Word.ws English Dictionary

the world is someone's oyster

UK/ðə ˈwɜːld‿ɪz ˌsʌmwʌnz ˈɔɪstə//ðə ˈwɜɹld‿ɪz ˌsʌmwʌnz ˈɔɪstəɹ/

the world is someone's oyster proverb: all opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.

Proverb

the world is someone's oyster

  1. All opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.
    • Fal[staff]. I vvill not lend thee a penny. / Piſt[ol]. VVhy then the vvorld's mine Oyſter, vvhich I, vvith ſvvord vvill open.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]...
    • But his wants were not at first great; and though his ambition was perhaps high, it was not of an impatient nature. The world was his oyster; but, circumstanced as he was, he knew it was not for him to open it with his lancet all at once.1858, Anthony Trollope, “Dr. Thorne”, in Doctor Thorne. […], volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 58

Origin of the world is someone's oyster

From the version of the play The Merry Wives of Windsor published in the First Folio (1623) of the works of the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616): see the quotation. The original context was that Ancient Pistol would use force to obtain a loan from Sir John Falstaff, like prising open an oyster with a sword to obtain a pearl.

Words formed from the world is someone's oyster

Words that rhyme with the world is someone's oyster

Questions about the world is someone's oyster

What does the world is someone's oyster mean?
The world is someone's oyster means all opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.
What part of speech is the world is someone's oyster?
The world is someone's oyster is a proverb.
How do you pronounce the world is someone's oyster?
The world is someone's oyster is pronounced /ðə ˈwɜːld‿ɪz ˌsʌmwʌnz ˈɔɪstə/ (UK).

Words near the world is someone's oyster in the dictionary

  1. the wolf is at the door
  2. the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature
  3. the word is go
  4. the world and his wife
  5. the world is one's lobster
  6. the world is someone's oyster
  7. the world is too much with someone
  8. the world kept spinning
  9. the world over
  10. the world owes one a living
  11. the writing is on the wall

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the world is someone's oyster (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-us-the world is someone's oyster.oga.

Cite this entry: “the world is someone's oyster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_world_is_someone%27s_oyster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.