he's cooked his goose
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
He's done for himself, he's made a fatal mistake, ruined his chances, "dished" himself. The phrase is of 19th-century origin, though how it arose cannot now be traced.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “he's cooked his goose” mean?
He's done for himself, he's made a fatal mistake, ruined his chances, "dished" himself. The phrase is of 19th-century origin, though how it arose cannot now be traced.
Is “he's cooked his goose” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.