look before you leap
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Consider well before you act. And look before you ere you leap, For, as you sow, you're like to reap.
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 “look before you leap” mean?
Consider well before you act. And look before you ere you leap, For, as you sow, you're like to reap.
Is “look before you leap” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.