dog that caught the car
A person who has unexpectedly attained an aspirational goal and is now unsure what to do with it.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He got the promotion, but now he is like a dog that caught the car.”
“You look like a dog that caught the car now that you own the company.”
“After winning the election, the candidate felt like a dog that caught the car, realizing he had no plan for governing.”
“She spent years trying to buy this huge house, but now she feels like a dog that caught the car because the maintenance is overwhelming.”
“After his video went viral, the young artist felt like a dog that caught the car when he realized he had to manage thousands of new customers.”
“Having finally acquired the massive corporation he spent decades chasing, the executive felt like a dog that caught the car, paralyzed by the sudden weight of his own ambition.”
Derived from the canine instinct to pursue passing motor vehicles, the majority of which travel at a velocity and distance that preclude a successful capture. The idiom contemplates the predicament of an animal that has achieved a goal for which it possesses no further instructions.
- 01
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
- 02
call off the dogs
To ease up on after inflicting great punishment.
- 03
cat and dog life
An unhappy married life marked by arguments and disagreements.
- 04
catch a body
to kill, to murder
- 05
catch a break
To experience the minimal amount of good luck or a favorable outcome.
- 06
catch a case
To be infected with a disease; used with of.
- 07
catch a cold
To contract a cold.
- 08
catch a date
Of a prostitute, to secure a client who is willing to pay for services.
Last updated August 10, 2026