idiom

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Or, to use a Chinese idiom: kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025

They are embracing a Chinese idiom: “breaking the surface of the water.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

It may be the most overused idiom to ever exist, but life is short; the only way to live it is to try our hardest to like it.

From Salon • Oct. 12, 2025

Likewise for Kim, the mission of tackling five new ones every two weeks can feel, to use a Korean idiom, like pouring water into a bottomless pot.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2025

Tchaikovsky wasn’t the first heavyweight Russian composer who wrote in the mainstream international idiom, the same milieu as Beethoven, Berlioz, Verdi or Brahms.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall