Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

set a thief to catch a thief

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English

Syllables
set a thief -to -catch a thief
IPA
41
Scrabble Score
22
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To employ an unscrupulous person in order to catch another unscrupulous person.

Example Sentences

Inflected Forms

sets a thief to catch a thief (present, singular) setting a thief to catch a thief (participle, present)

Phrases

fight fire with fire honor among thieves it takes one to know one poacher turned gamekeeper

Frequently Paired Words

fight fire with fire honor among thieves it takes one to know one poacher turned gamekeeper

Questions

What does set a thief to catch a thief mean?
To employ an unscrupulous person in order to catch another unscrupulous person.

How to pronounce set a thief to catch a thief

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “set a thief to catch a thief”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “set a thief to catch a thief”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “set a thief to catch a thief” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.