to look before you leap
2
5.9
- idiom
:
piensa antes de actuar
- "Look before you leap" and "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" might well be their credos.
- look before you leap next time
We said look, the phrase says look before you leap.
- We said look, the phrase says look before you leap.
Examples
-
We've all heard the phrase: "Look before you leap."
Blog text (11) -
Look before you leap and tear out stuff that can never be replaced.
Blog text (3) -
Maybe you ought to look before you leap, huh?
-
Next time, look before you leap.
Fiction book (1990) -
Does your mate ever look before he leaps?
-
Look before you leap; he who hesitates is lost.
Fiction book (1991) -
'Look before you leap.'
Blog text (1) -
Look Before You Leap
Blog text (26) -
From that time on, he looked before he leaped, and this mom couldn't be prouder.
Blog text (12) -
You should look before you leap and consider the consequences of your actions.
Synonyms
107
3.6
Carefully consider something before you act to avoid a mistake
105
3.2
To look at all the details and what may happen before you decide
42
3.4
Choose a careful option to avoid risks
8
3.8
Think carefully about different choices before you decide
2
3.6
To consider what might happen before you do something
Antonyms
How Careful
42
3.4
979
1.0
2
5.9
- Informal
107
3.6
38
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The proverb's meaning is directly derivable from its parts: 'look' (examine/observe) + 'before' (prior to) + 'leap' (jump/act), so a learner who knows the words can infer 'check/examine first, then act'. Although idiomatic as a proverb, the compositional relation and cross-linguistic equivalents make the cautionary sense easily predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The saying look before you leap paints a clear picture: someone about to jump who first turns to look to check the ground before they leap. So, it now means 'think carefully about risks before you act'.