let sleeping dogs lie
To leave things as they areTo leave things as they are; especially, to avoid restarting or rekindling an old argument; to leave disagreements in the past.
» Let sleeping dogs lie.
Schlafende Hunde soll man nicht wecken. — lilygilder
Schlafende Hunde weckt man nicht. — Esperantostern
Не буди лихо, пока оно тихо. — sobr_vamp
Не буди Лихо, пока оно тихо. — al_ex_an_der
Не будите спящую собаку. — marafon
Не буди лихо, поки спить тихо. — seveleu_dubrovnik
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To leave things as they are; especially, to avoid restarting or rekindling an old argument; to leave disagreements in the past.
Near-synonyms: let it be, leave it be, let things be, leave things be, let it alone, leave it alone, let things alone, leave things alone; let bygones be bygones, let nature take its course
Eventually, they decided it would be best to let sleeping dogs lie and not discuss the matter any further.
schlafende Hunde weckt man nicht
не буди́ ли́хо, пока́ спит ти́хоne budí líxo, poká spit tíxo, не буди́те спя́щую соба́куne budíte spjáščuju sobáku, от греха́ пода́льшеot grexá podálʹše
Examples
19 sentencesLet sleeping dogs lie.
Не буди лихо, поки спить тихо. — seveleu_dubrovnik
ruНе буди лихо, пока оно тихо. — sobr_vamp
deSchlafende Hunde soll man nicht wecken. — lilygilder
Let's just let sleeping dogs lie.
Let's never lie to each other.
ruДавай не будем никогда друг другу врать. — amanshi
deWir wollen uns nie belügen! — Waldelfe
Don't let Tom lie on the floor.
ruНе разрешай Тому лежать на полу. — Selena777
Let's lie on the sand.
ruДавай приляжем на песок. — sharptoothed
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Attestations exist from the 1820s and 1830s. Earlier ones may be discoverable with betterAttestations exist from the 1820s and 1830s. Earlier ones may be discoverable with better corpus searches. The metaphor is self-evident and is typical of folk wisdom. To choose to pass by a sleeping dog without stirring it is comparable to letting a hornets' nest or beehive be, not poking a bear, and so on.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
lets sleeping dogs lie, letting sleeping dogs lie, let sleeping dogs lie, let sleeping dogs lie| Base form | let sleeping dogs lie · to let sleeping dogs lie |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | lets sleeping dogs lie |
| Present participle | letting sleeping dogs lie |
| Past simple | let sleeping dogs lie |
| Past participle | let sleeping dogs lie |
irregular · Lesson
Present simpleLesson
| I, you, we, they | let sleeping dogs lie |
| he, she, it | lets sleeping dogs lie |
Past simpleLesson
| all persons | let sleeping dogs lie |
Present perfectLesson
| I, you, we, they | have let sleeping dogs lie |
| he, she, it | has let sleeping dogs lie |
Future simple (will)Lesson
| all persons | will let sleeping dogs lie |
Synonyms
10 synonymsWord family
5 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.