idiom
Sign in to saveAn idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the literal meanings of each word inside it.
AI overview
An idiom is a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be figured out by looking at the individual words in it—for example, "raining cats and dogs" means heavy rain, not actual animals falling from the sky. Understanding idioms matters because they are common in everyday speech and writing, so recognizing what they actually mean helps you communicate and understand others more accurately.
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Derivations
- Compositionality
- Mobility
- Translation
- Non-compositionality
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the literal meanings of each word inside it.
Idioms occur frequently in all languages. In English alone there are an estimated twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions. Some well known idioms in English are "spill the beans" (meaning "reveal secret information"), "it's raining cats and dogs" (meaning "it's raining intensely"), and "break a leg" (meaning "good luck").