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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

idiom

/ˈɪdiəm/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does idiom mean?

noun

  1. A manner of speaking, a mode of expression peculiar to a language, language family, or group of people.
  2. A programming construct or phraseology that is characteristic of the language.
  3. A language or language variety; specifically, a restricted dialect used in a given historical period, context, etc.
More meanings (2)

noun

  1. An established phrasal expression whose meaning may not be deducible from the literal meanings of its component words.
  2. An artistic style (for example, in art, architecture, or music); an instance of such a style.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɪdiəm/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Study and investigation of this strange idiom lead to the mysterious point of intersection of regular society with society which is accursed.
Victor HugoLes MisérablesTranslated by Isabel Florence HapgoodProject Gutenberg ebook #135
But I cannot help thinking that Sun Tzŭ meant to use the word in a figurative sense comparable to our own idiom "short and sharp."
active 6th century B.C. SunziThe Art of WarTranslated by Lionel GilesProject Gutenberg ebook #132
More book examples (3)
The work and object which he set himself was to compose and translate philosophical dialogues and to render logical and physical terms into the Roman idiom.
PlutarchPlutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and RomansProject Gutenberg ebook #674
Those which are little diffused would become dead languages; but the Indian, in preserving an American idiom, would retain his individuality--his national character.
Alexander von Humboldt; Aimé BonplandPersonal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1Translated by Thomasina RossProject Gutenberg ebook #6322
If any other woman had ever loved him, as the idiom has it, she would have married him, and so made him ineligible for his present happiness.
H. L. (Henry Louis) MenckenIn Defense of WomenProject Gutenberg ebook #1270