won't wash

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

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won't wash

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2024

Trying to dress it up as who has the moral high ground just won’t wash.

From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2020

That won't wash so far as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is concerned.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2019

The old saw that horse people really love their animals won’t wash anymore.

From Washington Post ● May 5, 2019

“Caper as you like, it won’t wash out your crimes. Daenerys Targaryen is no silly child to be diverted by japes and tumbles. She will deal with you justly.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

won't wash

Example Sentences

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