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Glite Dictionary
to put the toothpaste back in the tube

to put the toothpaste back in the tube

1 9.9
Try to make things the way they were after they changed
  • idiom
translation icon : no se puede deshacer
  • The company learned that they cannot put the toothpaste back in the tube after launching their flawed product.

Examples

  • And you really can't put the toothpaste back in the tube once you've given out millions and millions of dollars of grants for what is now a suspect result.

  • Once a decision is made, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube and change things.

  • After revealing the secret, he realized he couldn't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Synonyms

to put the genie back in the bottle
vsto put the toothpaste back in the tube
1 9.7

To try to undo something you cannot change

uses a different metaphorical image while keeping identical meaning

Antonyms

to make your bed and lie in it
  • Informal
7.0

To accept the bad results of your own choices

Surface Forms

put the toothpaste back in the tube infinitive

Morphology

put + the + toothpaste + back + in + the + tube

A learner who knows the words can easily grasp the literal image (once toothpaste is squeezed out you cannot put it back), which sketches the idea of an irreversible action. However, mapping that concrete image onto the abstract meaning ‘attempting to undo something irreversible’ requires metaphorical inference and familiarity with the idiomatic use, so it is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Put the toothpaste back in the tube comes from a simple picture: when you squeeze a toothpaste tube, you cannot put all the paste back into the tube. That's why the phrase means trying to 'undo what has been done' or 'take something back' when it is too late.