Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

poacher turned gamekeeper

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.10 in modern English

Syllables: poacher -turned game-keep-er
IPA

40

Scrabble Score

23

Letters

4

Syllables

14

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person now charged with protecting what they formerly preyed upon.

noun

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see poacher, turned, gamekeeper.

Example Sentences

"Ah! poacher turned gamekeeper! That be settin' thief to catch thief!"
"When President Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to the Securities Exchange Commission, he was acting on the "poacher turned gamekeeper" principle."

Etymology

The figurative sense is by self-evident metaphor from the literal sense. The thought of poachers turned gamekeepers goes back centuries; for example, William Tinsley said in his memoirs that "There is an old saying that the most expert poachers make the best gamekeepers. I do not think the saying is true as a rule […]".

Inflected Forms

poachers turned gamekeepers (plural)

Phrases

fox guarding the henhouse fox in the henhouse it takes one to know one set a thief to catch a thief the lunatics have taken over the asylum wolf guarding the sheep

Frequently Paired Words

fox guarding the henhouse fox in the henhouse it takes one to know one set a thief to catch a thief the lunatics have taken over the asylum wolf guarding the sheep

Synonyms

wolf guarding the sheep

Questions

What does poacher turned gamekeeper mean?: A person now charged with protecting what they formerly preyed upon.
Where does poacher turned gamekeeper come from?: The figurative sense is by self-evident metaphor from the literal sense. The thought of poachers turned gamekeepers goes back centuries; for example, William Tinsley said in his memoirs that "There is an old saying that the most expert poachers make the best gamekeepers. I do not think the saying is true as a rule […]".

How to pronounce poacher turned gamekeeper

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