eat one's words

English

Verb

eat one's words

1. (figuratively) To regret or retract what one has said.

   He didn't think I could do it, but I proved him wrong and made him eat his words.

   This time, you have to eat your words, because, like it or not, you lost.

Synonyms

• (regret): eat crow
• (retract): recant, take back; See also Thesaurus:recant

Translations

regret something said

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承認說錯話／承认说错话, 承认说错话 (chéngrèn shuō cuò huà)

• Dutch: zijn woorden terugnemen, zijn woorden innemen
• Finnish: perua sanansa, syödä sanansa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: se rétracter (fr)
• Icelandic: taka orð sín aftur, éta ofan í sig, éta í sig
• Maori: kairua
• Swedish: äta upp sina egna ord

Anagrams

• ate one's words