Meanings
- alternativeAlternative form of the chickens come home to roost.
“Peace, old mother,” he said in Spanish. “Remember that curses, like chickens, come home to roost. Put another on my head and I'll blow your beads down your throat.”
1907 April 12, “The Bradys and "Kid Joaquin"; or, The Greasers of Robbers Canyon.”, in Secret Service: Old and Young King Brady, Detectives, number 429, page 12 more examples
1850, speech of Thomas W. Gibson, in H. Fowler, Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the Constitution of the State of Indiana, Indianapolis, page 448. I did not expect, Mr. President, to hear such a doctrine as this from the gentleman who, this morning, so eloquently denounced alt attempts at disunion. That gentleman should remember the old Spanish proverb—“Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.”
1860, Timothy Shay Arthur, "Worse Enemies than Lions and Tigers", in Shadows and Sunbeams, J.W. Bradley, page 19. Have you ever heard the old Spanish proverb, “Curses, like chickens, come home to roost?” If so, it were well for you to ponder its meaning.
Cite this entry
curses, like chickens, come home to roost. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curses%2C%20like%20chickens%2C%20come%20home%20to%20roost
“curses, like chickens, come home to roost.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curses%2C%20like%20chickens%2C%20come%20home%20to%20roost. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “curses, like chickens, come home to roost,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/curses%2C%20like%20chickens%2C%20come%20home%20to%20roost.
Source: curses, like chickens, come home to roost on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.