LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH Definition & Meaning

look a gift horse in the mouth

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Idioms and Phrases

Be critical or suspicious of something received at no cost. For example, Dad's old car is full of dents, but we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth . This term, generally expressed as a cautionary proverb ( Don't look a gift horse in the mouth ), has been traced to the writings of the 4th-century cleric, St. Jerome, and has appeared in English since about 1500. It alludes to determining the age of a horse by looking at its teeth.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Trumble pointed to the famous expression "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" as proof that people have always suspected a connection between health and examining an animal's teeth.

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“You can’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” said Morrow, a retired teacher.

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But whatever the reason, best to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

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“Honey,” Dad says, looking up from the movie we’d been watching with him on the couch, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

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Andrew defended the sale when it became public, telling the Telegraph newspaper: “It’s not my business the second the price is paid. If that is the offer, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and suggest they have overpaid me.”

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

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