to bite the hand that feeds
6
6.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
morder la mano que te da de comer
- He learned the hard way that you should never bite the hand that feeds you.
- bite the hand that feeds you," he said
- want to bite the hand that feeds
- going to bite the hand that feeds
And how do you grow an economy when you're biting the hand that feeds you?
- And how do you grow an economy when you're biting the hand that feeds you?
- Which parent companies own us all right now, And am I unwittingly biting the hand that feeds me?
Examples
-
The very first thing the new beneficiaries did was to bite the hand that fed them.
Academic text (1995) -
It's not nice to bite the hand that feeds you.
Fiction book (2001) -
But they should have told you to never, ever bite the hand that feeds you.
-
Do not bite the hand that feeds you, Martin.
-
Can we ever expect them to bite the hand that feeds them?
Blog text (13) -
Even animals do not bite the hand that feeds in most cases.
Blog text (1) -
How dare you bite the hand that feeds you?
-
It's a matter of not biting the hand that feeds you.
-
You don't bite the hand that feeds you.
-
It's very rude and disrespectful to bite the hand that feeds you.
Synonyms
Help or trust someone who later harms you
Antonyms
How Ungrateful
397
4.2
77
3.8
- Informal
6
6.7
701
3.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
bite + the + hand + that + feed
The literal words ('bite' + 'the hand that feeds') create a clear image of harming someone who provides sustenance, so a learner who knows the constituents can often infer the intended sense. However the mapping is metaphorical (hand = helper/supporter; feed = provide for) and somewhat idiomatic—relying on this figurative reading or cross‑linguistic proverb familiarity—so it is not fully compositional.
Etymology
Bite the hand that feeds may come from the clear image of an animal that bites the very hand that feeds it when a person gives it food. That's why the phrase means 'to harm or act against someone who is helping or supporting you'.