- English translation
Each feather pulled adds flesh to the bird.
- Literal wording
Every pluck comes with a plumping of the flesh.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that taking something away can enrich what remains. Each loss in one place is matched by a gain in another, so a reduction that looks harmful may actually feed growth or strength elsewhere in the same thing.
It is a comment on beneficial loss, much like pruning a tree so it grows sturdier. Its poultry image is figurative, not practical advice about birds. A speaker might use it to reframe a sacrifice or cutback as an investment in future vigor.
- When it is used
Use it figuratively when someone regrets a loss, cutback, or sacrifice, to suggest the reduction may strengthen what remains. It fits trimming budgets, pruning plants, or setting aside distractions, and works best as a reassuring remark after the cut is made.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
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