English Explanatory Dictionary

the chickens come home to roost

English dictionary entry

Meanings

proverb

A person's past wrongdoings will return to negatively affect them.

Pronunciation

En-au-the chickens come home to roost.ogg

Word forms

the chickens come home to roost come home to roost curses, like chickens, come home to roost

Etymology

19th century. First attested as lies, like chickens, come home to roost, although the slightly later curses, like chickens, come home to roost was more common. Both are often said to be Spanish or Turkish in origin. The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs notes that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in The Parson's Tale: “And ofte tyme swich cursynge wrongfully retorneth agayn to hym that curseth, as a bryd that retorneth agayn to his owene nest.”

Related words

evil be to him who evil thinks karma old sins have long shadows reap what one sows sow the wind, reap the whirlwind what goes around comes around

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