dar gato por liebre

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “give cat for hare”. Compare Catalan donar gat per llebre and Portuguese dar/vender gato por lebre

Verb

dar gato por liebre (first-person singular present doy gato por liebre, first-person singular preterite di gato por liebre, past participle dado gato por liebre)

1. (idiomatic) to bait and switch, to sell someone a pup

Further reading

• “dar gato por liebre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10