dar gato por liebre

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “to give cat for hare”. Compare Catalan donar gat per llebre and Portuguese dar/vender gato por lebre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdaɾ ˌɡato poɾ ˈljebɾe/ [ˌd̪aɾ ˌɣ̞a.t̪o poɾ ˈlje.β̞ɾe]
• Syllabification: dar ga‧to por lie‧bre

Verb

dar gato por liebre (first-person singular present doy gato por liebre, first-person singular preterite di gato por liebre, past participle dado gato por liebre)

1. (idiomatic) to bait and switch, to sell someone a pup

Further reading

• “dar gato por liebre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025