to eat crow
Preserved but no longer current.
To be forced to do something extremely disagreeable. The expression arose from an incident during an armistice m the war between Britain and the U.S.A. in 1812. A New Englander, having crossed the British lines by mistake, while out hunting, brought down a crow. A British officer, who heard the shot, determined to punish him.
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 “to eat crow” mean?
To be forced to do something extremely disagreeable. The expression arose from an incident during an armistice m the war between Britain and the U.S.A. in 1812. A New Englander, having crossed the British lines by mistake, while out hunting, brought down a crow. A British officer, who heard the shot, determined to punish him.
Is “to eat crow” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.