Meanings
present singular third person puts the cart before the horse · participle present putting the cart before the horse
- idiomaticTo put things in the wrong order or with the wrong priorities; to put something inconsequential as more important than something more essential.
To attempt to remove the armaments before removing these substantive conflicts of interest is to put the cart before the horse.
1957 December 2, “Corruption of the Mind”, in TIME, archived from the original on 21 Nov 20073 more examples
The hour had struck; and with it, as always, appeared the man. So it has ever been in the history of the world; though we, with characteristic vanity, uniformly put the cart before the horse, and declare that it is the man that brings the hour.
1898, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 1, in The History of the United StatesSaying, as some people do, "If I could get these other problems straightened out, then the drinking would take care of itself" is putting the cart before the horse. You can't deal with emotions like love and hate and rage when you're numbing yourself with chemicals.
1979 December 8, Dick Bowring, quoting Elizabeth Hjeltness, “HATS Helps Gay Alcoholics”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 20, page 11Mr. Schumer said that the idea of agreeing to a date for a vote before the committee had held hearings was "to put the cart before horse."
2005 July 27, David D. Kirkpatrick, “Timing of Hearings and Vote Stalls Confirmation Talks”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2021, retrieved 06 Nov 2008
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 本末倒置, 食屎屙飯 /食屎屙饭
- 本末倒置 (bun² mut⁶ dou² zi³)to put things in the wrong order
- 食屎屙飯 /食屎屙饭 (sik⁶ si² o¹ faan⁶)to put things in the wrong order
Chinese Mandarin 本末倒置, 本末顛倒 /本末颠倒
- 本末倒置 (běnmòdàozhì)to put things in the wrong order
- 本末顛倒 /本末颠倒 (běnmòdiāndǎo)to put things in the wrong order
Dutch het paard achter de wagen spannen
- het paard achter de wagen spannento put things in the wrong order
Esperanto ne iru fadeno antaŭ kudrilo
- ne iru fadeno antaŭ kudriloto put things in the wrong order
Finnish laittaa reki hevosen edelle, toimia nurinkurisesti
- laittaa reki hevosen edelleto put things in the wrong order
- toimia nurinkurisestito put things in the wrong order
- mennä takapuoli edellä puuhunto put things in the wrong order
- nousta latvasta puuhunto put things in the wrong order
French mettre la charrue avant les bœufs
- mettre la charrue avant les bœufsto put things in the wrong order
German das Pferd von hinten aufzäumen, den Pflug vor die Ochsen spannen
- das Pferd von hinten aufzäumento put things in the wrong order
- den Pflug vor die Ochsen spannento put things in the wrong order
Greek προτρέχω
- προτρέχω (protrécho)to put things in the wrong order
Hebrew רתם את העגלה לפני הסוסים
- רתם את העגלה לפני הסוסיםto put things in the wrong order
Hungarian nyúl viszi a puskát
- nyúl viszi a puskátto put things in the wrong order
Icelandic byrja á öfugum enda, hafa endaskipti á hlutunum
- byrja á öfugum endato put things in the wrong order
- hafa endaskipti á hlutunumto put things in the wrong order
Indonesian dahulu bajak daripada jawi
- dahulu bajak daripada jawito put things in the wrong order
Italian mettere il carro davanti ai buoi
- mettere il carro davanti ai buoito put things in the wrong order
Japanese 本末転倒する
- 本末転倒する (honmatsu tento suru)to put things in the wrong order
Latvian jūgt vezumu zirgam priekšā
- jūgt vezumu zirgam priekšāto put things in the wrong order
Malay buat kerja balik bokong
- buat kerja balik bokongto put things in the wrong order
Norwegian Bokmål sette vognen foran hesten, sette kjerra foran hesten
- sette vognen foran hestento put things in the wrong order
- sette kjerra foran hestento put things in the wrong order
Polish stawiać na głowie, postawić na głowie
- stawiać na głowieto put things in the wrong order
- postawić na głowieto put things in the wrong order
Portuguese colocar o carro à frente dos bois
- colocar o carro à frente dos boisto put things in the wrong order
Romanian a pune căruța înaintea cailor
- a pune căruța înaintea cailorto put things in the wrong order
Russian ста́вить теле́гу впереди́ ло́шади, начина́ть не с того́ конца́
- ста́вить теле́гу впереди́ ло́шади (stávitʹ telégu vperedí lóšadi)to put things in the wrong order
- начина́ть не с того́ конца́ (načinátʹ ne s tovó koncá)to put things in the wrong order
Spanish poner el carro delante de los bueyes, poner el carro delante del caballo
- poner el carro delante de los bueyesto put things in the wrong order
- poner el carro delante del caballoto put things in the wrong order
- poner la venda antes de la heridato put things in the wrong order
- poner el carro delante del burroto put things in the wrong order
- empezar la casa por el tejadoto put things in the wrong order
Cite this entry
put the cart before the horse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20cart%20before%20the%20horse
“put the cart before the horse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20cart%20before%20the%20horse. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put the cart before the horse,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20the%20cart%20before%20the%20horse.
Source: put the cart before the horse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.