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won't wash

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.

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RELATED WORDS

unimaginable, incredible, improbable, unbelievable, unheard-of, strange, mind-boggling, implausible, impossible, extraordinary, unthinkable, questionable, uncertain, unusual, unsure, dubious, preposterous, astonishing, outlandish, inconceivable

Nearby words

  1. womyn,
  2. won,
  3. won ton,
  4. won't,
  5. won't hear of,
  6. wonder,
  7. wonder boy,
  8. wonder child,
  9. wonder drug,
  10. wonder-stricken
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.