First recorded in 1925–30
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When a friend who isn’t a native English speaker first came to the U.S., he would ask me for help understanding how things work here.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
During the course of the inquest it transpired the two carers on duty were not native English speakers, one was Romanian and the other Indian.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2023
It also learned that minors were working under assumed names and were not native English speakers, according to the complaint.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2023
Inspired, he decided to try to learn Mandarin, mostly because he had read that it was one of the hardest languages for native English speakers to master.
From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2022
She is an able linguist and has made a special study of her native English tongue and of Spanish and French, all of which she uses fluently.
From Contemporary One-Act Plays by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
