put the cart before the horse

idiom

: to do things in the wrong order
People are putting the cart before the horse by making plans on how to spend the money before we are even certain that the money will be available.

Examples of put the cart before the horse in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Bridges doesn’t want to put the cart before the horse. Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 9 July 2024 The Knicks, however, can’t put the cart before the horse, and while the Rangers advanced to the conference finals, the other team at Madison Square Garden still had business to handle. Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 17 May 2024 The Port of Oakland has the right idea but is trying to put the cart before the horse. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024 The focus on technological and policy solutions to climate has put the cart before the horse, and in doing so, created a solutions framework that is hopelessly inadequate. Heather Souvaine Horn, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2023 An important finding of the NAS Committee is that DOE’s current analytical approach may put the cart before the horse. Susan E. Dudley, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022 By releasing its guidance before the data used to justify it, the CDC didn't so much put the cart before the horse as uncouple them entirely. Joel Mathis, The Week, 30 July 2021 Buckner doesn’t want to put the cart before the horse. Jon Blau, The Indianapolis Star, 30 Mar. 2021 What’s going on is a league that put the cart before the horse. Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, 7 July 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'put the cart before the horse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near put the cart before the horse

Cite this Entry

“Put the cart before the horse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/put%20the%20cart%20before%20the%20horse. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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