Word.ws English Dictionary

knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground

knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground is the present participle and gerund of know one's ass from a hole in the ground.

Meaning of know one's ass from a hole in the ground

Verb

know one's ass from a hole in the ground (third-person singular simple present knows one's ass from a hole in the ground, present participle knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground, simple past knew one's ass from a hole in the ground, past participle known one's ass from a hole in the ground)

  1. (idiomatic, vulgar) To have an adequate level of knowledge or skill; to understand what one is doing or talking about.
    • "Why are you so sure and they aren't?" the landsman said. . . .
      "Because Mr. Ricimer knows his ass from a hole in the ground, sir."2004, David Drake, The Reaches, →ISBN

Questions about knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground

What is knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground the present participle and gerund of?
Knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground is the present participle and gerund of know one's ass from a hole in the ground.

Words near knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground in the dictionary

  1. knowing like the back of one's hand
  2. knowing no bounds
  3. knowing of
  4. knowing on what side one's bread is buttered
  5. knowing one's arse from one's elbow
  6. knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground
  7. knowing one's ass from one's elbow
  8. knowing one's head from a hole in the ground
  9. knowing one's head from one's ass
  10. knowing one's onions
  11. knowing one's own head

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground (page history and authors); know one's ass from a hole in the ground (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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Cite this entry: “knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knowing_one%27s_ass_from_a_hole_in_the_ground. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.