To carry out something in reverse order, to do opposite of something

Etymology:

  • This is quite popular idiom which has been used in Greece and Rome. Some great writers like Shakespeare also used it. The correct order for horse and cart is such that horse comes in front followed by cart. Just imagine if you place cart first and horse behind it, which is surely very difficult. In the same way if you do something in reverse order or confused things up, then you pull the cart before the horse.
77 Views

The guest children have tasted the dessert first; they have just put the cart before the horse.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Additional definitions for 'Put the Cart before the Horse':

put the cart before the horseTo put things in the wrong order or with the wrong priorities.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the Put the Cart before the Horse phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Put the Cart before the Horse

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Put the Cart before the Horse phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Put the Cart before the Horse definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Put the Cart before the Horse." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/put-the-cart-before-the-horse_44960>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    There's no place like ________ .
    A work
    B the office
    C home
    D bed