Word.ws English Dictionary

take out an onion

take out an onion verb: suggests that the performer of the action is not sincere in their grief.

Verb

take out an onion (third-person singular simple present takes out an onion, present participle taking out an onion, simple past took out an onion, past participle taken out an onion)

  1. (idiomatic) Suggests that the performer of the action is not sincere in their grief.
    • He’s almost taking out an onion now as he remembers his father and his own early struggles.2010 August 6, Jonathan Wheatley, “Brazil’s TV debate: ports, rates and Lula’s shadow”, in The Financial Times
    • "I don't want the next generation to misunderstand history" Mr Chea told a packed court, no doubt taking out an onion as he did so. "I don't want them to believe the Khmer Rouge were bad people, war criminals."2011 December 11, DJ Taylor, “Clichés - We're all in them together”, in The Independent

Forms of take out an onion

third-person singular presenttakes out an onion
present participletaking out an onion
pasttook out an onion
past participletaken out an onion

Origin of take out an onion

The vapours from sliced onions cause tears, allowing someone to pretend to cry. Coined by Private Eye and used as a mock stage description, originally to describe Harold MacMillan.

Questions about take out an onion

What does take out an onion mean?
Take out an onion means suggests that the performer of the action is not sincere in their grief.
What part of speech is take out an onion?
Take out an onion is a verb.
What is the past tense of take out an onion?
The past tense of take out an onion is took out an onion.

Words near take out an onion in the dictionary

  1. take oneself up by one's own ears
  2. take or pay
  3. take or pays
  4. take orders
  5. take out
  6. take out an onion
  7. take out in trade
  8. take out of context
  9. take out the stops
  10. take out the trash
  11. take over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take out an onion (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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