rod for one's back
rod for one's back noun: the means of one's own punishment or downfall.
Noun
(a) rod for one's back
- The means of one's own punishment or downfall.
- "Silcote, you are making a rod for your back in your treatment of that child. She'll live to break your heart for you."1866 Sept, Henry Kingsley, “Silcote of Silcotes”, in MacMillan's Magazine, volume 14, page 324
- Nobody is more wary of Tony Blair's record ratings and the illusion of the Prime Minister's omnipotence than Tony Blair himself. "He thinks his approval ratings are a rod for his back," says one adviser.1997 October 4, John Williams, “Blair Maps Out Party's Long March”, in The Mirror, UK
Forms of rod for one's back
| alternative form | rod for one's own back |
|---|---|
| alternative form | rod for one's own breech |
Questions about rod for one's back
- What does rod for one's back mean?
- Rod for one's back means the means of one's own punishment or downfall.
- What part of speech is rod for one's back?
- Rod for one's back is a noun.
Words near rod for one's back in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rod for one's back (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: En-au-rod for one's back.ogg.
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