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oil and water

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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oil and water pl (plural only)

  1. (idiomatic) Two things which are incapable of mixing or coexisting harmoniously with each other.
    • 1982, Winston Graham, The Miller's Dance[1], Pan Books, published 2008, →ISBN:
      We are oil and water. There are few things he and I agree on but I believe we would agree on this.
    • 2009, Brian Schofield, Selling Your Father's Bones: America's 140-Year War against the Nez Perce Tribe, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 31:
      [] second, that the white and red man were oil and water, incapable of safely sharing a landscape.
    • 2011, Loretta M. Siani, The Alchemy of Prayer: How It Began and Why It Is the Medium of Miracles, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 47:
      Forgiveness and making bargains are oil and water. They don't mix.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:oil and water.
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