Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bite off more than one can chew

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English

Syllables
bite of-f -more than one -can chew
IPA
48
Scrabble Score
25
Letters
4
Syllables
13
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To try to do too much; to take on or attempt more than one is capable of doing.

Example Sentences

Inflected Forms

bites off more than one can chew (present, singular) biting off more than one can chew (participle, present) bit off more than one could chew (past) bitten off more than one could chew (participle, past)

Phrases

dog that caught the car have eyes bigger than one's stomach grasp all, lose all eat an elephant one bite at a time too many balls in the air too much on one's plate

Frequently Paired Words

dog that caught the car have eyes bigger than one's stomach grasp all, lose all eat an elephant one bite at a time too many balls in the air too much on one's plate

Synonyms

cut off more than one can chew

Questions

What does bite off more than one can chew mean?
To try to do too much; to take on or attempt more than one is capable of doing.

How to pronounce bite off more than one can chew

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bite off more than one can chew”.
  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 “bite off more than one can chew”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “bite off more than one can chew” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.