From Richard Nordquist,
Your Guide to Grammar & Composition.
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Definition:

A set expression of two or more words that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words.

Etymology:

From the Latin, "own, personal, private"

Examples and Observations:

• "The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in his art that he will work at it come hell or high water."
  (Stendhal)



• "Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint."
  (Don Marquis)



• "If natural language had been designed by a logician, idioms would not exist."
  (Philip Johnson-Laird, 1993)



• "Fads are the kiss of death. When the fad goes away, you go with it."
  (Conway Twitty)



• "I worked the graveyard shift with old people, which was really demoralizing, because the old people didn't have a chance in hell of ever getting out."
  (Kate Millett)



• "I voted Republican this year; the Democrats left a bad taste in my mouth."
  (Monica Lewinsky)



• "The thought hit me that this was a pretty pathetic way to kick the bucket--being accidentally poisoned during a photo shoot, of all things--and I started weeping at the idiocy of it all."
  (Lara St. John)

Pronunciation: ID-ee-um