Word.ws English Dictionary

had it both ways

had it both ways is the simple past and past participle of have it both ways.

Meaning of have it both ways

Verb

have it both ways (third-person singular simple present has it both ways, present participle having it both ways, simple past and past participle had it both ways)

  1. (idiomatic) Synonym of have one's cake and eat it too.

Questions about had it both ways

What is had it both ways the simple past and past participle of?
Had it both ways is the simple past and past participle of have it both ways.

Words near had it both ways in the dictionary

  1. had in mind
  2. had it
  3. had it all
  4. had it away
  5. had it bad
  6. had it both ways
  7. had it coming
  8. had it down
  9. had it easy
  10. had it going on
  11. had it in for

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: had it both ways (page history and authors); have it both ways (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.

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