eat one's seed corn
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Spend resources needed for future success
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
chi tiêu tài nguyên cần thiết cho thành công trong tương lai
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: consume the seeds intended for planting
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company ate its seed corn by investing all its profits in short-term gains
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “eat one's seed corn” mean?
Spend resources needed for future success Literally: consume the seeds intended for planting
Is “eat one's seed corn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.