About the village
A free dictionary of English idioms: what they mean, where they come from, and how people use them.
Why it exists
The way language is used idiomatically is endlessly interesting. Idioms bring a mixture of frustration and hilarity: you can know every word in one and still have no idea what it means. This site is here to help you find the meaning of an English idiom quickly, and to enjoy some of the colourful, evocative and even poetic ways people use them.
I'm James. I'm British and live in Berlin, so American idioms are especially interesting to me, and I'm curious about other languages' idioms too.
How the entries are made
The village holds 8,545 idioms. Each entry gives the plain meaning first, then how the idiom is used today, examples in context, and where it comes from. Where an origin is genuinely uncertain, the entry says so rather than repeating a tidy story that doesn't hold up. Entries are revised whenever better evidence turns up, and readers' corrections go straight into that work.
The village map places each idiom by meaning: idioms that say similar things sit close together, so you can wander from one to its neighbours.
Get in touch
Corrections, better origin stories and idioms we're missing are all very welcome: info@thevillageidiom.org.