(one's) chickens come home to roost
One's previous actions will eventually have consequences or cause problems for oneself. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem sooner or later. I guess my chickens came home to roost. I'd be careful before making any rash decisions if I were you. Your chickens will come home to roost eventually. You can keep training and ignoring the pain in your knee, sure, but your chickens will come home to roost eventually.
chickens come home to roost
proverb One's previous actions will eventually have consequences or cause problems for oneself. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem eventually. Chickens always come home to roost. I'd be careful before making any rash decisions—you know that chickens come home to roost. You can keep training and ignoring the pain in your knee, sure, but just remember—chickens come home to roost eventually.
cock of the roost
An arrogant, conceited, or overly proud person, typically a man. He struts around campus like he's the cock of the roost, all because his dad is some politician. Don't invite Joe to lunch unless you want to hear him brag about all the important things he's doing in his new job. He's just the cock of the roost lately. You're not going to make many friends at your new school if you walk around like the cock of the roost.
come home to roost
1. Literally, of chickens and other such birds, to return to an established place of shelter. Put out some feed because the chickens will come home to roost. Have the chickens come home to roost in their coop yet? Go check on the chickens and make sure they've come home to roost.
2. To cause problems or have consequences as a result of previous actions. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem eventually—stuff like that always comes home to roost. I'd be careful before making any rash decisions because they always come home to roost. You can keep training and ignoring the pain in your knee, sure, but injuries do eventually come home to roost.
curses, like chickens, come home to roost
proverb
1. Bad things might happen to you if you wish for bad things to happen to others. I know you're angry, but I'd be careful before you lash out at her—you know that curses, like chickens, come home to roost. A: "But that jerk cheated on me! I hope all of his future relationships fail!" B: "Just keep in mind that curses, like chickens, come home to roost." A: "Listen here, bub—cross me like that again, and I'll curse the day you were born, got it?" B: "I'm not worried—curses, like chickens, come home to roost."
2. One's previous misdeeds will eventually have consequences or cause problems for them. You may not be bothered keeping up with the coursework now, but you'll regret it when the final exam comes around. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. Of course Al doesn't trust you after what you did! Curses, like chickens, come home to roost, my friend. Sure, you can keep lying to your boss, but keep in mind that curses, like chickens, come home to roost.
go to roost
To go to sleep for the night. I'm exhausted after our 10-mile hike—time to go to roost. It's only 7 PM and you're going to roost already? I don't want to go to roost this early, but I have to leave for the airport by 3 AM!
rule the roost
To be the real boss; to be the person in charge. You just need to accept that your daughter is going to rule the roost for most of her childhood. For all intents and purposes, it's the assistant manager who rules the roost.
the chickens are coming home to roost
proverb One's previous actions are about to have consequences or cause problems for oneself. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem eventually. I guess the chickens are coming home to roost. The CEOs reckless investments were always a danger to the company, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
the highest branch is not the safest roost
proverb Because a position of power is widely coveted, it does not guarantee safety to the holder. Why do you think so many prominent people have been assassinated? The highest branch is not the safest roost. I know you want to be president one day, but honey, the highest branch is not the safest roost.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
chickens come home to roost
Prov. You have to face the consequences of your mistakes or bad deeds. Jill: Emily found out that I said she was incompetent, and now she won't recommend me for that job. Jane: The chickens have come home to roost, I see.
rule the roost
Fig. to be the boss or manager, especially at home. Who rules the roost at your house? Our new office manager really rules the roost.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
chickens come home to roost
The consequences of doing wrong always catch up with the wrongdoer, as in Now that you're finally admitting your true age, no one believes you-chickens come home to roost . The fact that chickens usually come home to rest and sleep has long been known, but the idea was used figuratively only in 1809, when Robert Southey wrote, "Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost" ( The Curse of Kehama).
rule the roost
Be in charge, boss others, as in
In our division the chairman's son rules the roost. This expression originated in the 15th century as
rule the roast, which was either a corruption of
rooster or alluded to the person who was in charge of the roast and thus ran the kitchen. In the barnyard a rooster decides which hen should roost near him. Both interpretations persisted for 200 years. Thomas Heywood (c. 1630) put it as "Her that ruled the roast in the kitchen," but Shakespeare had it in
2 Henry VI (1:1): "The new-made duke that rules the roast," which is more ambiguous. In the mid-1700s
roost began to compete with
roast, and in the 1900s
roost displaced
roast altogether. Also see
run the show.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
come home to roost
COMMON If something bad that someone did comes home to roost, it now causes problems for them. You ought to have known that your lies would come home to roost in the end. Mr Cardoso's failures as a minister have finally come home to roost. Note: You can also say the chickens come home to roost, with the same meaning. Politicians can fool some people some of the time, but in the end, the chickens will come home to roost. Note: This expression is taken from the poem `The Curse of Kehama' by the English poet Robert Southey: `Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.'
rule the roost
COMMON
1. If someone rules the roost, they are the most powerful and important person in a group. In Germany, scientists will be found at the top of many manufacturing companies; in Britain, accountants rule the roost. Unfortunately he's a weak manager who lets the players rule the roost when he's meant to be in charge.
2. If something rules the roost it is more powerful or popular than the things that it is being compared to. Today, the cartels still rule the roost and the authorities seem as impotent as ever. Note: This expression seems to refer to the dominant cock in a chicken coop. However, `rule the roost' may have developed from the earlier expression `rule the roast', which refers to the head of the household who carves and serves the meat.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
chickens come home to roost
your past mistakes or wrongdoings will eventually be the cause of present troubles. This phrase comes from the proverb curses, like chickens, come home to roost .
1997 Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things He knew, had known, that one day History's twisted chickens would come home to roost.
rule the roost
be in complete control. The original expression was rule the roast , which was common from the mid 16th century onwards. Although none of the early examples of its use shed any light on its source, we can surmise that it originally referred to someone being the most important person at a banquet or feast. Rule the roost, found from the mid 18th century, has now replaced the earlier version.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
(your/the) chickens come home to ˈroost
after a long time you experience the unpleasant effects of something bad or stupid that you have done in the past: For years he avoided paying tax. But now his chickens have come home to roost and he’s got a tax bill of $25 000. Roost is used about birds and means ‘to rest or go to sleep somewhere’.
rule the ˈroost
(informal) be the person who controls a group, family, community, etc: It is a family firm, where the owner’s mother rules the roost.A roost is a place where birds sleep.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
come home to roost
To have repercussions or aftereffects, especially unfavorable ones: The consequences of your mistake will eventually come home to roost.
rule the roost
Informal To be in charge; dominate: In this house my parents rule the roost.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
chickens come home to roost, one's
One’s sins or mistakes always catch up with one. The idea of retribution is, of course, very old, recorded in ancient Greek and Roman writings. Virgil’s Aeneid, for example, has it, “Now do thy sinful deeds come home to thee.” This particular turn of phrase, however, appears to have been invented by the English poet Robert Southey, who wrote it as a motto in The Curse of Kehama (1809): “Curses are like young chickens; they always come home to roost.”
rule the roost, to
To be the boss. This term originated as rule the roast in the fifteenth century. Possibly it even then referred to the rooster, who decides which hen should roost near him. On the other hand, Thomas Heywood, in his History of Women (ca. 1630), stated, “Her that ruled the roast in the kitchen,” so perhaps it did mean whoever held sway over the kitchen, the heart of a household. Shakespeare used it more broadly, however. In Henry VI, Part 2 (1.1) he refers to “the new-made duke that rules the roast.” In any event, it has been used for bossing anything from a family to an entire nation.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer