give (someone) the time of day

idiom

chiefly US, informal
: to pay attention to someone
usually used in negative statements
No one would give us the time of day.
I needed their help, but they wouldn't give me the time of day.

Examples of give (someone) the time of day in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But Scarpa said she still wasn’t taken seriously in her first years as CEO of NABI, and men working with her wouldn’t give the time of day to her ideas. Amaris Encinas, AZCentral.com, 18 July 2022 Britain would give the time of day to this hugely talented working-class woman of mixed race? Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'give (someone) the time of day.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near give (someone) the time of day

Cite this Entry

“Give (someone) the time of day.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/give%20%28someone%29%20the%20time%20of%20day. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!