kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
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Destroy a source of riches through stupidity or greed, as in If he never gives his loyal customers a break on some items in his store, he'll kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. This expression, already a proverb in the late 1400s, alludes to Aesop's fable about a farmer whose goose lays one golden egg a day, and who kills the goose in the mistaken belief that he'll get all the eggs at once.
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
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Question 1 of 8
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Words nearby kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
kill off, kill or cure, kill shot, kill switch, kill the fatted calf, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, kill-time, kill two birds with one stone, kill with kindness, Killy, Kilmarnock
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.