until the cows come home
"until-the-cows-come-home" is a 20-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“until the cows come home” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 24
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - For a very long period of time.
Corpus desk
Index EN-until-the-cows-come-home · until the cows come home · English
until the cows come home · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 24 letters
- VOW-8 8 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | until the cows come home |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 24 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “until the cows come home” in English
Rare enough to double-check
until the cows come home is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "For a very long period of time.".
until the cows come home doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly from the fact that cattle let out to pasture may be only expected to return for milking the next morning; thus, for example, a party that goes on “until the cows come home” is a very long one. Alternatively, the phrase may have a Scottish origin, a… The correct English form is until the cows come home, spelled U-N-T-I-L- -T-H-E- -C-O-W-S- -C-O-M-E- -H-O-M-E.
Definition
- 1For a very long period of time.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how until the cows come home appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You can crank the engine until the cows come home, but it won’t start without fuel.
Good Morrow, / Drinke tell the Cow come home, 'tis all pay'd boyes.
Etymology
Possibly from the fact that cattle let out to pasture may be only expected to return for milking the next morning; thus, for example, a party that goes on “until the cows come home” is a very long one. Alternatively, the phrase may have a Scottish origin, and may derive from the fact that cattle in the Highlands are put out to graze on the common where grass is plentiful. They stay out for months before scarcity of food causes them to find their way home in the autumn for feeding.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.