Word.ws English Dictionary

until the cows freeze over

until the cows freeze over phrase: for a very long period of time.

Phrase

until the cows freeze over

  1. (humorous, idiomatic) For a very long period of time.

Origin of until the cows freeze over

Mixed metaphor combining until the cows come home + when hell freezes over.

Questions about until the cows freeze over

What does until the cows freeze over mean?
Until the cows freeze over means for a very long period of time.
What part of speech is until the cows freeze over?
Until the cows freeze over is a phrase.

Words near until the cows freeze over in the dictionary

  1. until one's dying day
  2. until proven otherwise
  3. until such time as
  4. until the cows come
  5. until the cows come home
  6. until the cows freeze over
  7. until the last dog is hung
  8. until the pips squeak
  9. until the wheels fall off
  10. until we meet again
  11. untile

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: until the cows freeze over (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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