wear out one's welcome, to
wear out one's welcome
Fig. to stay too long (at an event to which one has been invited); to visit somewhere too often. Tom visited the Smiths so often that he wore out his welcome. At about midnight, I decided that I had worn out my welcome, so I went home.
See also: out, wear, welcome
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
wear out one's welcome
Visit for longer than one's host wants, as in She wanted to stay another few days but feared she would wear out her welcome. This expression uses wear out in the sense of "exhaust" or "use up." [Mid-1800s]
See also: out, wear, welcome
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
wear out (one's) welcome
To visit so often or stay so long as to become a nuisance.
See also: out, wear, welcome
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
wear out one's welcome, to
To prolong a visit more than one’s host wishes. The ancients claimed that after three days guests and fish are equally stale. In the mid-nineteenth century the present locution was devised, as “an elegant rendering of the vulgar saying, ‘Fish and company stink in three days’” (Notes and Queries, 1869).
See also: out, wear
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- breathe
- breathe (something) to (someone)
- a month of Sundays
- month
- month of Sundays
- month of Sundays, a
- Sundays
- be in the market for
- find (oneself) in the market for (something)
- a gift horse