To seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit.

Etymology:

  • From the Aesop's fable The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, in which a married couple own a goose that lays one golden egg every day. For greed, they decide to kill the goose to obtain all the gold they suppose to be inside. Once opened, the goose proves to be like any normal goose inside.
24 Views

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'kill the goose that lays the golden eggs':

Kill the Goose that Lays the Golden EggsTo spoil something good with one’s absurd actions, intolerance and greed
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the kill the goose that lays the golden eggs phrase in other languages:

töte die Gans, die die goldenen Eier legt

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this kill the goose that lays the golden eggs phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this kill the goose that lays the golden eggs definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/kill-the-goose-that-lays-the-golden-eggs_4901>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    Wear your ______ upon your sleeve.
    A Love
    B Heart
    C Blood
    D Skin

    Browse Phrases.com