Word.ws English Dictionary

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest proverb: a condemnation of anyone who damages their own group, reputation or interests.

Proverb

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

  1. A condemnation of anyone who damages their own group, reputation or interests.
    • They say it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest. My own feeling is that a well-behaved bird will neither foul its own nest nor another's, but that, finding it in any wise foul, it will openly say so, and clean it.1872, John Ruskin, The Eagle's Nest
    • It's an ill bird that fouls his own nest, and we are all Scots folk and all Hieland.1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona

Questions about it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

What does it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest mean?
It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest means a condemnation of anyone who damages their own group, reputation or interests.
What part of speech is it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest?
It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest is a proverb.

Words near it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest in the dictionary

  1. it's all Greek to me
  2. it's all over my screen
  3. it's all over the screen
  4. it's all relative
  5. it's an emergency
  6. it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest
  7. it's an ill wind
  8. it's an ill wind that blows no good
  9. it's an ill wind that blows no one any good
  10. it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
  11. it's an ill wind that blows nobody good

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/it%27s_an_ill_bird_that_fouls_its_own_nest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.