closes the stable door after the horse has bolted

A form of close the stable door after the horse has bolted — To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verb
  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of close the stable door after the horse has bolted
Cite this entry
APA

closes the stable door after the horse has bolted. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closes%20the%20stable%20door%20after%20the%20horse%20has%20bolted

MLA

“closes the stable door after the horse has bolted.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closes%20the%20stable%20door%20after%20the%20horse%20has%20bolted. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “closes the stable door after the horse has bolted,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/closes%20the%20stable%20door%20after%20the%20horse%20has%20bolted.

Source: closes the stable door after the horse has bolted on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.