hold water

H

hold water (idiom)
/həʊld ˈwɔːtəɹ/

The phrase “hold water” means that an argument, theory, or statement is sound, valid, logical, and defensible. If something doesn’t “hold water,” it means it’s flawed, unsubstantiated, or doesn’t make sense. The idiom comes from the idea of a container being able to hold liquid without leaking.

Meanings

• To be valid, logical, or convincing; an argument or idea that stands up to scrutiny.
• To remain sound or effective under testing or pressure.
• (Rare, literal) To be watertight or capable of physically containing water.

Synonyms: make sense; be valid; be convincing; be logical.

Variants

• not hold water — to be flawed or unconvincing.
• barely hold water — weakly convincing, but not fully sound.
• hold no water — completely invalid.

Example Sentences

1. The lawyer argued that the accusation simply did hold water, convincing the jury of its validity.
2. His story didn’t hold water once the police started asking detailed questions.
3. The old theory could hardly hold water after new evidence was discovered.
4. His excuse about being late did not hold water once we saw the timestamp on his text message.
5. he company’s explanation could barely hold water against the growing evidence of negligence.
6. The claim that the earth is flat holds no water in modern science.
7. The cracked bucket could not hold water and leaked all over the floor. (literal)

Origin and History

The phrase “hold water” originates from the literal, practical concept of a container—like a bucket or barrel—being able to contain water without leaking. This physical idea evolved into a figurative idiom by the early 17th century, where “holding water” came to symbolize coherence and reliability.

Biblical Influence

A significant influence on the idiom’s development is the biblical passage from Jeremiah 2:13 (King James Version):

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

This passage illustrates the idea of a flawed vessel unable to fulfill its purpose, mirroring the idiom’s meaning of invalidity. During the Reformation, Protestant scholars extensively shaped the vernacular language, and this biblical imagery likely inspired the metaphor’s popularity in English writing.

Historical Evolution and Cultural Spread

The idiom gained traction in English literature and polemical writings during the 17th century, a period marked by the rise of printed theological debates that demanded rigorous argumentation. By the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a staple in journalistic and legal discourse, used to emphasize the need for well-evidenced claims. Variations like “doesn’t hold water” became common critical expressions. The phrase’s influence extended globally through the spread of Anglophone culture, appearing in translated forms in languages such as Hebrew and Croatian, where similar metaphors of leaky containers convey the same concept.

Country of Origin

“Hold water” originated in England, emerging within early modern English literature and religious writing. Its development is tied to the publication of the King James Bible in 1611 and the subsequent Protestant scholarship of the era. This idiom is a native English construction, cultivated amid the intellectual and printing culture of Tudor and Stuart England.

Earliest Printed Record

On of the earliest known use of the idiom in its figurative sense appears in Daniel Rogers’s theological treatise, Naaman the Syrian, His Disease and Cure (1630), published in London. Rogers used the phrase to dismiss an unsound theological argument:

“This solution will no way beare water.”

This citation marks the idiom’s roots in ecclesiastical debate and its first documented appearance in print.

Biblical, Water

Last update: September 14, 2025 7:21 AM