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open mic

open mic

22 3.9
An event where people take turns performing music, poetry, or comedy
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊpən maɪk/
translation icon : micrófono abierto
  • Every Thursday, I go to the local café for their open mic night to watch talented musicians perform.
  • open mic night

Do you remember your first open mic gig, getting on stage?

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Examples

  • My brother came home one day and said he went down to the comedy club to do open mic night and he did so bad.

  • Do you know we actually met at an open mic night.

  • And I went and did an open mic night and I was OK.

  • Like, maybe check out an open mic or something.

  • Dude, we are gonna smoke the competition at the open mic night tonight.

  • Hey, it's open mic night, guys.

  • Her plan is to just drive around city to city, state to state, doing open mic nights, like living a simple life.

  • And we're gonna totally win that money next week at the open mic contest.

  • Or would you prefer going to that open mic comedy club with a couple of mates?

  • Every week we go to Gusto's and check out open mic nights.

How Open

open mic
22 3.9
audition
276 3.5

Surface Forms

open mic singular
open mics plural

Morphology

open + mic

The phrase combines 'open' (available to all) with 'mic' (microphone), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a situation where the microphone is open for anyone to use — i.e., an event where people take turns performing. This composition follows a common English pattern (open + noun) and is largely cross-linguistically transparent, though full cultural details about typical performances may require minimal exposure.

Etymology

Open mic comes from events where the mic is really open for anyone to use, and people take turns stepping up to the mic to sing, tell jokes, or read poems. So, it now means 'an event where anyone can perform'.