eating crow
Admitting you're wrong
Eating crow is admitting you were wrong, especially after making confident claims to the contrary.
The phrase suggests the humiliation of having to swallow something unpleasant—crow being notoriously tough and unappetizing.
After insisting the project would fail, he had to eat crow when it became a huge success.
Formal withdrawal of statement
- recantationFormal withdrawal of statement
- acknowledgmentConfirmation of receipt
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
- concessionYielding a point
mea culpa · owning up · coming clean · fessing up · climb-down · backpedaling · about-face · reversal
Statement acknowledging wrongdoing
- remorseGuilt for wrongdoing
- regretSorrow over past actions
- penitenceRemorse for misdeeds
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
atonement · guilt · sorrow · self-reproach · compunction · contriteness · making amends · asking forgiveness
Self-conscious unease
- mortificationIntense shame or embarrassment
- chagrinDistress from wounded pride
- disgraceLoss of honor
- shamePainful awareness of failure
red-faced · humbling · discomfiture · loss of face · egg on face · awkwardness · indignity · comeuppance
Yielding a point
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- capitulationComplete yielding to demands
- lossBeing without something
- failureLack of success
setback · downfall · vanquishment · being wrong · misjudgment · miscalculation · overconfidence · hubris
retraction
Formal withdrawal of statement
- recantationFormal withdrawal of statement
- acknowledgmentConfirmation of receipt
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
concession · mea culpa · owning up · coming clean · fessing up · climb-down · backpedaling · about-face · reversal · withdrawal
apology
Statement acknowledging wrongdoing
repentance · atonement · guilt · sorrow · self-reproach · compunction · contriteness · making amends · asking forgiveness · redemption
embarrassment
Self-conscious unease
- mortificationIntense shame or embarrassment
- chagrinDistress from wounded pride
- disgraceLoss of honor
shame · red-faced · humbling · discomfiture · loss of face · egg on face · awkwardness · indignity · comeuppance · brought low
concession
Yielding a point
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- capitulationComplete yielding to demands
- lossBeing without something
failure · setback · downfall · vanquishment · being wrong · misjudgment · miscalculation · overconfidence · hubris · jinxing
- apologizingadmitting fault, asking forgiveness, confessing, owning up, atoning
- correctionscorrection, corrections, fix, fixing, rectification
- public shamehumiliation, disgrace, shame, embarrassment, public failure
- taking responsibilityowning up, admitting fault, confessing, apologizing, accountability
- atonementpropitiation, substitution, reconciler, forgiveness, sin offering
eating crowtriumph
Resounding, celebrated victory
victory · vindication · gloating · crowing · rubbing it in
eat, eats, eaten, eater, eaters, eating, crow, crows, crowed