break a fly on the wheel
break a fly on the wheel is the alternative form of break a butterfly upon the wheel.
Meaning of break a butterfly upon the wheel
Verb
break a butterfly upon the wheel (third-person singular simple present breaks a butterfly upon the wheel, present participle breaking a butterfly upon the wheel, simple past broke a butterfly upon the wheel, past participle broken a butterfly upon the wheel)
- To inflict a punishment out of all proportion to the offence.
- Let Paris tremble—“What? that Thing of ſilk,
“Paris, that mere white Curd of Aſs’s milk?
“Satire or Shame alas! can Paris feel?
“Who breaks a Butterfly upon a Wheel?”
Yet let me flap this Bug with gilded wings,
This painted Child of Dirt that ſtinks and ſtings1734, Alexander Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot
- Let Paris tremble—“What? that Thing of ſilk,
- To employ great exertions for insignificant ends.
Forms of break a fly on the wheel
| third-person singular present | breaks a fly on the wheel |
|---|---|
| present participle | breaking a fly on the wheel |
| past | broke a fly on the wheel |
| past participle | broken a fly on the wheel |
Questions about break a fly on the wheel
- What is break a fly on the wheel the alternative form of?
- Break a fly on the wheel is the alternative form of break a butterfly upon the wheel.
Words near break a fly on the wheel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: break a fly on the wheel (page history and authors); break a butterfly upon the wheel (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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Cite this entry: “break a fly on the wheel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/break_a_fly_on_the_wheel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.