somewhere over the rainbow

English

Etymology

Popularized from the song Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland, written by Harold Arlen (music) and E. Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the film The Wizard of Oz

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adverb

somewhere over the rainbow (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) In an unknown, hypothetical, or very distant place.
   • 1996, Ann DuCille, Skin Trade:

     Perhaps somewhere over the rainbow there is a land where equality and justice are colorblind, where no one is the other, where no one by virtue of race, gender, or sexual orientation is an outcast or an anomaly.

   • 1939, Judy Garland, Over the Rainbow:

     Somewhere over the rainbow
     Way up high,
     There's a land that I heard of
     Once in a lullaby