don't count your chicks before they hatch

A form of don't count your chickens before they're hatched — One should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. alternativeAlternative form of don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

    Armstrong (with scorn): Abe, where are your muscles? I’m gonna throw you, Stringbean! / Lincoln (speaking slowly): Oh, I have a few muscles, Jack. You will see. Don’t count your chicks before they hatch.

    1974, Laura Ross, “Young Abe Wrestles Armstrong”, in Holiday Puppets, New York, N.Y.: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, →ISBN, “Lincoln’s Birthday” section, page 32
    2 more examples

    This is the last week of this semester, fellows. Are all your spirits high? Or are they like your grades? I’m glad those exams are down the river, aren’t you? Don’t count your chicks before they hatch. We have one more semester before we celebrate all summer.

    1949 March 11, Myron Auer, “Apprentice Broadcast”, in Fort Wayne Works News, volume 32, number 10, Fort Wayne, Ind., →OCLC, page 7, column 4

    “I think I’ll adopt that little Baby Doe myself,” Martha said. “I know they’ll have a hard time finding a home willing to take in a crack baby, and I’ll already have her as a foster child.” / Nettie Lee blew air through her teeth. “Don’t count your chicks before they hatch.” She stopped rocking and looked at Martha. “You know, folks get paid money to take those babies in. I thought you said money didn’t interest you. Guess you say anything that suits you at the time. Being a foster is a paid job, just like anything else.”

    1994, Linda Raymond, chapter 6, in Rocking the Babies, New York, N.Y.: Viking, →ISBN, page 139
Cite this entry
APA

don't count your chicks before they hatch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20count%20your%20chicks%20before%20they%20hatch

MLA

“don't count your chicks before they hatch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20count%20your%20chicks%20before%20they%20hatch. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “don't count your chicks before they hatch,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20count%20your%20chicks%20before%20they%20hatch.

Source: don't count your chicks before they hatch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.