ENGLISH IDIOMS Dictionary in PDF | Download Free

All languages have phrases or sentences that cannot be understood literally. Even if you know all the words in a phrase and understand all the grammar of the phrase completely, the meaning may still not be apparent. Many proverbs, informal phrases, and common sayings offer this kind of problem. A phrase or sentence of this type is said to be idiomatic. This dictionary is a collection of the idiomatic phrases and sentences that occur frequently in the varieties of English that follow the British standard.

The dictionary is designed for easy use by lifelong speakers of English as well as by the new English speaker or learner. Readers who are native speakers of American, Australian, Canadian, or other varieties of English will find the entries fascinating and entertaining. Special features, such as numerous full-sentence examples and a phrase-finder index, make this dictionary uniquely effective for language learners.

How to Use This Dictionary

First, try looking up the complete phrase in the dictionary. The entries are in absolute alphabetical order; that is, phrases are alphabetized letter by letter, disregarding spaces, hyphens, and punctuation. Entry phrases are never inverted or reordered. For example, in the same boat is listed under in, not as the same boat, in; boat, in the same; or same boat, in the. In the entry heads, the word someone or one stands for persons, and something
stands for things.

If you do not find the phrase you want, or if you cannot decide exactly what the phrase is; look up any of its major words in the Phrase-Finder Index, which begins on page 207. There you will find listed, under the key word you have looked up, all the phrases that contain that word. Pick out the phrase you want, and look it up in the main body of the dictionary.