- make a silk purse...
English Idioms. Sayings and slang .
make a silk purse...
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make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear phrase to try to improve a person or object that cannot be changed Thesaurus: not possiblesynonym Main entry: silk * * * make a silk ˌpurse out of a sow s ˈear f8 idiom to succeed in making sth good out of… … Useful english dictionary
make a silk purse of a sow's ear — verb To produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value. He always was an unmannerly cub, said Master Headley, as he read the letter. Well, Ive done my best to make a silk… … Wiktionary
you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear — 1518 A. BARCLAY Eclogues (EETS) v. 360 None can..make goodly silke of a gotes flece. 1579 S. GOSSON Ephemerides of Phialo 62v Seekinge..too make a silke purse of a Sowes eare, that when it shoulde close, will not come togeather. 1672 W. WALKER… … Proverbs new dictionary
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. — old fashioned something that you say which means you cannot make a good quality product using bad quality materials. To make chairs that ll last you need good strong pieces of wood. You can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear … New idioms dictionary
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — you cannot improve the quality of junk; cannot make gold from iron When Hal put a Mercedes star on his Ford, I said, You can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear … English idioms
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — If something isn t very good to start with, you can t do much to improve it … The small dictionary of idiomes
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — ► you can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear proverb you can t create a fine product from inferior materials. Main Entry: ↑sow … English terms dictionary
make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — to try to improve a person or object that cannot be changed … English dictionary
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — If something isn t very good to start with, you can t do much to improve it … Dictionary of English idioms
silk — [sılk] n [: Old English; Origin: seolc] 1.) [U] a thin smooth soft cloth made from very thin thread which is produced by a silkworm ▪ pure silk stockings ▪ a beautiful dress in raw silk 2.) BrE law a very important lawyer = ↑Queen s Counsel (QC)… … Dictionary of contemporary English
