiom. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/idiom

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