close the stable door after the horse has bolted

close the stable door after the horse has bolted
To attempt to prevent a problem only to find it has already happened

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  • close the stable door after the horse has bolted — phrase used for saying that something has been done too late because the problem it should have prevented has already happened Thesaurus: late or too latesynonym Main entry: stable door * * * close, lock, etc. the stable door after the horse has… …   Useful english dictionary

  • close the stable door after the horse has bolted — If people try to fix something after the problem has occurred, they are trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. Close the barn door after the horse has bolted is alternative, often used in American English …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • close the stable door after the horse has bolted —    If people try to fix something after the problem has occurred, they are trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. Close the barn door after the horse has bolted is alternative, often used in American English.   (Dorking… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • Close the stable door after the horse has bolted —   If people try to fix something after the problem has occurred, they are trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted. Close the barn door after the horse has bolted is alternative, often used in American English …   Dictionary of English idioms

  • lock the stable door after the horse has bolted — close, lock, etc. the stable door after the horse has ˈbolted idiom (BrE) (US close, etc. the barn door after the horse has eˈscaped) to try to prevent or avoid loss or damage when it is already too late to do so Main entry: ↑stable door …   Useful english dictionary

  • it is too late to shut the stable-door after the horse has bolted — In early use the proverb referred to horse stealing; has bolted is a modern substitution for the traditional is stolen. Cf. medieval Fr. a tart ferme on l’estable, quant li chevaux est perduz, the stable is shut too late, when the horse is lost.… …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • close the stable door after the horse has bolted — used for saying that something has been done too late because the problem it should have prevented has already happened …   English dictionary

  • stable door — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms stable door : singular stable door plural stable doors 1) a door on a stable 2) a door in two halves, with a top part that can be left open when the bottom part is shut • close the stable door after the horse… …   English dictionary

  • horse — /hɔs / (say haws) noun 1. a large, solid hoofed quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, and employed as a beast of draught and burden and for carrying a rider. 2. a male horse, fully grown and past its fourth birthday. 3 …  

  • stable — sta|ble1 W3 [ˈsteıbəl] adj [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: estable, from Latin stabilis, from stare to stand ] 1.) steady and not likely to move or change ≠ ↑unstable →↑stability ▪ A wide base will make the structure much more stable. in… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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