Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to lick one's wounds

to lick one's wounds

2 7.0
To rest and feel better after a loss or disappointment
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : recuperarse
  • Cotton, I think I'm just going to go to bed and lick my wounds.
  • still licking his wounds
  • go to lick her wounds
  • came home to lick her wounds

Examples

  • I think you should go out on the town and lick your wounds.

    Child of Satan (2018)

  • After losing the game, the team took a few days to lick their wounds and regroup.

  • Give them time to lick their wounds.

    Men of War (1994)

  • Retreat and lick my wounds in private.

    Boy Culture (2006)

  • 'His gang split up and fled west to lick their wounds.

    Dillinger (1973)

  • I don't need a place to go and lick my wounds.

    The Break-Up (2006)

  • The remainder of the school year after she dropped out was spent licking her wounds and recovering her center.

    Blog text (13)

  • She was licking her wounds.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Stop licking your wounds and get your butt in here for one last night-cap before you turn in.

    Blue Seduction (2009)

  • Frost smiles and exits, leaving the old vampire to lick his wounds.

    Fiction book (1998)

Synonyms

to pull oneself together
vsto lick one's wounds
  • Informal
81 5.1

Get control of your feelings and calm down after being upset

takes longer needing time to recover after emotional defeat or disappointment
to self-heal
vsto lick one's wounds
1 4.4

To get better without help from doctors

focuses on emotional recovery after defeat and requires time rather than quick control

Antonyms

to move on
670 3.1

To start the next stage or activity and stop focusing on the past

How Recovered

to move on
670 3.1
to recover
748 2.5
to lick one's wounds
  • Informal
2 7.0
upset
∞ 1.0
to sulk
42 3.5

Surface Forms

lick one's wounds infinitive
licked one's wounds past
licked one's wounds past participle
licking one's wounds present participle
licks one's wounds third person singular

Morphology

lick + one's + wound

The phrase evokes the literal image of 'licking' physical 'wounds' (an animal behaviour to tend injuries), so learners who know the words can infer a metaphorical sense of tending or recovering from harm. However, mapping this to the specific idea of emotional recovery after defeat or humiliation requires cultural/metaphorical knowledge, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Lick one's wounds comes from the picture of an injured animal that licks its wounds to clean them and heal slowly, so it stays quiet and safe. That's why the phrase means taking time alone to 'recover' after a defeat or emotional hurt.