come back to bite
English
Alternative forms
Verb
come back to bite (third-person singular simple present comes back to bite, present participle coming back to bite, simple past came back to bite, past participle come back to bite)
- (transitive, figuratively) To cause problems for one at a later time. Said especially of situations that illustrate the irony of human folly because the damage caused by aggression or negligence ultimately also harms the instigator's own interests.
- Synonyms: bite in the arse, bite in the ass, come back to bite in the ass
Further reading
- “come back to bite sb”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “come back to bite one”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.