"kill the goose that lays the golden eggs" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the Aesop's fable The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, in which a married couple own a goose that lays one golden egg every day. For greed, they decide to kill the goose to obtain all the gold they suppose to be inside. Once opened, the goose proves to be like any normal goose inside.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kills the goose that lays the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "kill<> the goose that lays<lays,lays,laid> the golden eggs"
      },
      "expansion": "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs (third-person singular simple present kills the goose that lays the golden eggs, present participle killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, simple past and past participle killed the goose that laid the golden eggs)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962 December, “Talking of Trains: Passenger traffic declining”, in Modern Railways, page 364",
          "text": "Have the increases in ordinary fares begun to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To seek short-term gain at the sacrifice of long-term profit."
      ],
      "id": "en-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs-en-verb-lQBQvFeQ",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To seek short-term gain at the sacrifice of long-term profit."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "golden goose"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "take the short view"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "殺雞取卵"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shājīqǔluǎn",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "杀鸡取卵"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "竭澤而漁"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "jiézé'éryú",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "竭泽而渔"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "tappaa kultamunia muniva kana"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "tuer la poule aux œufs d’or"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "uccidere la gallina dalle uova d'oro"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "zabić kurę znoszącą złote jajka"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zarézatʹ kúricu, nesúščuju zolotýje jájca",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "заре́зать ку́рицу, несу́щую золоты́е я́йца"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
          "word": "matar a la gallina de los huevos de oro"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c3/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the Aesop's fable The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, in which a married couple own a goose that lays one golden egg every day. For greed, they decide to kill the goose to obtain all the gold they suppose to be inside. Once opened, the goose proves to be like any normal goose inside.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kills the goose that lays the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "kill<> the goose that lays<lays,lays,laid> the golden eggs"
      },
      "expansion": "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs (third-person singular simple present kills the goose that lays the golden eggs, present participle killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, simple past and past participle killed the goose that laid the golden eggs)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "golden goose"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962 December, “Talking of Trains: Passenger traffic declining”, in Modern Railways, page 364",
          "text": "Have the increases in ordinary fares begun to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To seek short-term gain at the sacrifice of long-term profit."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To seek short-term gain at the sacrifice of long-term profit."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "take the short view"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c3/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/En-au-kill_the_goose_that_lays_the_golden_eggs.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "殺雞取卵"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shājīqǔluǎn",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "杀鸡取卵"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "竭澤而漁"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "jiézé'éryú",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "竭泽而渔"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "tappaa kultamunia muniva kana"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "tuer la poule aux œufs d’or"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "uccidere la gallina dalle uova d'oro"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "zabić kurę znoszącą złote jajka"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zarézatʹ kúricu, nesúščuju zolotýje jájca",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "заре́зать ку́рицу, несу́щую золоты́е я́йца"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to seek short term gain at the sacrifice of long term profit — see also golden goose",
      "word": "matar a la gallina de los huevos de oro"
    }
  ],
  "word": "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs"
}