you cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
You cannot support two opposing sides at the same time
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Không thể ủng hộ hai phía đối lập cùng một lúc
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: participating in a hunt with hounds while also running with the hunted hare
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 “you cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds” mean?
You cannot support two opposing sides at the same time Literally: participating in a hunt with hounds while also running with the hunted hare
Is “you cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.