"when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras" meaning in English

See when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Etymology: Coined by American medical researcher Theodore Woodward. Etymology templates: {{coinage|en|Q7782111|nobycat=1}} Coined by American medical researcher Theodore Woodward Head templates: {{en-proverb}} when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras
  1. (medicine, informal) When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones. Tags: informal Categories (topical): Medicine Synonyms: horses, not zebras, when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras, when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras Related terms: Occam's razor
    Sense id: en-when_you_hear_hoofbeats,_think_of_horses,_not_zebras-en-proverb-6102RHtQ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Topics: medicine, sciences
     
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        "When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones."
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      "id": "en-when_you_hear_hoofbeats,_think_of_horses,_not_zebras-en-proverb-6102RHtQ",
      "links": [
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          "diagnosing",
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          "patient",
          "patient"
        ],
        [
          "symptom",
          "symptom"
        ],
        [
          "common",
          "common"
        ],
        [
          "ailment",
          "ailment"
        ],
        [
          "probable",
          "probable"
        ],
        [
          "rare",
          "rare"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(medicine, informal) When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Occam's razor"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "horses, not zebras"
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        {
          "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras"
        },
        {
          "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras"
        }
      ],
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      ],
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        "medicine",
        "sciences"
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  ],
  "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras"
}

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        "(medicine, informal) When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones."
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "horses, not zebras"
    },
    {
      "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras"
    },
    {
      "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras"
    }
  ],
  "word": "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras"
}

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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 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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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