never-never
British Slang. hire-purchase system.
not real or true; imaginary or ideal; illusory: the never-never world of the cinema.
Origin of never-never
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use never-never in a sentence
And this never-never tepid retread of a Bush-era policy is, incredibly, the only actual policy on offer.
So, 43 times, and never—never—has an opposition party tried to do anything like this.
"Well, I never—never—" she exclaimed, as Isabel hastily marshalled her up the stair and into the house.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonHe had said of her, "She is kind and pitiful; but she would never love me—a broken-spirited man—never—never."
Katharine Frensham | Beatrice HarradenGive me—your hand, Deirdre—never—never thought I'd reach you—but I couldn't die—there—in the dark—down by the creek.
The Pioneers | Katharine Susannah Prichard
Doctor Gardiner may talk to you of love, but he will never—never speak to you of marriage.
Jolly Sally Pendleton | Laura Jean Libbey"I never meant to rob them—to rob any one, never—never—" His voice broke slightly on those words.
Flamsted quarries | Mary E. Waller
British Dictionary definitions for never-never
/ informal /
the hire-purchase system of buying
Australian remote desert country, as that of W Queensland and central Australia
imaginary; idyllic (esp in the phrase never-never land)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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