The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms: The Most Comprehensive Collection of Idiomatic Expressions and Phrases » (Reprint)

Christine Ammer is a lifelong student of language. She is the author of 20 popular reference books, on subjects ranging from classical music to economics. For the past decade she has concentrated on language, especially colloquial expressions. She lives and looks into words in Lexington, Massachusetts.

The cat will never get your tongue once you have The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms. This book defines nearly 10,000 idioms — expressions consisting of two or more words whose combined meaning is different from the literal meaning of the individual words. Each entry has both a definition and a sentence showing the idiom used in context. Most entries offer an explanation of the idiom’s origin and indicate when the expression first appeared in English.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 UpThis excellent survey of almost 10,000 contemporary idioms has a clear format and large type, which should make it particularly appealing to young readers and non-native speakers. In addition to idioms, the dictionary includes common figures of speech, formula phrases such as "take care," emphatic redundancies whose word order cannot be reversed such as "cease and desist," common proverbs, colloquialisms, and slang phrases. Each expression is defined briefly and then illustrated by a short, simple sentence showing how it is used in context. Information regarding the expression's origin or background is given, along with its date of first appearance, if known. Although more detailed discussions of some words might be found in other classic works, the emphasis here is on understanding contemporary American usage. This resource is invaluable as a teaching tool.Mary H. Cole, Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School, NY