a taste of (one's) own medicine

a taste of (one's) own medicine

An experience of the same harmful or unpleasant thing that one has inflicted on others; an attack in the same manner in which one attacks others. Doug is a bully—of course he won't like it when his victims fight back and give him a taste of his own medicine. This team likes to play rough, so let's go out there and give them a taste of their own medicine! The coup gave the dictatorship a dose of its own medicine, subjecting the dictator and his entourage to torture and confinement in deplorable conditions.

See also: medicine, of, own, taste

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*a taste of one's own medicine

 and *a dose of one's own medicine

Fig. a sample of the unpleasantness that one has been giving other people. (Typically: get ~; have ~; give someone ~.) Now you see how it feels to have someone call you names! You are getting a taste of your own medicine! John, who is often rude and abrupt with people, was devastated when the teacher treated him rudely. He doesn't like having a dose of his own medicine.

See also: medicine, of, own, taste

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

own medicine, a dose/taste of one's

Repayment in kind; tit for tat. Although the idea is hardly new, the medicinal metaphor dates only from the late nineteenth century. V. Perdue used it in The Singing Clock (1941): “It was only fair for them to get a taste of their own medicine.”

See also: dose, of, own, taste

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer