Jump To:

Let sleeping dogs lie

Let sleeping dogs lie

Do not stir up a problem that has lain quiet for some time.
let sleeping dogs lie

let sleeping dogs lie

Allow inactive problems to remain so, as in Jane knew she should report the accident but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been stated in English since the late 1300s.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Cultural

let sleeping dogs lie Idioms

Allow inactive problems to remain so, as in Jane knew she should report the accident but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been stated in English since the late 1300s.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023