Idiom

An idiom is an expression or phrase whose meaning cannot be understood based on a literal definition of the words. Instead, it refers to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use. In linguistics, idioms are widely assumed to be figures of speech.

Examples of Idiomatic Expressions

• "Bread and Circuses" is a phrase used by Roman writers to deplore the decline in heroism in the Romans after the Roman Republic ceased to exist and the Roman Empire's ascendancy. The phrase is: "Two things only the people anxiously desire--bread and circuses." This was because the Roman government kept their population peaceful by providing free food and presenting huge spectacles at the Coloseum.

Bread and circuses has come to mean government policies that short term solutions to public unrest.

• A Bird in the Hand