a foregone conclusion

foregone conclusion

1. An inevitable result. After how poorly the team has played so far this season, it's a foregone conclusion that they won't make it to the championship.
2. A view or belief that one has before receiving all pertinent information. Don't come to any foregone conclusions about the accident, all right? Let me tell you the whole story first.
See also: conclusion, foregone
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a ˌforegone conˈclusion

a result that is certain to happen: It’s a foregone conclusion that Spain will win tonight’s match.
See also: conclusion, foregone
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

foregone conclusion, a

A result that is already known and therefore is taken for granted. The term comes from Shakespeare’s Othello (3.3), in which, after hearing Iago’s lie about Cassio talking in his sleep of his love affair with Desdemona, Othello says this “dream” is a “foregone conclusion”—that is, it clearly denotes that his wife has been unfaithful to him with Cassio (as Iago intended him to believe all along). Some four centuries later the term is still around: “But it could be argued that it was a surprise so many Spaniards were prepared to take part in a vote which was a foregone conclusion” (Economist, Feb. 26, 2005).
See also: foregone
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • foregone
  • foregone conclusion
  • foregone conclusion, a
  • hollow
  • all hollow
  • see the error of (one's) ways
  • see the error of your ways
  • catch at (a) straw(s)
  • after a sort
  • buy cheap, buy twice
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