customnoun
uk/ˈkʌs.təm/us/ˈkʌs.təm/custom noun (USUAL WAY)
B1 [ C or U ] a way of behaving or a belief that has been established for a long time:
a local/ancient custom
[ + to infinitive ] In my country, it's the custom (for women) to get married in white.
[ S ] something you usually do:
He left the house at nine exactly, as is his custom.
More examples
- It's a custom which is beginning to die out.
- She covered her head out of deference to Muslim custom.
- The women gathered around the coffin and began to wail, as was the custom in the region.
- The song was a custom handed down through the generations.
- What customs do you have for New Year in your country?
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Custom, tradition & conformity
- apple pie
- as American as apple pie idiom 1
- backward-looking
- backwards
- be (like) sheep idiom
- blend into the scenery idiom
- cue
- folk
- folk memory
- folklore
- follow the crowd idiom
- go/swim against the tide idiom
- nonconformist
- norm
- orthodoxy
- patrimony
- reactionary
- scenery
- sheep
- zeitgeist
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Habitual behaviour
custom noun (TRADE)
[ U ] the support given to a business, especially a shop, by the people who buy things or services from it:
Most of our custom comes from tourists nowadays.
If we don't give good service, people will take their custom elsewhere.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People who buy things
- bidder
- buyer
- client
- consumer
- customer
- customer base
- market
- patron
- patronage
- personal shopper
- prosumer
- purchaser
- rag-and-bone man
- ragman
- shopper
- sniper
- subscriber
- trader
- tradesman
- tradespeople
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custom noun (OFFICIAL CHECK)
customs [ plural ]
B1 the place at a port, airport, or border where travellers' bags are looked at to find out if any goods are being carried illegally:
to go through customs
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Taxation
- capital gains tax
- capitation
- chargeable
- corporation tax
- Customs and Excise
- inheritance tax
- levy
- National Insurance
- octroi
- overtax
- rateable value
- tax avoidance
- tax break
- tax credit
- tax exile
- tax-deductible
- tax-exempt
- VATable
- welfare state
- withholding tax
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