Dictionary

close the stable door after the horse has bolted en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).
   • We are now in an election period, with WhatsApp and closed Facebook groups being used, as we speak, in electoral campaigning, but the law has not changed since the DCMS Committee, on which I serve, raised these issues. We have yet another instance of shutting the door after the horse has bolted. 2019 May 15, Ian C. Lucas, “WhatsApp Data Breach”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), column 242:

Forms

Relateds

too little, too late · horsebarn · late in the day · put the genie back in the bottle · unring a bell · that ship has sailed · barn door · Scarborough warning

Synonyms

close the barn door after the horse has bolted · lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen · shut the stable door after the horse has bolted · lock the stable door after the horse has bolted · close the stable door after the horse has been stolen

Translations (17)

cy codi pais ar ôl piso (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · tr at çalındıktan sonra ahırın kapısını kapamak (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · fi haukotella kissan suussa (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · es a buenas horas mangas verdes (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · tl aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · cs honit bycha (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · ru по́здно пить боржо́ми, когда́ по́чки отказа́ли (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · nl achter de feiten aanlopen (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · fr c'est de la moutarde après dîner (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · pl mądry Polak po szkodzie (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · mk по свадба тапани (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · it chiudere la stalla quando i buoi sono scappati (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · hu eső után köpönyeg (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · nl als het kalf verdronken is, dempt men de put (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · it chiudere il cancello quando i buoi sono scappati (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · de den Brunnen zudecken, wenn das Kind hineingefallen ist (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred) · it chiudere il recinto dopo che i buoi sono scappati (to attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred)