"the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet" meaning in English

See the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{en-proverb}} the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet
  1. In order to achieve something, it is inevitable and necessary that some sacrifices be made. Synonyms: no pain, no gain, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, you don't get something for nothing, you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette Related terms: collateral damage, get one's hands dirty, side effect Translations (some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved): ei makaavan kissan suuhun hiiri juokse (Finnish), αν δεν βρέξεις κώλο, ψάρι δεν τρως (an den vréxeis kólo, psári den tros) (Greek), хо́чется ры́бку съесть, да не хо́чется в во́ду лезть (xóčetsja rýbku sʺjestʹ, da ne xóčetsja v vódu leztʹ) (Russian), quien quiera peces, que moje el culo (Spanish)
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      "expansion": "the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet",
      "name": "en-proverb"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In order to achieve something, it is inevitable and necessary that some sacrifices be made."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_cat_would_eat_fish_but_would_not_wet_her_feet-en-proverb-XxLcOKap",
      "links": [
        [
          "In order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ],
        [
          "something",
          "something"
        ],
        [
          "inevitable",
          "inevitable"
        ],
        [
          "necessary",
          "necessary"
        ],
        [
          "sacrifice",
          "sacrifice"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "collateral damage"
        },
        {
          "word": "get one's hands dirty"
        },
        {
          "word": "side effect"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "no pain, no gain"
        },
        {
          "word": "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs"
        },
        {
          "word": "you don't get something for nothing"
        },
        {
          "word": "you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
          "word": "ei makaavan kissan suuhun hiiri juokse"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "an den vréxeis kólo, psári den tros",
          "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
          "word": "αν δεν βρέξεις κώλο, ψάρι δεν τρως"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "xóčetsja rýbku sʺjestʹ, da ne xóčetsja v vódu leztʹ",
          "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
          "word": "хо́чется ры́бку съесть, да не хо́чется в во́ду лезть"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
          "word": "quien quiera peces, que moje el culo"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet"
}
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  "related": [
    {
      "word": "collateral damage"
    },
    {
      "word": "get one's hands dirty"
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      "word": "side effect"
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        "In order to achieve something, it is inevitable and necessary that some sacrifices be made."
      ],
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        [
          "In order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
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          "something",
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        [
          "inevitable",
          "inevitable"
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        [
          "necessary",
          "necessary"
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        [
          "sacrifice",
          "sacrifice"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "no pain, no gain"
        },
        {
          "word": "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs"
        },
        {
          "word": "you don't get something for nothing"
        },
        {
          "word": "you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
      "word": "ei makaavan kissan suuhun hiiri juokse"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "an den vréxeis kólo, psári den tros",
      "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
      "word": "αν δεν βρέξεις κώλο, ψάρι δεν τρως"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "xóčetsja rýbku sʺjestʹ, da ne xóčetsja v vódu leztʹ",
      "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
      "word": "хо́чется ры́бку съесть, да не хо́чется в во́ду лезть"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "some sacrifices must be made for something to be achieved",
      "word": "quien quiera peces, que moje el culo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (9a96ef4 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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