Word.ws English Dictionary

live by the sword, die by the sword

live by the sword, die by the sword proverb: one who uses violence can expect a violent response; it is better to try to use peaceful means wherever possible.

Proverb

live by the sword, die by the sword

  1. One who uses violence can expect a violent response; it is better to try to use peaceful means wherever possible.
  2. (figuratively) One can expect dire outcomes from any vice; used to convey a sense that poetic justice is inevitable.
  3. (figuratively) The means of one's success can become the means of one's downfall.
    • And in Dirk Diggler's most anguished scene, as he shouts at Jack Horner, "I'm ready to shoot my scene RIGHT NOW!" we learn that those who live by the sword can also die by it.1997 October 17, Roger Ebert, “Boogie Nights (1997) review”, in Chicago Sun-Times
    • In the “live by the sword, die by the sword” category of ironic litigation, consider the fate of struggling hardware and software maker Sun Microsystems.2009, Larry Downes, The Laws of Disruption: Harnessing the New Forces That Govern Life and Business in the Digital Age, Basic Books, →ISBN

live by the sword, die by the sword meaning in Vietnamese

live by the sword, die by the sword in Vietnamese

one who uses violence can expect a violent response
ác giả ác báo, chơi dao sắc có ngày đứt tay

Origin of live by the sword, die by the sword

From the Bible, Matthew 26:52, where Jesus rebukes one of his disciples for having used his sword against a servant of the High Priest of Israel.

Questions about live by the sword, die by the sword

What does live by the sword, die by the sword mean?
Live by the sword, die by the sword means one who uses violence can expect a violent response; it is better to try to use peaceful means wherever possible.
What is live by the sword, die by the sword in Vietnamese?
Live by the sword, die by the sword in Vietnamese is ác giả ác báo, chơi dao sắc có ngày đứt tay. See Live by the sword, die by the sword meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is live by the sword, die by the sword?
Live by the sword, die by the sword is a proverb.

Words near live by the sword, die by the sword in the dictionary

  1. live blogging
  2. live blogs
  3. live box
  4. live boxes
  5. live by bread alone
  6. live by the sword, die by the sword
  7. live CD
  8. live CDs
  9. live coding
  10. live conductor
  11. live conductors

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: live by the sword, die by the sword (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-live by the sword, die by the sword.wav.

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