Word.ws English Dictionary

having it both ways

having it both ways is the present participle and gerund 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 having it both ways

What is having it both ways the present participle and gerund of?
Having it both ways is the present participle and gerund of have it both ways.

Words near having it both ways in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: having 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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