# eat one's seed corn

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/eat-ones-seed-corn
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To consume what is meant for investment instead.

## Examples

- If you spend all your savings now, you are eating your seed corn.
- The company sold its essential research equipment to pay for bonuses, effectively eating its seed corn for short-term gain.
- By liquidating the firm's long-term assets to cover immediate operating losses, the board was essentially eating its seed corn, leaving the business with no future capacity for growth.

---

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.