"square peg in a round hole" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the fact that a square peg fits poorly in a round hole.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "square pegs in round holes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "square pegs in round holes"
      },
      "expansion": "square peg in a round hole (plural square pegs in round holes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[1985 July 9, Eugene Gressman, witness, “Statement of a Panel, including: Elliot H. Levitas, Esq., Kilpatrick & Cody, Washington, DC; Stuart E. Eizenstat, Esq., Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, Washington, DC; Stan M. Brand, Esq., Brand & Lowell, Washington, DC; and Eugene Gressman, Professor of Constitutional Law, School of Law, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill”, in Rulemaking Procedures Reform Act of 1985: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session on S. 1145: A Bill to Increase the Accountability of, Policy Coordination by, and Management of Priorities by Agencies through an Improved Mechanism for Congressional Oversight of the Rules of Agencies […] (Serial J-99-38), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 77",
          "text": "It is almost as if you have guidelines for putting a square peg into a square hole, but we are trying to apply those same guidelines to put a square peg into a round hole.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[2005, Gini Graham Scott, “Dealing with Danger”, in A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell, New York, N.Y.: AMACOM, American Management Association, part V (Ethical Challenges), page 153",
          "text": "As they say, you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. If your boss is like that round hole and you are that square peg, you aren't going to fit in unless you re-shape your edges. If you can't do that, then look for that square hole where you will fit.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force."
      ],
      "id": "en-square_peg_in_a_round_hole-en-noun-sZ-PPk8Y",
      "links": [
        [
          "fit",
          "fit#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "setting",
          "setting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "misfit",
          "misfit#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "succeed",
          "succeed"
        ],
        [
          "endeavour",
          "endeavor#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "possibly",
          "possibly"
        ],
        [
          "effort",
          "effort#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "english": "semantic overlap regarding a difficult problem",
          "word": "square the circle"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "like a fish out of water"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "word": "牛頭唔搭馬嘴"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "note": "牛头唔搭马嘴 (ngau⁴ tau⁴ m⁴ daap³ maa⁵ zeoi², literally “a cow’s head doesn’t fit with a horse’s mouth”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ]
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "word": "方枘圓鑿"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "方枘圆凿 (fāngruìyuánzuò, literally “a square handle on a round chisel”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "格格不入 (gégébùrù, literally “unable to enter the squares”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "word": "六不答對"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "六不答对 (liùbùdáduì, literally “six not answering correctly”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "Yangzhou"
          ]
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "word": "驢脣不對馬嘴"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "驴唇不对马嘴 (lǘchún bù duì mǎzuǐ, literally “a donkey’s lips don’t fit with a horse’s mouth”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ]
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "note": "ри́ба на́ суво (ríba ná suvo, literally “fish on land”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "как коро́ве седло́ (kak koróve sedló, literally “like a saddle [would fit/for] a cow”)",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ]
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "dam başında saksağan vur beline kazmayı"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "bizim köpek sizin eve baltayı getirdimi"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
          "word": "râu ông nọ cắm cằm bà kia"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛə ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhəʊl/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛː-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛəɹ ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhoʊl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-əʊl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-square peg in a round hole.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "square peg in a round hole"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the fact that a square peg fits poorly in a round hole.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "square pegs in round holes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "square pegs in round holes"
      },
      "expansion": "square peg in a round hole (plural square pegs in round holes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "english": "semantic overlap regarding a difficult problem",
      "word": "square the circle"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Requests for review of Japanese translations",
        "Rhymes:English/əʊl",
        "Rhymes:English/əʊl/6 syllables"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[1985 July 9, Eugene Gressman, witness, “Statement of a Panel, including: Elliot H. Levitas, Esq., Kilpatrick & Cody, Washington, DC; Stuart E. Eizenstat, Esq., Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, Washington, DC; Stan M. Brand, Esq., Brand & Lowell, Washington, DC; and Eugene Gressman, Professor of Constitutional Law, School of Law, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill”, in Rulemaking Procedures Reform Act of 1985: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session on S. 1145: A Bill to Increase the Accountability of, Policy Coordination by, and Management of Priorities by Agencies through an Improved Mechanism for Congressional Oversight of the Rules of Agencies […] (Serial J-99-38), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 77",
          "text": "It is almost as if you have guidelines for putting a square peg into a square hole, but we are trying to apply those same guidelines to put a square peg into a round hole.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "[2005, Gini Graham Scott, “Dealing with Danger”, in A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell, New York, N.Y.: AMACOM, American Management Association, part V (Ethical Challenges), page 153",
          "text": "As they say, you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. If your boss is like that round hole and you are that square peg, you aren't going to fit in unless you re-shape your edges. If you can't do that, then look for that square hole where you will fit.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fit",
          "fit#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "setting",
          "setting#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "misfit",
          "misfit#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "succeed",
          "succeed"
        ],
        [
          "endeavour",
          "endeavor#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "possibly",
          "possibly"
        ],
        [
          "effort",
          "effort#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "force",
          "force#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "like a fish out of water"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛə ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhəʊl/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛː-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/skwɛəɹ ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhoʊl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-əʊl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-square peg in a round hole.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/11/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/En-au-square_peg_in_a_round_hole.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "word": "牛頭唔搭馬嘴"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "note": "牛头唔搭马嘴 (ngau⁴ tau⁴ m⁴ daap³ maa⁵ zeoi², literally “a cow’s head doesn’t fit with a horse’s mouth”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "word": "方枘圓鑿"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "方枘圆凿 (fāngruìyuánzuò, literally “a square handle on a round chisel”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "格格不入 (gégébùrù, literally “unable to enter the squares”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "word": "六不答對"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "六不答对 (liùbùdáduì, literally “six not answering correctly”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "Yangzhou"
      ]
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "word": "驢脣不對馬嘴"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "驴唇不对马嘴 (lǘchún bù duì mǎzuǐ, literally “a donkey’s lips don’t fit with a horse’s mouth”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "note": "ри́ба на́ суво (ríba ná suvo, literally “fish on land”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "как коро́ве седло́ (kak koróve sedló, literally “like a saddle [would fit/for] a cow”)",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "dam başında saksağan vur beline kazmayı"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "word": "bizim köpek sizin eve baltayı getirdimi"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting",
      "word": "râu ông nọ cắm cằm bà kia"
    }
  ],
  "word": "square peg in a round hole"
}