give the time of day
The idiom "give the time of day" refers to acknowledging or ignoring someone, often used to describe minimal or reluctant interactions.
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🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
B2Social Interaction
(informal)To acknowledge someone's presence or engage with them, often briefly or reluctantly.
Example
- Despite their history, she wouldn't even give him the time of day.
- He finally gave me the time of day and listened to my proposal.
B2Social Interaction
(informal)To ignore or refuse to acknowledge someone.
Example
- After the argument, he wouldn't give her the time of day.
- They were so busy they wouldn't give anyone the time of day.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "give the time of day":
time of daytell timekeep timehave the timelocal timehave the right timemake timetime checkthe daykeep good timetime incall timehave time