on someone's dime

Definitions

At the monetary expense of the person indicated.

idiomatic

Examples

“They challenged my knowledge of the book, suggested that my article would inevitably be lousy and concluded that J. D. Salinger would be disgusted by what I was doing—all the while drinking on my dime.”

“Their simple lives contrast sharply with the multimillion-dollar rumors surrounding Osama bin Laden. […] [T]hey weren't living large on his dime.”

“But if you’re a Haitian, Mexican, or Brit and you step on American soil and are then detained by US officials, without a visa, you’ll be on the next boat back home—and on your dime too.”

CEFR level