eat crow
Meaning
To admit you were wrong and accept humiliation or embarrassment, often after boasting or insisting you were right.
Origin
From an old American anecdote (early–mid 1800s) where someone is forced to eat a crow as an unpleasant punishment; the crow became a metaphor for swallowing humiliation after being proven wrong.
Notes
Stronger than “admit you were wrong”: it implies embarrassment/humiliation. Often informal and can sound gloating if directed at someone else.
Examples
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After insisting the project would fail, he had to eat crow when it launched successfully.
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I thought I was right about the meeting time, but I had to eat crow after checking the calendar.
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She made fun of my prediction, and then she had to eat crow when I turned out to be correct.
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If the new policy works, the critics will have to eat crow and admit they were wrong.
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He promised the team would win easily, but he ended up eating crow after the upset loss.
Grammar & Usage Notes
Usually used as “eat crow” or “have to eat crow.” Tenses inflect the verb (ate crow, will eat crow). Often followed by a clause about what was wrong (e.g., “eat crow for saying…”).
Synonyms
- eat humble pie
- swallow your pride
- take it back
- admit defeat
Antonyms
- stand your ground
- double down
- save face