"throw things at the wall and see what sticks" meaning in English

See throw things at the wall and see what sticks in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: throws things at the wall and sees what sticks [present, singular, third-person], throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks [participle, present], threw things at the wall and saw what stuck [past], thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck [participle, past], throw everything at the wall and see what sticks [alternative]
Etymology: From the proverb throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. Head templates: {{en-verb|throw<,,threw,thrown> things at the wall and see<,,saw,seen> what sticks<sticks,sticks,stuck,has stuck>}} throw things at the wall and see what sticks (third-person singular simple present throws things at the wall and sees what sticks, present participle throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, simple past threw things at the wall and saw what stuck, past participle thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck)
  1. (informal, idiomatic) To experiment in a haphazard or random manner with the hope that some amount of success may be achieved. Tags: idiomatic, informal Synonyms: throw spaghetti at the wall Related terms: what sticks
    Sense id: en-throw_things_at_the_wall_and_see_what_sticks-en-verb-jrPzFi8b Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "throws things at the wall and sees what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threw things at the wall and saw what stuck",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "throw<,,threw,thrown> things at the wall and see<,,saw,seen> what sticks<sticks,sticks,stuck,has stuck>"
      },
      "expansion": "throw things at the wall and see what sticks (third-person singular simple present throws things at the wall and sees what sticks, present participle throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, simple past threw things at the wall and saw what stuck, past participle thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To experiment in a haphazard or random manner with the hope that some amount of success may be achieved."
      ],
      "id": "en-throw_things_at_the_wall_and_see_what_sticks-en-verb-jrPzFi8b",
      "links": [
        [
          "experiment",
          "experiment"
        ],
        [
          "haphazard",
          "haphazard"
        ],
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ],
        [
          "amount",
          "amount"
        ],
        [
          "success",
          "success"
        ],
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, idiomatic) To experiment in a haphazard or random manner with the hope that some amount of success may be achieved."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "what sticks"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "throw spaghetti at the wall"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "throw things at the wall and see what sticks"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "throws things at the wall and sees what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "threw things at the wall and saw what stuck",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "throw<,,threw,thrown> things at the wall and see<,,saw,seen> what sticks<sticks,sticks,stuck,has stuck>"
      },
      "expansion": "throw things at the wall and see what sticks (third-person singular simple present throws things at the wall and sees what sticks, present participle throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks, simple past threw things at the wall and saw what stuck, past participle thrown things at the wall and seen what has stuck)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "what sticks"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To experiment in a haphazard or random manner with the hope that some amount of success may be achieved."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "experiment",
          "experiment"
        ],
        [
          "haphazard",
          "haphazard"
        ],
        [
          "random",
          "random"
        ],
        [
          "amount",
          "amount"
        ],
        [
          "success",
          "success"
        ],
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, idiomatic) To experiment in a haphazard or random manner with the hope that some amount of success may be achieved."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "throw spaghetti at the wall"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "throw things at the wall and see what sticks"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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