Idioms and phrases

The idiom dictionary is compiled from the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms and the Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms.

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An idiom is the phrase or group of words that has a figurative meaning, typically because of its common usage.

The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms explains over 150,000 idioms current in British, American and Australian English, helping learners to understand them and use them with confidence.

An idiom's symbolic sense is quite different from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made. There are a large number of Idioms and they used very commonly in all languages. There are approximately at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in the English language.

Idioms in fact, evolve the language and they are the building blocks of a language and civilization as well they have great intensity to make a language interesting and dynamic.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms, based on the 200 million words of American English text in the Cambridge International Corpus, unlocks the meaning of more than 5,000 idiomatic phrases used in contemporary American English. Full-sentence examples show how idioms are really used.

Idioms bring the spectacular illustration to the speech. They provide interesting insights into languages and thought processes of their speakers. They have a sense of mystery and fun about them.