bite the hand that feeds one
bite the hand that feeds one verb: to cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
Verb
bite the hand that feeds one (third-person singular simple present bites the hand that feeds one, present participle biting the hand that feeds one, simple past bit the hand that fed one, past participle bitten the hand that fed one)
- To cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
- Granted that it is not "exquisitely rational" to bite the hand that feeds you, yet that is just what clients and patients do which is one reason they need therapy.1967, Rollo May, Psychology and the Human Dilemma, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 18
- And the reality is, for all the talk about lobbying reform, Congress has never been known to bite the hand that feeds it.2004 November 15, Jay Newton-Small, “The Dems' Tax (and Spend) Dilemma”, in Time
bite the hand that feeds one meaning in Hindi, Urdu and Vietnamese
bite the hand that feeds one in Hindi
- cause harm to a benefactor
- जिस थाली में खाना उसी में छेद करना jis thālī mẽ khānā usī mẽ ched karnā
bite the hand that feeds one in Urdu
- cause harm to a benefactor
- جِس تھالی میں کَھانا اُسی میں چھید کَرْنا jis thālī mẽ khānā usī mẽ ched karnā
bite the hand that feeds one in Vietnamese
- cause harm to a benefactor
- ăn cháo đá bát
Forms of bite the hand that feeds one
| third-person singular present | bites the hand that feeds one |
|---|---|
| present participle | biting the hand that feeds one |
| past | bit the hand that fed one |
| past participle | bitten the hand that fed one |
Questions about bite the hand that feeds one
- What does bite the hand that feeds one mean?
- Bite the hand that feeds one means to cause harm to a benefactor (especially one that one is dependent on, thus with the idea that this behaviour is self-damaging).
- What is bite the hand that feeds one in Hindi?
- Bite the hand that feeds one in Hindi is जिस थाली में खाना उसी में छेद करना (jis thālī mẽ khānā usī mẽ ched karnā). See Bite the hand that feeds one meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is bite the hand that feeds one?
- Bite the hand that feeds one is a verb.
- What is the past tense of bite the hand that feeds one?
- The past tense of bite the hand that feeds one is bit the hand that fed one.
Words near bite the hand that feeds one in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bite the hand that feeds one (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-bite the hand that feeds one.ogg.
Cite this entry: “bite the hand that feeds one.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bite_the_hand_that_feeds_one. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.