eat one's words

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eat one's words idiom
Be forced to retract something one has said, as in The incumbent won easily, so I had to eat my words. This expression was already proverbial in John Ray's English Proverbs (1670). [Second half of 1500s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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"eat one's words." Idioms. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/idioms/eat-one-s-words>

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eat one's words. (2009). In Idioms

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/idioms/eat-one-s-words

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