shooting oneself in the foot

Verb

shoot oneself in the foot (third-person singular simple present shoots oneself in the foot, present participle shooting oneself in the foot, simple past and past participle shot oneself in the foot)

1. (idiomatic) To act against one's own interests; to unintentionally behave self-destructively.
   • but as President he frequently shoots himself in the foot. Some of his erroneous public statements are dillies.1982 April, “Reagan shoots from the lip”, in Black Enterprise, volume 12, number 9, page 16

   Synonyms:

   dig one's own grave, foul one's own nest