Eat your words

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Meaning

To retract a bold claim or boast, swallowing it back.

Origin

From 16th-century England, tied to biblical 'eat your own words' (Job 13: 9), slang by 1571 in a play for retracting. A 1650s pamphlet uses it for a braggart's flop.

Variants

  • Eat the words

Usage Examples

  • He ate his words when she won the race.
  • You'll eat your words saying I can't cook!
  • She ate her words after the test scores came.

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