English · Idiom Candidate

paddle one's own canoe

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: paddle your own canoe

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To be independent and self-sufficient

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

tự lập và tự túc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to propel one's own boat

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She's learned to paddle her own canoe since moving away from home

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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Meaning · English

English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Common questions

What does “paddle one's own canoe” mean?

To be independent and self-sufficient Literally: to propel one's own boat

Is “paddle one's own canoe” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.