# eat crow

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/eat-crow
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To recognize that one has been shown to be mistaken or outdone, especially by admitting that one has made a humiliating error.

## Examples

- He had to eat crow when his prediction was wrong.
- You will eat crow if your team loses the game today.
- She eats crow every time she gives people the wrong directions.
- After bragging about his cooking skills, he had to eat crow when everyone preferred her simple pasta.
- The manager had to eat crow during the meeting after the data proved his new strategy was actually losing the company money.
- I had to eat crow and apologize to my neighbor when I found the missing package on my own porch.
- The scientist had to eat crow in front of her colleagues when a junior researcher discovered a major math error in her published study.
- The critic, who had dismissed the young director's debut as amateurish, was forced to eat crow when the film swept every major award.

## Origin

First appeared in the US in the 1870s under the form eat boiled crow. Further origin unknown. Crow meat is considered unfit for consumption, but this is true of very many animals. Compare perhaps the association of black birds with misfortune. (unknown)

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.