American Idioms

by A. Makkai, M.T. Boatner, J.E. Gates

American Idiomatic Expressions

This online dictionary of idioms is based on original book by A. Makkai, M.T. Boatner and J.E. Gates — "A Dictionary of American Idioms".

Please, use the alphabetical links of the left menu or at the page bottom to access the dictionary, or choose from the "Tags" below.

You can also type-in the idiom you are looking for directly into the "Site look-up" form on the top-right.

Note: the "Rel" option doesn't work with short words. For the "Site look-up" form, please use the "Exact" option in case you want to find an idiom less than 4 letters long.

Extraction from the Original Idiom Dictionary:

"This revised, updated, and expanded edition defines more than 8000 idiomatic words and phrases of American English.

Each alphabetical entry has a grammatical explanation and an example sentence. The dictionary, which includes a preface in nine different languages, is a tool to help increase fluency in English for students, business travelers, and leisure travelers. The dictionary may also be used by native-born Americans who are sometimes confused by colloquial phrases (many of them regional in nature) not readily found in ordinary dictionaries and by non-native Americans whose mother tongue is not English.

The dictionary's preface explains what an idiom is, what kinds of idioms there are, and how they work, and provides instructions on how to use the dictionary. The ordering of information in the dictionary includes the parts of the sentence, explanations, examples, and cross-references in alphabetical order on every pertinent page."

Note: below you can see the Tags which group available idioms under thematic defined by a Tag. However the grouping is still not perfect, so you are welcome to propose your Tags. If it is relevant we will add it as soon as possible.

Tags: