cast the first stone

Idioms  

1. Also, throw the first stone. Be quick to blame, criticize, or punish, as in She's always criticizing her colleagues, casting the first stone no matter what the circumstances. The term comes from the New Testament (John 8:7), where Jesus defends an adulteress against those who would stone her, saying “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Also see people who live in glass houses; pot calling the kettle black.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cast the first stone

Let the least damaged among us cast the first stone.

From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2023

Then, once you’re back, if you have never called a significant other something saccharine and humiliating, feel free to cast the first stone.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2018

How the enemy can tear down our community and rewrite the history by highlighting our flaws.But let he who cast the first stone, who constitutes the new laws.Nah,

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2016

She’s sending a message: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2015

He that has never employed questionable means to secure even such ends may cast the first stone at Daniel O'Connell.

From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Henry B. Stanton