cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face

cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face

To seek retribution against someone else in a manner that is ultimately harmful or disadvantageous to oneself. He fired Tom for criticizing his managerial skills, but Tom accounts for nearly 75% of his branch's quarterly sales, so all he's really done is cut off his nose to spite his face. I know you're mad at your parents, but running away is only going to make your own life harder. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cut off one's nose to spite one's face

Injure oneself out of pique. For example, Staying home because Meg was invited first is cutting off your nose to spite your face . Similar hyperboles appeared in several Latin proverbs; in English the expression was first recorded in 1561.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

cut off your nose to spite your face

or

cut your nose off to spite your face

If someone cuts off their nose to spite their face, or cuts their nose off to spite their face, they do something to punish someone but in doing so harm themselves more than they harm the person they are punishing. The manager would probably like to leave Keane out of the squad but he knows that he'd be cutting his nose off to spite his face in losing a genuinely world-class player. Note: In this expression, `to spite' means to deliberately annoy or upset.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

cut off your nose to spite your face

disadvantage yourself in the course of trying to disadvantage another.
This idea was proverbial for self-defeating malice in both medieval Latin and medieval French, and has been found in English since the mid 16th century.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

cut off your ˈnose to spite your ˈface

(informal) do something, for example because you are angry or proud, that is intended to hurt somebody else but in fact harms you: Keeping your class in after school as a punishment is cutting off your nose to spite your face, because you have to stay with them!This may come from the story of a Viking attack on a monastery. The nuns in the monastery cut off their own noses so that they would not be attractive to their attackers.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face

To injure oneself in taking revenge against another.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • bite (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
  • bite off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face
  • cut (one's) nose off to spite (one's) face
  • cut nose off to spite face
  • cut off nose to spite face
  • cut off one's nose to spite one's face
  • cut off your nose to spite your face
  • spite
  • don't cut off your nose to spite your face
  • leave yourself wide open to something