Word.ws English Dictionary

it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six

it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six proverb: in a precarious situation, it is wiser to act decisively and be judged by a jury than to be killed through inaction.

Proverb

it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six

  1. In a precarious situation, it is wiser to act decisively and be judged by a jury than to be killed through inaction.

Origin of it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six

A jury usually consists of twelve people; a coffin may be carried by six.

Questions about it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six

What does it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six mean?
It's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six means in a precarious situation, it is wiser to act decisively and be judged by a jury than to be killed through inaction.
What part of speech is it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six?
It's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six is a proverb.

Words near it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six in the dictionary

  1. it's as simple as that
  2. it's been 84 years
  3. it's been a slice
  4. it's been real
  5. it's better to ask forgiveness than permission
  6. it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six
  7. it's cold outside
  8. it's early days
  9. it's easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission
  10. it's everywhere
  11. it's five o'clock somewhere

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six (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: “it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/it%27s_better_to_be_judged_by_twelve_than_to_be_carried_by_six. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.