# first catch your hare

> English word · Proverb

## Definitions
1. Make sure you have a thing before you decide what to do with it.

## Etymology
Supposedly from an error in The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, where "catch" should have read "case" (i.e. remove the skin); however, this is apocryphal.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/first-catch-your-hare