earn one's wings
earn one's wings verb: to prove one's worth or merit.
Verb
earn one's wings (third-person singular simple present earns one's wings, present participle earning one's wings, simple past and past participle earned one's wings or earnt one's wings)
- To prove one's worth or merit.
- Synonyms:
- earn one's stripes, get one's wings
Synonyms of earn one's wings
- earn one's stripes
- get one's wings
Forms of earn one's wings
| third-person singular present | earns one's wings |
|---|---|
| present participle | earning one's wings |
| past participle | earned one's wings |
| past | earned one's wings |
| past participle | earnt one's wings |
| past | earnt one's wings |
Origin of earn one's wings
From the film It's a Wonderful Life, in which Charlie has to prove himself to earn his wings as a full-fledged angel.
Questions about earn one's wings
- What does earn one's wings mean?
- Earn one's wings means to prove one's worth or merit.
- What part of speech is earn one's wings?
- Earn one's wings is a verb.
- What is the past tense of earn one's wings?
- The past tense of earn one's wings is earned one's wings.
Words near earn one's wings in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: earn one's wings (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “earn one's wings.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/earn_one%27s_wings. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.