nourish a viper in one's bosom
nourish a viper in one's bosom verb: to do acts of kindness that will be met with ingratitude and will cause one harm in the end.
Verb
nourish a viper in one's bosom (third-person singular simple present nourishes a viper in one's bosom, present participle nourishing a viper in one's bosom, simple past and past participle nourished a viper in one's bosom)
- To do acts of kindness that will be met with ingratitude and will cause one harm in the end.
- Synonyms:
- cherish a snake in one's bosom
Synonyms of nourish a viper in one's bosom
Forms of nourish a viper in one's bosom
| third-person singular present | nourishes a viper in one's bosom |
|---|---|
| present participle | nourishing a viper in one's bosom |
| past participle | nourished a viper in one's bosom |
| past | nourished a viper in one's bosom |
Origin of nourish a viper in one's bosom
From Aesop's fable The Farmer and the Viper.
Questions about nourish a viper in one's bosom
- What does nourish a viper in one's bosom mean?
- Nourish a viper in one's bosom means to do acts of kindness that will be met with ingratitude and will cause one harm in the end.
- What part of speech is nourish a viper in one's bosom?
- Nourish a viper in one's bosom is a verb.
- What is the past tense of nourish a viper in one's bosom?
- The past tense of nourish a viper in one's bosom is nourished a viper in one's bosom.
Words near nourish a viper in one's bosom in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nourish a viper in one's bosom (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: “nourish a viper in one's bosom.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nourish_a_viper_in_one%27s_bosom. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.