wasn

I wasn't brought up in the woods to be scared by owls.

Rur. I am not foolish or easily frightened. His threats don't scare me. I wasn't brought up in the woods to be scared by owls. Mary: You'll be sorry you ever crossed me. Jane: I wasn't brought up in the woods to be scared by owls.

See also: brought, owl, scare, up, Woods

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I/he/she wasn't born yesterday!

something that you say in order to tell someone that a person is not stupid and cannot be easily deceived You'd better think of a better excuse about the dent in my car. I wasn't born yesterday, you know! You can't expect your mother to believe that - she wasn't born yesterday!

See There's one born every minute

See also: born

Rome wasn't built in a day.

something that you say which means that it takes a long time to do an important job 'Sometimes it feels like we've spent all our lives decorating this house.' 'Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.'

See also: built, day, Rome

There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

something that you say which means that all the people in a particular place were very sad about what they had seen or heard and many of them were crying She began to talk about her son who had died and by the end of her speech there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

See be bone dry, bleed dry, hang out to dry, a dry run

See also: dry, eye, house