the chickens come home to roost
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: curses, like chickens, come home to roost
Meaning · English
Consequences of past actions return to haunt or harm someone.
Literally: chickens returning to their roost
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company's neglect of safety protocols meant the chickens came home to roost when the accident happened.
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.
Common questions
What does “the chickens come home to roost” mean?
Consequences of past actions return to haunt or harm someone. Literally: chickens returning to their roost
Is “the chickens come home to roost” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.