51³Ō¹Ļ

Advertisement

Advertisement

lick one's wounds



Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Recuperate from injuries or hurt feelings. For example, They were badly beaten in the debate and went home sadly to lick their wounds . This expression alludes to an animal's behavior when wounded. It was originally put as lick oneself clean or whole , dating from the mid-1500s.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Thereā€™s no need to censure the desire to forge kinship, to lick oneā€™s wounds, to seek respite or joy.

From

ā€œPart of the advantage of being a developer who puts forth proposals like these is that itā€™s possible to suffer multiple defeats, lick oneā€™s wounds, replenish oneā€™s war chest, and return to fight again in a cycle that can continue pretty much indefinitely,ā€ Fedarko observes.

From

But with a thousand islands scattered along their countryā€™s jade-green Adriatic coast, from deserted flyspecks to hipster outposts, thereā€™s no shortage of places to lick oneā€™s woundsā€”or bask in silver-medal glory.

From

Be prepared to resign or otherwise walk off the job after careful calculation of the pros and cons of helping the country vs. going home to lick oneā€™s wounds.

From

During a speech to U.S. bishops at St. Matthewā€™s Cathedral in Washington, he acknowledged a ā€œbattle between light and darkness being fought in the world,ā€ but warned against the ā€œtemptation to give in to fear, to lick oneā€™s wounds, to think back on bygone times and to devise harsh responses to fierce opposition.ā€

From

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American HeritageĀ® Idioms Dictionary copyright Ā© 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement