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• Look before you leap
  Look before you leap

  We should know what we are getting into before we commit ourselves.
• look before you leap
  look before you leap

  Think of the consequences before you act, as in You'd better check out all the costs before you buy a cellular phone—look before you leap. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about the fox who is unable to climb out of a well and persuades a goat to jump in. The fox then climbs on the goat's horns to get out, while the goat remains trapped. [c. 1350]

Look before you leap

Cultural  

1. We should know what we are getting into before we commit ourselves.

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look before you leap Idioms  

1. Think of the consequences before you act, as in You'd better check out all the costs before you buy a cellular phone—look before you leap. This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about the fox who is unable to climb out of a well and persuades a goat to jump in. The fox then climbs on the goat's horns to get out, while the goat remains trapped. [c. 1350]

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Example Sentences

However, you’ll need to look before you leap when buying raw land or a developed vacant building lot.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 30, 2021

The lesson: look before you leap after the headlines.

From Time Magazine Archive

I shouldn't wonder a bit if you had another crop of letters bidding you look before you leap.

From The Marriage of Elinor by Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)

But then you must "look before you leap" in most countries nowadays.

From A Cotswold Village by Gibbs, J. Arthur

It was a case of "look before you leap", and a fat, wheezy, French poodle is not at home in a quick-rushing stream.

From For the Sake of the School by Brazil, Angela