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Definition 2024


have_one's_cake_and_eat_it,_too

have one's cake and eat it too

English

Verb

have one's cake and eat it too

  1. (idiomatic) To seek to have two things which are mutually incompatible (such as eating a piece of cake and yet still possessing that piece for future use).
    It's not possible to get your savings and keep the piggy bank intact. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

Usage notes

  • This expression is found almost exclusively in some form of the saying or proverb:You cannot have your cake and eat it too.

Translations