| humble pie | |
| —n | |
| 1. | (formerly) a pie made from the heart, entrails, etc, of a deer |
| 2. | eat humble pie to behave or be forced to behave humbly; be humiliated |
| [C17: earlier an umble pie, by mistaken word division from a numble pie, from numbles offal of a deer, from Old French nombles, ultimately from Latin lumbulus a little loin, from lumbus loin] | |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
To be forced to acknowledge one's deficiencies or errors: “Professor Norris had to eat humble pie when the reviewers pointed out numerous factual errors in his book.” Humble pie refers to a dish originally made from the innards of a deer.