"too many cooks spoil the broth" meaning in English

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "many hands make light work"
    },
    {
      "word": "the more the merrier"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "too many cooks spoil the broth"
      },
      "expansion": "too many cooks spoil the broth",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
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        {
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          "kind": "other",
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1803–1805, Jane Austen, “The Watsons”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, →OCLC, pages 301–302:",
          "text": "She professes to keep her own counsel; she says, and truly enough, that “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If too many people participate in a task, especially in a leading role, the task will not be done very well."
      ],
      "id": "en-too_many_cooks_spoil_the_broth-en-proverb-TNErZSWh",
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "a camel is a horse designed by a committee"
        },
        {
          "word": "too many chiefs and not enough Indians"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "uncommon"
          ],
          "word": "too many cooks spoils the broth"
        },
        {
          "word": "too many chefs spoil the broth"
        },
        {
          "word": "too many cooks spoil the soup"
        },
        {
          "word": "too many cooks spoil the stew"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ayl",
          "lang": "Libyan Arabic",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "المركب اللي ليها ريسين تغرق"
        },
        {
          "code": "ajp",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "ʔiza kitru ṭ-ṭabbāḵīn btinḥreʔ iṭ-ṭabḵa",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "tags": [
            "South-Levantine-Arabic"
          ],
          "word": "إذا كترو طباخين بتنحرق الطبخة"
        },
        {
          "code": "my",
          "lang": "Burmese",
          "roman": "hca.ra-mya: sa:se",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "ဆရာများ သားသေ"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多添亂"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "rén duō tiān luàn",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多添乱"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多誤事"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "rén duō wù shì",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多误事"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多手腳亂"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "rén duō shǒujiǎo luàn",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "人多手脚乱"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "příliš mnoho kuchařů přesolí polévku"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "for mange kokke fordærver maden"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "veel koks bederven de brij"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "veel koks verzouten de brij"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "tro da kuiristoj kaĉon difektas"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "mitä useampi kokki, sitä huonompi soppa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "autant de têtes"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "autant d’avis"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "deux patrons font chavirer la barque"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "english": "zu",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "viele Köche verderben den Brei"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "ópou laloún polloí kokóroi argeí na ximerósei",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "όπου λαλούν πολλοί κοκόροι αργεί να ξημερώσει"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "note": "with many naval officers the ships will drown",
          "roman": "beróv ẖovlím titbá'na hasfinót",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "בְּרֹב חוֹבְלִים תְּטְבַּעְנָה הַסְּפִינוֹת"
        },
        {
          "code": "hi",
          "lang": "Hindi",
          "note": "जितने मुँह उतनी बातें (jitne mũh utnī bātẽ, literally “As many opinions/talks as there are people”)",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "túl sok szakács elsózza a levest"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "troppi galli nel pollaio"
        },
        {
          "alt": "せんどうおおくしてふねやまにのぼる",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "sendō ōkushite fune yama-ni noboru",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "船頭多くして船山に登る"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "sagong'i maneumyeon baega saneuro ganda",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다"
        },
        {
          "code": "lt",
          "lang": "Lithuanian",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "devynios auklės, vaikas be galvos"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "jo flere kokker, jo mer søl"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "âšpaz ke do-tâ šod, âš yâ šur mišavad, yâ bi-namak",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "آشپز که دوتا شد، آش یا شور میشود، یا بینمک"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "gdzie kucharek sześć, tam nie ma co jeść"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "quem não ajuda não atrapalha"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "muita cera queima a igreja"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "a cera sobeja queima a igreja"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "copilul cu mai multe moașe rămâne cu buricul netăiat"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "seven nannies leave a child without care",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "u semí njánek ditjá bez gláza",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "у семи́ ня́нек дитя́ без гла́за"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "muchas manos en un plato causan arrebato"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "ju fler kockar, desto sämre soppa"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "english": "too many shamans, too many ghosts",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
          "word": "lắm thầy nhiều ma"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "too many cooks spoil the broth"
}

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "many hands make light work"
    },
    {
