Word.ws English Dictionary

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush proverb: a sure thing is preferable to the mere chance at something more.

Proverb

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

  1. A sure thing is preferable to the mere chance at something more.
    • It is more sykyr a bryd in youre fyste
      Than to have thre in the sky above15th c., John Capgrave, Life of St Katherine, Bodleian MS Rawlinson poet. 118, Bk. II
    • May. No, but the Sides are going to be changed ; and Sir Harry is to be ſome very great Man ; and as ſoon as he is, I am to be made an Embaſſador of.
      Mrs. May. Made an Aſs of! Will you never learn of me, that a Bird in the Hand is worth two in the Buſh ?1737, Henry Fielding, Pasquin, Act II, Scene I, p. 27

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush meaning in Hindi, Arabic and Vietnamese

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in Hindi

small but certain advantage is preferable
नौ नक़द न तेरह उधार nau naqad na terah udhār

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in Arabic

small but certain advantage is preferable
عُصْفُورٌ فِي ٱلْيَدِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ عُصْفُورِينَ عَلَى ٱلشَّجَرَةِ ʕuṣfūrun fī l-yadi ʔafḍalu min ʕuṣfūrīna ʕalā š-šajarati

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in Vietnamese

small but certain advantage is preferable
một con chim trong tay có giá trị hơn hai con trong bụi cây

Synonyms of a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Origin of a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Calque of Latin plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis (“a single bird in the hands is worth more than two in the forest”), possibly deriving from sources as old as the ancient Middle East, with the 6th century BCE Proverbs of Ahiqar including "a sparrow in thy hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying".

Questions about a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

What does a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush mean?
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush means a sure thing is preferable to the mere chance at something more.
What is a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in Hindi?
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in Hindi is नौ नक़द न तेरह उधार (nau naqad na terah udhār). See A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is a proverb.

Words near a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in the dictionary

  1. A battery
  2. a battuta
  3. A Baña
  4. a bene placito
  5. a bird in the hand
  6. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
  7. a bit
  8. a bit much
  9. a blessing and a curse
  10. A board
  11. A boards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.ogg.

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