Meanings
plural poachers turned gamekeepers
- figurativelyidiomaticA person now charged with protecting what they formerly preyed upon.
Ah! poacher turned gamekeeper! That be settin' thief to catch thief!
1877, Mayne Reid, Gwen Wynn: A Romance of the Wye, volume III, Tinsley Brothers, page 711 more example
When President Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to the Securities Exchange Commission, he was acting on the "poacher turned gamekeeper" principle.
1938, The Strand Magazine, volume 95, page 373Synonyms: wolf guarding the sheep
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see poacher, turned, gamekeeper.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person now charged with protecting what they formerly preyed upon.
Origin
The figurative sense is by self-evident metaphor from the literal sense. The thought of poachers turned gamekeepers goes back centuries; for example, William Tinsley said in his memoirs that "There is an old saying that the most expert poachers make the best gamekeepers. I do not think the saying is true as a rule […]".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
poacher turned gamekeeper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poacher%20turned%20gamekeeper
“poacher turned gamekeeper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poacher%20turned%20gamekeeper. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poacher turned gamekeeper,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poacher%20turned%20gamekeeper.
Source: poacher turned gamekeeper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.