Word.ws English Dictionary

make a better door than a window

make a better door than a window verb: to obstruct someone's view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness.

Verb

make a better door than a window (third-person singular simple present makes a better door than a window, present participle making a better door than a window, simple past and past participle made a better door than a window)

  1. (idiomatic) To obstruct someone's view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness.
    • “You're blocking the picture,” Maria says. . . . “You make a better door than a window.”1986, Tony Ardizzone, The Evening News, →ISBN, page 27
    • She griped fetchingly at a clot of news workers who blocked her view. "You make a better door than a window, kid," she told one reporter.1996 February 20, Francis X. Clines, “Judgments On Politics, Primaries, Pancakes”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Jul 2015

Forms of make a better door than a window

third-person singular presentmakes a better door than a window
present participlemaking a better door than a window
past participlemade a better door than a window
pastmade a better door than a window

Questions about make a better door than a window

What does make a better door than a window mean?
Make a better door than a window means to obstruct someone's view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness.
What part of speech is make a better door than a window?
Make a better door than a window is a verb.
What is the past tense of make a better door than a window?
The past tense of make a better door than a window is made a better door than a window.

Words near make a better door than a window in the dictionary

  1. Makawao
  2. Makayla
  3. Makdashau
  4. makdous
  5. make
  6. make a better door than a window
  7. make a big thing out of
  8. make a bolt for it
  9. make a book
  10. make a break for it
  11. make a career of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: make a better door than a window (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-make a better door than a window.ogg.

Cite this entry: “make a better door than a window.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/make_a_better_door_than_a_window. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.