won't wash

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

“If the leaves are still green and the plant looks healthy, the produce should be fine,” even if it’s dusted with ash, “but if it’s scorched, it could contain metals that won’t wash off,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

But if he’s shifting his AI efforts out of Tesla, that obviously won’t wash.

From Los Angeles Times

“I worry that if people put on masks, then they’ll think, OK, I’m protected, and they won’t wash their hands as vigorously or be careful not to touch their faces,” one expert told Slate’s What Next very early in the pandemic.

From Slate

Mason Mount fan 'won't wash or sell shirt'

From BBC

For serious tax analysts, this argument won’t wash: One rationale for the preferential rate on capital gains, after all, is to compensate for inflation.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• extraordinary
• implausible
• impossible
• improbable
• incredible
• mind-boggling
• strange
• unbelievable
• unheard-of
• unimaginable
• unthinkable