spite
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Related to spite: out of spite
bite (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
To seek retribution against someone else in a manner that is ultimately harmful or disadvantageous to oneself. He fired Tom for criticizing his managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales, so all he's really done is bitten his nose off to spite his face. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't bite your nose off to spite your face. Like I'm gonna help him now! Ha! He really bit his nose off to spite his face when he cursed me out in front of everyone last week.
bite off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
To seek retribution against someone else in a manner that is ultimately harmful or disadvantageous to oneself. He fired Tom for criticizing his managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales, so all he's really done is bitten off his nose to spite his face. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't bite off your nose to spite your face. Like I'm gonna help him now! Ha! He really bit off his nose to spite his face when he cursed me out in front of everyone last week.
cut (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
To seek retribution against someone else in a manner that is ultimately harmful or disadvantageous to oneself. He fired Tom for criticizing his managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales, so all he's really done is cut his nose off to spite his face. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't cut your nose off to spite your face. Like I'm gonna help him now! Ha! He really cut his nose off to spite his face when he cursed me out in front of everyone last week.
cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
To seek retribution against someone else in a manner that is ultimately harmful or disadvantageous to oneself. He fired Tom for criticizing his managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales, so all he's really done is cut off his nose to spite his face. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Like I'm gonna help him now! Ha! He really cut off his nose to spite his face when he cursed me out in front of everyone last week.
don't cut off your nose to spite your face
Don't so something harmful or disadvantageous to yourself just to seek retribution against someone else. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. I know you want to fire Tom for criticizing your managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. I warned him, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face," and yet he still went ahead and cursed the CEO out in front of everyone last week.
in spite of (oneself)
1. Despite one's own foibles, mistakes, or flaws. Somehow the Eagles managed to pull off a victory in spite of themselves. I knocked over my drink and called her the wrong name at one point, but all in all, I think the date went well in spite of myself. If he doesn't talk much, he might be able to have a successful interview in spite of himself!
2. Despite or against one's desire or intention. I was scared senseless when I realized there was a burglar in the house, but I laughed in spite of myself when he slipped on a banana peel on the kitchen floor. My little boy raises the cutest objections to time-outs that I end up smiling in spite of myself. I was riding the bus when I read that massive spoiler and gasped in spite of myself.
in spite of (something)
Regardless or in defiance of; despite. In spite of all the warnings, the hikers decided to climb the restricted route, and ended up having to be rescued. We have succeeded, in spite of all the setbacks. You want to sell the house now, in spite of all the renovations we've done to make it our dream home?
in spite of hell or high water
No matter what; in spite of any obstacle. I don't care if I have to drive through a blizzard—we will get to this wedding in spite of hell or high water! In spite of hell or high water, we will have this project finished on time! We have to take back power in spite of hell or high water!
out of spite
Done because of one's own spiteful, vengeful, or malicious feelings or intentions. The disgruntled postal worker stole hundreds of people's private letters after being fired and began posting them online out of spite. The judge and I had an argument a few years ago, so I think she's overruling my objections today just out of spite.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
cut one's nose off to spite one's face
Prov. to hurt yourself in an attempt to hurt someone else. (Often in the form, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.") Isaac dropped out of school because he wanted to make his father angry; years later, he realized that he had cut off his nose to spite his face.
in spite of someone or something
without regard to someone or something; even though another course had been prescribed; ignoring a warning. In spite of her orders to stay, I left. In spite of the bad weather, I had fun on vacation.
out of spite
with the desire to harm someone or something. Jane told some evil gossip about Bill out of spite. That was not an accident! You did it out of spite.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
cut off one's nose to spite one's face
Injure oneself out of pique. For example, Staying home because Meg was invited first is cutting off your nose to spite your face . Similar hyperboles appeared in several Latin proverbs; in English the expression was first recorded in 1561.
hell or high water, come
Also, in spite of hell or high water . No matter what difficulty or obstacle, as in I'm going to finish this week, come hell or high water. This colloquial expression, alluding to the destructive forces of hellfire or flood, was first recorded in 1915 but is thought to be older.
in spite of
Regardless of, in defiance of, as in They kept on in spite of their fears. [c. 1400]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
cut off your nose to spite your face
orcut your nose off to spite your face
If someone cuts off their nose to spite their face, or cuts their nose off to spite their face, they do something to punish someone but in doing so harm themselves more than they harm the person they are punishing. The manager would probably like to leave Keane out of the squad but he knows that he'd be cutting his nose off to spite his face in losing a genuinely world-class player. Note: In this expression, `to spite' means to deliberately annoy or upset.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
cut off your nose to spite your face
disadvantage yourself in the course of trying to disadvantage another.This idea was proverbial for self-defeating malice in both medieval Latin and medieval French, and has been found in English since the mid 16th century.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
cut off your ˈnose to spite your ˈface
(informal) do something, for example because you are angry or proud, that is intended to hurt somebody else but in fact harms you: Keeping your class in after school as a punishment is cutting off your nose to spite your face, because you have to stay with them!This may come from the story of a Viking attack on a monastery. The nuns in the monastery cut off their own noses so that they would not be attractive to their attackers.in ˈspite of something
if you say that somebody does/did something in spite of a fact, you mean it is surprising that that fact does/did not prevent them from doing it; despite: In spite of his age, he still leads an active life. ♢ They went swimming in spite of all the danger signs. ♢ English became the official language for business in spite of the fact that the population was largely Chinese.(do something) in ˈspite of yourself
(do something) even though you do not want or expect to: He was a bit depressed so I tried to cheer him up with a joke. He smiled in spite of himself.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
To injure oneself in taking revenge against another.
in spite of
Not stopped by; regardless of: They kept going in spite of their fears.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
cut off one's nose to spite one's face, to
To act out of pique in a way that injures oneself more than anyone else. The term appears about 1200 as a Latin proverb recorded by Peter of Blois. It was repeated in the mid-seventeenth century by Gedéon Tallemant des Réaux in recounting the history of France: “Henry IV understood very well that to destroy Paris would be, as they say, to cut off his nose to spite his face.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
- bite (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
- bite off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
- cut (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
- cut nose off to spite face
- cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
- cut off nose to spite face
- cut off one's nose to spite one's face
- cut off one's nose to spite one's face, to
- cut off your nose to spite your face
- don't cut off your nose to spite your face