swine
(redirected from swines)Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia.
Related to swines: boar
cast (one's) pearls before swine
To present something valuable to one who does not recognize its worth. The phrase originated in the Bible. Most of the time, playing classical music for high schoolers is like casting your pearls before swine. But every so often a few kids appreciate it. I can't believe he gave his brand-new convertible to that bumpkin—talk about casting your pearls before swine.
pearls before swine
Something valuable presented to one who does not or will not recognize its worth. The phrase originated in the Bible. Most of the time, playing classical music for high schoolers is like casting your pearls before swine. But every so often a few kids appreciate it. I can't believe he gave his brand-new convertible to that bumpkin—talk about casting your pearls before swine.
cast (one's) pearls before swine
Fig. to waste something good on someone who doesn't care about it. (From a biblical quotation.) To sing for them is to cast pearls before swine. To serve them French cuisine is like casting one's pearls before swine.
cast pearls before swine
Give something of value of someone who won't appreciate it, as in The old professor felt that lecturing on Dante to unruly undergraduates would be casting pearls before swine . This term comes from the New Testament (Matthew 7:6), appearing in Tyndale's translation (1526). It was repeated often by writers from Shakespeare to Dickens and remains current.
cast pearls before swine
LITERARYIf you cast pearls before swine, you offer something valuable to someone who is not good enough or clever enough to appreciate it. He has written many fine pieces on the subject, although one suspects he is casting pearls before swine. Note: Verbs such as throw and toss are sometimes used instead of cast. He should know better than to throw pearls before swine. Note: You can also call something good that is not appreciated pearls before swine. The Musical Times, she tells me, is written for those with a genuine understanding of the finer points. I certainly hope so, or else my piece on Rossini will be pearls before swine. Note: This expression comes from the Bible, from the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus is giving His followers advice on how they should live: `Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.' (Matthew 7:6)
cast (or throw) pearls before swine
give or offer valuable things to people who do not appreciate them.This expression is a quotation from Matthew 7:6: ‘Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you’.
cast ˌpearls before ˈswine
(saying) give or offer valuable things to people who do not understand their value: She decided not to buy the most expensive wine for dinner, thinking that would be casting pearls before swine.This expression comes from the Bible. Swine are pigs.cast pearls before swine, to
To offer something of value to those who cannot or will not appreciate it. The saying comes from Jesus’ teachings as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew (7:6): “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet.” It was a well-known saying by Shakespeare’s time (“Pearl enough for a swine,” Love’s Labour’s Lost, 4.2) and a cliché long before Dickens wrote, “Oh, I do a thankless thing, and cast pearls before swine!” (Dombey and Son, 1848).
pearls before swine
Wasting something that is not appreciated. In Matthew 7:6, Jesus warned his followers not to waste time by throwing pearls of wisdom before ungodly swine. When writers Claire Booth Luce and Dorothy Parker simultaneously arrived at a door, Luce stepped back to allow Parker to precede her by saying with a smile, “Age before beauty.” As she walked through the door, Parker replied, “And pearls before swine.”