never look a gift horse in the mouth
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Don't question or criticize something given to you for free
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đừng đặt câu hỏi hoặc chỉ trích thứ được cho miễn phí
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: examining a horse's teeth to determine its age
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, 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 “never look a gift horse in the mouth” mean?
Don't question or criticize something given to you for free Literally: examining a horse's teeth to determine its age
Is “never look a gift horse in the mouth” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.