spite

Related to spite: out of spite

bite (one's) nose off 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 bitten his nose off 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 bite your nose off to spite your face.
See also: bite, face, nose, off, spite

bite 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 bitten 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 bite off your nose to spite your face.
See also: bite, face, nose, off, spite

cut (one's) nose off 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 his nose off 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 your nose off to spite your face.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite

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

don't cut off your nose to spite your face

Don't so something harmful or disadvantageous to yourself just to seek retribution against someone else. 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

in spite of (oneself)

1. Despite one's own foibles, mistakes, or flaws. Somehow the Eagles managed to pull off a victory in spite of themselves. I knocked over my drink and called her the wrong name at one point, but all in all, I think the date went well in spite of myself.
2. Despite or against one's desire or intention. I was scared senseless when I realized there was a burglar in the house, but I laughed in spite of myself when he slipped on a banana peel on the kitchen floor.
See also: of, spite

in spite of (something)

Regardless or in defiance of; despite. In spite of all the warnings, the hikers decided to climb the restricted route, and ended up having to be rescued. We have succeeded, in spite of all the setbacks.
See also: of, spite

out of spite

Done because of one's own spiteful, vengeful, or malicious feelings or intentions. The disgruntled postal worker stole hundreds of people's private letters after being fired and began posting them online out of spite. The judge and I had an argument a few years ago, so I think she's overruling my objections today just out of spite.
See also: of, out, spite
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

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

Prov. to hurt yourself in an attempt to hurt someone else. (Often in the form, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.") Isaac dropped out of school because he wanted to make his father angry; years later, he realized that he had cut off his nose to spite his face.
See also: cut, face, nose, off, spite

in spite of someone or something

without regard to someone or something; even though another course had been prescribed; ignoring a warning. In spite of her orders to stay, I left. In spite of the bad weather, I had fun on vacation.
See also: of, spite

out of spite

with the desire to harm someone or something. Jane told some evil gossip about Bill out of spite. That was not an accident! You did it out of spite.
See also: of, out, spite
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

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

hell or high water, come

Also, in spite of hell or high water . No matter what difficulty or obstacle, as in I'm going to finish this week, come hell or high water. This colloquial expression, alluding to the destructive forces of hellfire or flood, was first recorded in 1915 but is thought to be older.
See also: come, hell, high

in spite of

Regardless of, in defiance of, as in They kept on in spite of their fears. [c. 1400]
See also: of, 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

in ˈspite of something

if you say that somebody does/did something in spite of a fact, you mean it is surprising that that fact does/did not prevent them from doing it; despite: In spite of his age, he still leads an active life. They went swimming in spite of all the danger signs. English became the official language for business in spite of the fact that the population was largely Chinese.
See also: of, something, spite

(do something) in ˈspite of yourself

(do something) even though you do not want or expect to: He was a bit depressed so I tried to cheer him up with a joke. He smiled in spite of himself.
See also: of, 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

in spite of

Not stopped by; regardless of: They kept going in spite of their fears.
See also: of, spite
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

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

To act out of pique in a way that injures oneself more than anyone else. The term appears about 1200 as a Latin proverb recorded by Peter of Blois. It was repeated in the mid-seventeenth century by Gedéon Tallemant des Réaux in recounting the history of France: “Henry IV understood very well that to destroy Paris would be, as they say, to cut off his nose to spite his face.”
See also: cut, nose, off, spite
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
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 (one's) nose to spite (one's) 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
  • don't cut off your nose to spite your face
  • leave yourself wide open to something
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As though he was imitating Napoleon, we are experiencing the triumph of the spite. Project "Skopje 2014: is built out of spite.
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It's just the politics of spite. The reason behind the cuts in compensation payments is so it's cheaper to lay off civil servants, after the next general election, whichever of the "major" parties win, which again will only be done for the spite they perceive the private sector is desperate for.
Economics of the madhouse; VIEWPOINTS
He did this in spite of having inherited an improving economic situation from the Conservatives and in spite of the most benign global economic circumstances in living memory.
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Tunisian industry resilient in face of global downturn