Word.ws English Dictionary

measure the drapes

measure the drapes verb: to make premature or unwarranted preparations for victory, especially election to public office.

Verb

measure the drapes (third-person singular simple present measures the drapes, present participle measuring the drapes, simple past and past participle measured the drapes)

  1. (idiomatic) To make premature or unwarranted preparations for victory, especially election to public office.
    • While Republicans like Gov. Michael Castle of Delaware exulted that "I think Bush can start measuring the curtains for the White House," the mood among Democrats was somber.1988 October 15, New York Times
    Synonyms:
    measure the curtains

Synonyms of measure the drapes

  • measure the curtains

Forms of measure the drapes

third-person singular presentmeasures the drapes
present participlemeasuring the drapes
past participlemeasured the drapes
pastmeasured the drapes

Origin of measure the drapes

After the election of a new President of the United States, the decor of the White House is changed to reflect the taste of the new administration. Historically the task has been left to the First Lady, the wife of the President. During the 1940 campaign for President, Senator Robert Taft of Ohio sought the Republican Party nomination. His wife, Martha Taft, gave an interview to the Evening Independent of St. Petersburg, Florida, in which she expressed certainty of his victory: * 1940 February 19, Evening Independent, page 11: Martha Taft is sure that "Bob is going to get it." She is ready to answer questions in regular stump style, though she refuses to say whether she will change the drawing-room drapes in the White House. Since Taft won neither the general election nor his party's nomination, the idea of "measuring the drapes" for installation in the White House became a metaphor for premature preparation for victory, or over-confidence.

Questions about measure the drapes

What does measure the drapes mean?
Measure the drapes means to make premature or unwarranted preparations for victory, especially election to public office.
What part of speech is measure the drapes?
Measure the drapes is a verb.
What is the past tense of measure the drapes?
The past tense of measure the drapes is measured the drapes.

Words near measure the drapes in the dictionary

  1. measure stick
  2. measure sticks
  3. measure strength
  4. measure swords
  5. measure swords with
  6. measure the drapes
  7. measure theories
  8. measure theory
  9. measure twice and cut once
  10. measure twice, cut once
  11. measure up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: measure the drapes (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-measure the drapes.ogg.

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