reap

reap a/the harvest of something

to receive the good or bad results of past actions. Homelessness is rising. We are reaping the harvest of a lack of investment in housing and social services.

reap the whirlwind (American)

to have serious problems because you did something stupid in the past. Having fired some of his best reporters, he's now reaping the whirlwind with rapidly declining newspaper sales.

You reap what you sow. (formal)

something that you say which means everything that happens to you is a result of your own actions. If you treat your friends like that, of course they drop you. You reap what you sow in this life.

See also: sow

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reap what you sow

to experience the results of your own actions. If we neglect our environment, we will surely reap what we sow.

Usage notes: usually used to say that something bad is likely to result from an activity

Etymology: from the idea that the quality of the seeds that you sow (= put into the ground) grow into the kind of plants that you are able to reap (= cut and collect)

See also: sow