C1idiomcommunicationIELTS-friendly
not hold water
USUK
(of an argument or excuse) not to be believable when examined
Almost always negative or in questions: 'Does that argument hold water?' The image is a container with holes.
In context
His excuse doesn't hold water; the traffic was fine this morning.
The theory sounds clever, but it won't hold water without data.
More idioms about communication
- a bone of contentiona subject that people keep arguing about
- a broken recordsomeone who keeps repeating the same thing in an annoying way
- a heart-to-heartan honest, private conversation about personal feelings
- a moot pointUK: a question still open to argument. US: a question that no longer matters in practice.
- a red herringa fact or idea that takes attention away from the real issue