An idiom dictionary explains idiosyncratic stock phrases and metaphors in language. Typical English idiom dictionaries, e.g. that published by Longmans, define about 4000 phrases, e.g. "buy the farm", "hit the road", "canary in a coal mine". Of these, a tiny subset, generally involving prepositions or action verbs, are very basic to the language, and are closely related to fundamental conceptual metaphors. These include forms like out of or turn into. An idiom is an expression (i. ... A dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters with their glyphs, or a list of words with corresponding words in other languages. ... A stock phrase is a spoken phrase which has little if any actual meaning of its own (a phatic expression); it carries meaning only through custom or context. ... In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. ... Longman is a firm of English publishers. ... Conceptual metaphor: In cognitive linguistics, metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain; for example, using one persons life experience to understand a different persons experience. ...

Idiom dictionaries, as well as dictionaries in general, may or may not rely on a defining vocabulary of terms (Longman's uses 2000) which are used only in their simplest senses, to minimize the number of such basic conceptual metaphors and polymorphic word uses, and make definitions easier for someone unfamiliar with the language to comprehend, such as children or students of English as an additional language. A defining vocabulary is a published, stable, and culturally accepted core glossary specifically used by dictionary publishers to standardize their use of simple words to explain complex words, and culture-specific idioms or metaphors. ... It has been suggested that Teaching English as a Second Language be merged into this article or section. ...

See also

• Defining vocabulary
• Wiktionary list of idioms
• Stock phrase

A defining vocabulary is a published, stable, and culturally accepted core glossary specifically used by dictionary publishers to standardize their use of simple words to explain complex words, and culture-specific idioms or metaphors. ... A stock phrase is a spoken phrase which has little if any actual meaning of its own (a phatic expression); it carries meaning only through custom or context. ...

External links

• British and American Idioms Dictionary search