A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

With allusion to GALATIANS vi. 7 (AV) Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap.

a 900 CYNEWULF Christ in Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records (1936) III. 5 Swa eal

manna bearn sorgum sawath, swa eft ripath [just as each son of man sows in grief, so he

also reaps]. c 1470 Mankind in Macro Plays (1962) 1. 180 Such as thei haue sowyn, such

xall thei repe. 1664 S. BUTLER Hudibras II. ii. And look before you ere you leap; For as

you sow, you are like to reap. 1871 J. A. FROUDE Short Studies 2nd Ser. 10 As men have

sown they must still reap. The profligate.. may recover.. peace of mind.. but no miracle

takes away his paralysis. 1978 F. WELDON Praxis xxiv. ‘You should never have left

them,’ said Irma. ‘As you sow, Praxis, so you reap.’ 2000 ‘C. AIRD’ Little Knell (2001)

iii. 29 ‘But like it says in the Bible,’ said Jennifer, ‘as you sow, so shall you reap.’

action and consequence

They that SOW the wind shall reap the whirlwind

The proverb is also used as a metaphorical phrase to sow the wind (and reap the
whirlwind). With allusion to HOSEA viii. 7 (AV) They have sown the wind, and they shall
reap the whirlwind.

1583 J. PRIME Fruitful & Brief Discourse II. 203 They who sowed a winde, shall

reap a whirlewind, but they that sowed in iustice shall reape mercie. 1853 G. W. CURTIS

in Putnam’s Magazine Apr. 386 Ask the Rev. Cream Cheese to.. preach from this text:

‘They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.’ 1923 O. DAVIS Icebound III. 98 Well

—what’s passed is passed. Folks that plant the wind reap the whirlwind! 1981 J. STUBBS

Ironmaster xvii. I know that he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind. I dislodge a

clod of earth, and start a landslide. action and consequence

sow see also (noun) you can’t make a SILK purse out of a sow’s ear.

span see when ADAM delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?

SPARE at the spigot, and let out at the bung-hole

The meaning is explained in quot. 1721. The spigot is the peg or pin used to regulate the
flow of liquid through the tap on a cask, while the bung-hole is the (much larger) opening