A study of idiomatic expressions in English dictionaries A study of idiomatic expressions in English dictionaries INTRODUCTION An idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning conventionally understood by native speakers. It also called idiomatic expression. This meaning is different from the literal meaning of the idiom’s individual elements. In other words, idioms don’t mean exactly what the words say. Idioms are social and cultural phenomena that reflect social psychological characteristic of behavior, they relate to the communicative human behavior which implies norms, rules and traditions of communication of this or that lingua-cultural community. One of the most important aspects in the study of the English language is the study of English idioms. In any language there are expressions in which the individual words that make up this expression lose their original meaning. Everyone strives to express ideas and thoughts expressively and it is impossible without idioms which are present in every language of the world. They strengthen the speech and improve understanding cultural norms of the community. This article is undoubtedly relevant as it contains idioms of the modern English language which reveal the beauty of the language. And a great significance is given to the etymology of the idioms’ origin, as it is easier to learn and understand the idiom when we know the origin of it. The more we use idioms in our speech in the right context the better people think of us. It can witness our good knowledge of the language and the culture. In this article, we take a look at what idioms are and where they came from to give you some insight on the subject.