How to Use idiom in a Sentence

idiom

noun
Definition of idiomnext
Synonyms for idiomnext
  • The expression “give way,” meaning “retreat,” is an idiom.
  • But nobody's quite been able to write the script that does it in the modern idiom.
    — Dominic Corry, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2021
  • English has lots of bill idioms, but the bills involved are not the same.
    — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2023
  • Love and Trouble is like the town pump of memoir idioms.
    — Laura Kipnis, The Atlantic, 16 May 2017
  • Where there's a will, there's a way--as true as any idiom could be.
    — Arkansas Online, 16 Jan. 2023
  • For him, the impact of a work of art was bound to an artist’s discovery of his own idiom and vision of the world.
    — Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, The New York Review of Books, 28 Jan. 2020
  • Jazz may be the most macho music idiom of them all, too macho at times for my tastes.
    — Ted Gioia, WSJ, 8 Sep. 2017
  • To mangle an idiom: Why expose a gift horse with your mouth?
    — Nina Burleigh, The New Republic, 16 May 2023
  • But there was something compellingly true about his simple idiom that has stuck with me over the years.
    — Michael McMullen, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022
  • And, perhaps hidden in all those cards, a few senses or idioms to add.
    — Kory Stamper, Slate Magazine, 14 Mar. 2017
  • Just a few idioms belittle height, such as having your head in the clouds or looking down your nose.
    — Grant Segall, cleveland, 3 Jan. 2020
  • It’s not the voice of the people, but a low-down idiom intended to sell certain class values.
    — Armond White, National Review, 3 Aug. 2022
  • But obviously, there are plenty of fish (the idiom, not the app).
    — Iris Goldsztajn, Marie Claire, 20 Oct. 2021
  • Managing the low end requires more nuance, more care than any idiom.
    — Michael Gehlken, Dallas News, 28 Nov. 2020
  • Choose a play on words or an idiom related to the room's function for a floor that displays wit and charm to anyone who enters.
    — Laura Lambert, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Nov. 2022
  • Buchanan loves the sanguine talk, but his own idiom is quite often refined, even bookish.
    — Sam Tanenhaus, Esquire, 5 Apr. 2017
  • And then there’s the elephant in the room — perhaps something bigger than an elephant may be needed in this idiom.
    — Tony East, Forbes, 5 June 2021
  • A few days ago, a friend taught me a Spanish idiom: vergüenza ajena.
    — Mark Lamster, Dallas News, 11 Dec. 2020
  • For Amazon, the move to get out in front of the herd, to use Bezos’s chosen idiom, makes sense.
    — Lila MacLellan, Quartz at Work, 20 Sep. 2019
  • Every single person on the planet has a unique idiom, and the big challenge is trying to discover that.
    — WSJ, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Remember the idiom about being like honey rather than vinegar.
    — Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 15 Sep. 2021
  • To quote the popular idiom, blue jeans are as American as apple pie.
    — Erika Mailman, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Oct. 2022
  • For Southern moms, those life lessons often come in the form of unique and sometimes confusing sayings and idioms.
    — Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli, Houston Chronicle, 9 May 2018
  • Trying to find idioms that belonged to these respective enclaves.
    — Ryan Chapman, Longreads, 28 Aug. 2019
  • Just for clarity — both ‘burying the hatchet’ and ‘off the table’ are idioms.
    — miamiherald, 19 Aug. 2017
  • The dominant idiom on so many platforms is one of soi-distant irony and disaffection.
    — WIRED, 16 Nov. 2022
  • Various jazz languages have emerged since Parker’s death, yet his idiom flourishes at the heart of the best of them.
    — Howard Reich, chicagotribune.com, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Out of step, but useful Pro-mom language is sometimes, in the old idiom, the velvet glove hiding the iron fist.
    — Shauna Shames, The Conversation, 19 Sep. 2023
  • There’s also an idiom that is attributed to printers’ lingo: out of sorts.
    — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Feb. 2022
  • The idiom’s hoist is the past tense of an older verb that is now obsolete: hoise (sometimes spelled and pronounced hyse).
    — Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Sep. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idiom.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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