Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: like a fish out of water
Antonyms: none provided
History
Commonly associated with a shape sorter, a baby toy that consists of (often wooden) pegs that need to be inserted through holes in a box, using the hole that has the same shape as the peg. While all the shapes are of roughly equal size, each peg will only fit in the hole that has the same shape. Inserting a peg in a different hole would require either modifying or breaking the toy.
Across languages
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
