peculiar institution
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of peculiar institution
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The sport may be our most peculiar institution, and if you don’t agree, please, try explaining our fall Saturday spectacle to anyone outside our borders as I have.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2023
What was the war about, and what was the role of slavery, the most peculiar institution in all American history?
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2023
With the award-winning James McBride novel as a guideline, this drama takes the most serious of subjects, America’s peculiar institution, and explores it with intelligence, verve and wit.
From Slate ● Dec. 7, 2020
These “contrabands,” like centuries of enslaved people before them, challenged the pro-slavery federal government to confront the political reality wrought by its peculiar institution.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2020
In Martin’s recollection, his father, Donald, had never expressed an opinion about the peculiar institution, although their family was rare in their circle in not owning slaves.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
