I wonder what is the meaning of the bold expression:
They flew out to another state, on their own dime, to help brainstorm solutions for a colleague.
I searched for the definitions of dime and on a dime, but they do not seem to be helpful.
asked Aug 6, 2017 at 12:23
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5At their own expense.– Hot LicksCommented Aug 6, 2017 at 12:26
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1The likely reason that the expression wasn't covered in the Cambridge university dictionary you linked to, is that it's an American expression and that's a British dictionary. It's unlikely someone who speaks British English would use it. If the material you are reading is based on American English (which it very likely is, based on the small passage you gave here), you may want to use an American English dictionary moving forward. See the one I linked to at the end of my answer.– Benny LewisCommented Aug 6, 2017 at 12:35
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1related - english.stackexchange.com/questions/268125/…– Phil SweetCommented Aug 6, 2017 at 13:36
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1 Answer
A dime is 10c (used specifically in the US or Canada).
In the context of your expression though, rather than being literal, you can think of this as just representing money in general and the use of "their" emphasizes that it's specifically them paying. So the expression essentially says "at their own expense", in contrast with the colleague (in this case) or their company paying for it, or reimbursing them.
You can use it in many expressions where someone pays for something personally, when someone else paying may have been possible or expected.