      "word": "the more the merrier"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "too many cooks spoil the broth"
      },
      "expansion": "too many cooks spoil the broth",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "a camel is a horse designed by a committee"
    },
    {
      "word": "too many chiefs and not enough Indians"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Burmese translations",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Danish translations",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Greek translations",
        "Terms with Hebrew translations",
        "Terms with Hindi translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Korean translations",
        "Terms with Libyan Arabic translations",
        "Terms with Lithuanian translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Norwegian translations",
        "Terms with Persian translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with South Levantine Arabic translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "c. 1803–1805, Jane Austen, “The Watsons”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, →OCLC, pages 301–302:",
          "text": "She professes to keep her own counsel; she says, and truly enough, that “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If too many people participate in a task, especially in a leading role, the task will not be done very well."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "uncommon"
      ],
      "word": "too many cooks spoils the broth"
    },
    {
      "word": "too many chefs spoil the broth"
    },
    {
      "word": "too many cooks spoil the soup"
    },
    {
      "word": "too many cooks spoil the stew"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ayl",
      "lang": "Libyan Arabic",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "المركب اللي ليها ريسين تغرق"
    },
    {
      "code": "ajp",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "ʔiza kitru ṭ-ṭabbāḵīn btinḥreʔ iṭ-ṭabḵa",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "tags": [
        "South-Levantine-Arabic"
      ],
      "word": "إذا كترو طباخين بتنحرق الطبخة"
    },
    {
      "code": "my",
      "lang": "Burmese",
      "roman": "hca.ra-mya: sa:se",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "ဆရာများ သားသေ"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多添亂"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "rén duō tiān luàn",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多添乱"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多誤事"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "rén duō wù shì",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多误事"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多手腳亂"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "rén duō shǒujiǎo luàn",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "人多手脚乱"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "příliš mnoho kuchařů přesolí polévku"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "for mange kokke fordærver maden"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "veel koks bederven de brij"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "veel koks verzouten de brij"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "tro da kuiristoj kaĉon difektas"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "mitä useampi kokki, sitä huonompi soppa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "autant de têtes"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "autant d’avis"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "deux patrons font chavirer la barque"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "english": "zu",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "viele Köche verderben den Brei"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "ópou laloún polloí kokóroi argeí na ximerósei",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "όπου λαλούν πολλοί κοκόροι αργεί να ξημερώσει"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "note": "with many naval officers the ships will drown",
      "roman": "beróv ẖovlím titbá'na hasfinót",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "בְּרֹב חוֹבְלִים תְּטְבַּעְנָה הַסְּפִינוֹת"
    },
    {
      "code": "hi",
      "lang": "Hindi",
      "note": "जितने मुँह उतनी बातें (jitne mũh utnī bātẽ, literally “As many opinions/talks as there are people”)",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "túl sok szakács elsózza a levest"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "troppi galli nel pollaio"
    },
    {
      "alt": "せんどうおおくしてふねやまにのぼる",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "sendō ōkushite fune yama-ni noboru",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "船頭多くして船山に登る"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "sagong'i maneumyeon baega saneuro ganda",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다"
    },
    {
      "code": "lt",
      "lang": "Lithuanian",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "devynios auklės, vaikas be galvos"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "jo flere kokker, jo mer søl"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "âšpaz ke do-tâ šod, âš yâ šur mišavad, yâ bi-namak",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "آشپز که دوتا شد، آش یا شور میشود، یا بینمک"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "gdzie kucharek sześć, tam nie ma co jeść"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "quem não ajuda não atrapalha"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "muita cera queima a igreja"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "a cera sobeja queima a igreja"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "copilul cu mai multe moașe rămâne cu buricul netăiat"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "seven nannies leave a child without care",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "u semí njánek ditjá bez gláza",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "у семи́ ня́нек дитя́ без гла́за"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "muchas manos en un plato causan arrebato"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "ju fler kockar, desto sämre soppa"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "english": "too many shamans, too many ghosts",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "with too many people a task won't be done very well",
      "word": "lắm thầy nhiều ma"
    }
  ],
  "word": "too many cooks spoil the broth"
}