1. Home
2. Idioms
3. not hold water

not hold water

---

---

not hold water

 

1. Lit. [of a container] not able to contain water without leaking. This old wading pool won't hold water any longer.

2. Fig. not able to be proved; not correct or true. Jack's story won't hold water. It sounds too unlikely. The police's theory will not hold water. The suspect has an ironclad alibi.

See also: hold, not, water

not hold water

to not seem to be true or reasonable That argument isn't likely to hold water with my father! A lot of the stuff I believed in when I was 17 just doesn't hold water today.

Related vocabulary: hold up

See also: hold, not, water