burn fingers

burn your fingers

to suffer unpleasant results of an action, especially loss of money, so you are not keen to try the same thing again. Many investors burn their fingers when they are tempted by get-rich-quick schemes. Several art dealers got their fingers burned on old master paintings that later turned out to be fakes.

See also: burn, finger

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burn your fingers

to have a bad result from something, esp. to lose money. Many investors burned their fingers on those stocks. The museum has gotten burned on several paintings purchased recently that have turned out to be fakes.

See also: burn, finger