Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: it's an il-l bird that -foul-s it-s own nest
IPA

43

Scrabble Score

31

Letters

5

Syllables

15

Unique Chars

Meaning

proverb

A condemnation of anyone who damages their own group, reputation or interests.

Example Sentences

"They say it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest. My own feeling is that a well-behaved bird will neither foul its own nest nor another's, but that, finding it in any wise foul, it will openly say so, and clean it."
"It's an ill bird that fouls his own nest, and we are all Scots folk and all Hieland."
"The saying, “It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest” expresses the most universal of ethical norms, and is probably the source of all such norms."
"He admitted then to having had, for two years, “documents in [his] possession sufficient to have destroyed [the Fenians operating in Montreal], but [he had] thought it was an ill bird that fouled its own nest."

Phrases

don't shit in your own nest foul one's own nest

Frequently Paired Words

don't shit in your own nest foul one's own nest

Questions

What does it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest mean?: A condemnation of anyone who damages their own group, reputation or interests.

How to pronounce it's an ill bird that fouls its own nest

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