won't wash

Idioms and Phrases

Will not stand up to examination, is unconvincing, will not work, as in That excuse about your sick aunt just won't wash . This expression originally alluded to a fabric that would not stand up to washing but by the late 1800s was used figuratively for other kinds of failure.

Related Words

• astonishing
• implausible
• impossible
• improbable
• inconceivable
• incredible
• outlandish
• preposterous
• too much
• unimaginable
• unthinkable