foregone conclusion, a

foregone conclusion, a idiom
  1. An outcome regarded as inevitable, as in The victory was a foregone conclusion.
  2. A conclusion formed in advance of argument or consideration, as in The jury was warned to consider all of the evidence and not base their decision on a foregone conclusion. This idiom probably was invented by Shakespeare (Othello, 3:3) but scholars are not agreed as to his precise meaning. [c. 1600]

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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