never-never land

never-never land

noun
1.
an unreal, imaginary, or ideal state, condition, place, etc.
2.
any remote, isolated, barren, or sparsely settled region.
Also called neverland, never-never.


Origin:
1875–85 for def. 2; reduplication of never
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To never-never land

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Never-never land is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Never-Never Land definition


Originally called Neverland, the home of the title character in the story Peter Pan; a place where children never grow up.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

never-never land

A fantasy land, an imaginary place, as in I don't know what's gotten into Margeshe's way off in never-never land. This expression gained currency when James Barrie used it in Peter Pan (1904) for the place where Peter and the Lost Boys live. However, in the second half of the 1800s Australians already were using it for vast unsettled areas of their continent (the outback), and there the term became popular through Mrs. Aeneas Gunn's We of the Never Never (1908). In Australia it still refers to northwest Queensland or northern Australia in general. Elsewhere it simply signifies a fantasy or daydream.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT