Word.ws English Dictionary

you can't catch old birds with chaff

you can't catch old birds with chaff proverb: the wisest and the most experienced cannot be easily deceived.

Proverb

you can't catch old birds with chaff

  1. The wisest and the most experienced cannot be easily deceived.

Origin of you can't catch old birds with chaff

Referencing a quotation of Miguel de Cervantes: "You must not think, sir, to catch old birds with chaff."

Questions about you can't catch old birds with chaff

What does you can't catch old birds with chaff mean?
You can't catch old birds with chaff means the wisest and the most experienced cannot be easily deceived.
What part of speech is you can't catch old birds with chaff?
You can't catch old birds with chaff is a proverb.

Words near you can't catch old birds with chaff in the dictionary

  1. you can talk
  2. you can't be half pregnant
  3. you can't break a stick in a bundle
  4. you can't break a twig in a bundle
  5. you can't break sticks in a bundle
  6. you can't catch old birds with chaff
  7. you can't fight City Hall
  8. you can't fix stupid
  9. you can't get a quart into a pint pot
  10. you can't get something for nothing
  11. you can't go home again

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: you can't catch old birds with chaff (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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