eat crow

1. To suffer a humiliating experience: “The organizers had to eat crow when the fair they had sworn would attract thousands drew scarcely a hundred people.” The phrase probably refers to the fact that crow meat tastes terrible.

Idioms and Phrases

Also, eat dirt or humble pie . Be forced to admit a humiliating mistake, as in When the reporter got the facts all wrong, his editor made him eat crow . The first term's origin has been lost, although a story relates that it involved a War of 1812 encounter in which a British officer made an American soldier eat part of a crow he had shot in British territory. Whether or not it is true, the fact remains that crow meat tastes terrible. The two variants originated in Britain. Dirt obviously tastes bad. And humble pie alludes to a pie made from umbles , a deer's undesirable innards (heart, liver, entrails). [Early 1800s] Also see eat one's words .

Example Sentences

“We keep being asked to pivot, pivot, pivot. We keep being asked to eat crow,” says actor and writer Brendan Bradley.

From Los Angeles Times

Fox News created Trumpism, and yet can no longer control it, which leaves the network in the uncomfortable position of having to choose whether to give its viewers what they don’t want—i.e., straight talk about the extent of Trump’s unsuitability for office—or making the lucrative albeit humiliating choice to eat crow and reboard the Trump train for 2024.

From Slate

“We keep being asked to pivot, pivot, pivot. We keep being asked to eat crow,” says actor and writer Brendan Bradley.

From Los Angeles Times

When Watters responded, "This is garbage," Graham was forced to eat crow.

From Salon

And they may have to eat crow after the election.

From Slate