Can a single word be an idiom?

Votes: 248

Comments: 4

Added: March 2005

Comments:

RonBee - 25th November 2006 06:30

I want to see some examples of one-word idioms.

marc - 31st March 2007 04:22

overlook. Think of why it means something very different than "look over". Flipping the words doesn't change the meaning in this way. This happens because of the certain meaning the word has acquired in American English.

Or how about "rhubarb" meaning a fight?

tom - 19th November 2007 19:20

Does "cathouse" have anything to do with cats?

Stovepipe - 20th September 2008 07:23

"Great" ordinarily means "good," "large," or "superior." But used in an ironic sense, it means "not good," an idiomatic usage not found in most dictionaries.

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