English · Idiom Candidate

reap the whirlwind

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Suffer the consequences of one's own actions

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Gánh chịu hậu quả của hành động mình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: harvest the storm

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The company will reap the whirlwind after ignoring safety protocols

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.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent gieo gió gặt bão sow the wind, reap the whirlwind; as you sow, so shall you reap Tiếng Việt Near equivalent as you sow, so shall you reap Your actions will have consequences that reflect their nature English · via gieo gió gặt bão

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “reap the whirlwind” mean?

Suffer the consequences of one's own actions Literally: harvest the storm

Is “reap the whirlwind” formal or informal?

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

What is the closest equivalent?

“gieo gió gặt bão” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.