to dig one's own grave
- idiom
- Informal
- You're digging your own grave.
- you've just dug your own grave
Examples
-
By refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes, he is digging his own grave.
-
He'll dig his own grave.
-
Choose the wrong one, you can start digging your own grave.
-
You just dug your own grave.
-
You dug your own grave.
-
You're digging your own grave right now...
-
If you don't fit into their plans, you've already dug your own grave.
-
If you keep ignoring the warnings, you are digging your own grave.
-
Every dishonest act you commit is just digging your own grave deeper.
Synonyms
41
6.7
To ruin your own life or job by your actions
4
7.5
Cause trouble for yourself by your actions, often by accident
1
8.4
To cause a machine or person to stop working by their own action
1
9.1
To take actions that seem good but cause bad results
1
8.4
Do or say something that harms your own chances
To cause problems for yourself because of your actions
Do something that causes trouble for yourself later
Acting in a way that harms you because you trust your own wrong ideas
Antonyms
How Harmful
78
4.6
- Informal
- Informal
128
3.2
17
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The image of 'dig' + 'one's own' + 'grave' evokes the idea of causing one’s own burial, so a learner who knows the words will likely infer self-inflicted harm or downfall. However, the expression is a metaphorical extension (not literal) and the precise idiomatic nuance — causing one’s failure or downfall rather than literal death — is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partly transparent.
Etymology
The idiom dig one's own grave creates a clear image of someone with a shovel actually digging their grave, so they cause their own end. That's why the phrase means 'to do something that causes your own failure or downfall'.