English · Idiom Candidate

hold water

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Be valid.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

có giá trị

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

But that's an argument which those in the book business believe simply doesn't hold water.

What do people mean when they say, ‘ As weak as water’?

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Topics: Water

Common questions

What does “hold water” mean?

Be valid.

Is “hold water” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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