make a better door than a window

verb

To obstruct someone's view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbmake a better door than a window (third-person singular simple present makes a better door than a window, present participle making a better door than a window, simple past and past participle made a better door than a window)

present singular third person makes a better door than a window · participle present making a better door than a window · participle past made a better door than a window · past made a better door than a window

  1. idiomaticTo obstruct someone's view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness.

    “You're blocking the picture,” Maria says. . . . “You make a better door than a window.”

    1986, Tony Ardizzone, The Evening News, →ISBN, page 27
    2 more examples

    She griped fetchingly at a clot of news workers who blocked her view. "You make a better door than a window, kid," she told one reporter.

    1996 February 20, Francis X. Clines, “Judgments On Politics, Primaries, Pancakes”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Jul 2015

    An advertising poster on a transit shelter makes a better door than a window, when trying to spot oncoming traffic.

    2014 November 5, Jack Lakey, “Advertising poster blocks drivers' view”, in Toronto Star, Canada, retrieved 18 Jul 2015

Translations

French ton père n’est pas vitrier, t’es pas transparent
  • ton père n’est pas vitrierTranslations
  • t’es pas transparentTranslations
Portuguese não és transparente
  • não és transparenteTranslations
Spanish la carne de burro no es transparente, no eres hijo del cristalero
  • la carne de burro no es transparenteTranslations
  • no eres hijo del cristaleroTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

make a better door than a window. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20better%20door%20than%20a%20window

MLA

“make a better door than a window.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20better%20door%20than%20a%20window. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make a better door than a window,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20better%20door%20than%20a%20window.

Source: make a better door than a window on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.