Word.ws English Dictionary

say when

say when verb: an imperative form used to request that the interlocutor indicate when one should stop doing something, esp. pouring a drink, because one has reached a sufficient amount.

Verb

say when (third-person singular simple present says when, present participle saying when, simple past and past participle said when)

  1. (idiomatic) An imperative form used to request that the interlocutor indicate when one should stop doing something, esp. pouring a drink, because one has reached a sufficient amount.
    • Say when! ― When! Thanks.
    • The publican placed a whisky bottle and three glasses on the ledge and Grierson poured, with the courtesy of, "Say when," to the trooper, who was forced to exclaim, "Hold on!" in protest at a tumbler three-quarters full of whisky.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 161

Forms of say when

third-person singular presentsays when
present participlesaying when
past participlesaid when
pastsaid when

Questions about say when

What does say when mean?
Say when means an imperative form used to request that the interlocutor indicate when one should stop doing something, esp. pouring a drink, because one has reached a sufficient amount.
What part of speech is say when?
Say when is a verb.
What is the past tense of say when?
The past tense of say when is said when.

Words near say when in the dictionary

  1. say wha
  2. say what
  3. say what you like
  4. say what you want
  5. say what you will
  6. say when
  7. say word one
  8. say yes
  9. say you swear
  10. Say's law
  11. Say's phoebe

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: say when (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-say when.ogg.

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