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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

watch paint dry en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (humorous) To watch something that has virtually no movement, hence, something very boring.
    • “I am starving, that is true. But I'd never get bored. I could watch paint dry with you and I wouldn't get bored.” “You could watch paint dry with me? That sounds delightful,” I say. 2015, Kate McGovern, Rules for 50/50 Chances, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 224:
    • I expected his new play to be as good as the last, but it was like watching paint dry.
    • I click on it. And wait. And wait. And wait. Why does it take so long? It's so slow. This is worse than watching paint dry. Not that I've actually ever watched paint dry. Or even painted. 2012, Sarah Mlynowski, Fishbowl, Harlequin, →ISBN:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
watching paint dry Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
watched paint dry Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
watched paint dry Tense=Past lexicographic
watches paint dry Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

watch grass grow

Translations (4)

fi tuijottaa seinää (Translations) · es mirar las musarañas (Translations) · pl nudzić się (Translations) · fr regarder l'herbe pousser (Translations)