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Meaning & use

reap the rewards

phrase·Advancedfigurative

Last updated

UK/riːp ðə rɪˈwɔːdz/
US/riːp ðə rɪˈwɔːrdz/

Meaning

  1. phraseidiom

    To enjoy the good results of effort, work or planning that you did earlier.

    Grammar: Verb phrase; the verb takes tenses: she reaped the rewards, they are reaping the rewards.

    Patterns

    • reap the rewards of something
    • reap the rewards of doing something

    After years of training, the athlete is finally reaping the rewards.

    Farmers who plan well reap the rewards at harvest.

    Companies that invest in staff reap the rewards later.

Word forms

third person singularreaps the rewards
past tensereaped the rewards
past participlereaped the rewards
-ing formreaping the rewards

Common combinations

reap the rewards of hard work
You will reap the rewards of hard work.
begin to reap the rewards
The firm is beginning to reap the rewards of its new strategy.
reap the rewards of patience
Gardeners reap the rewards of patience.
finally reap the rewards
After a long wait, they finally reaped the rewards.
reap the rewards of investment
Early investors reaped the rewards of their risk.

Synonyms and how they differ

enjoy the benefits
Enjoy the benefits is plain and neutral, while reap the rewards implies you earned them through earlier effort.
profit
Profit stresses money or advantage and is not necessarily the result of effort.
cash in
Cash in suggests quickly taking advantage, sometimes unfairly, unlike reap the rewards.
harvest the benefits
Harvest the benefits is a close image, but less fixed than the idiom.

Opposites

pay the price

Word family

reap verb
to cut and gather a crop; to receive as a result
reaper noun
a person or machine that harvests crops
reward noun
something given for effort
rewarding adjective
giving satisfaction

Commonly confused: reap the rewards or reep?

reap the rewards vs reep

This is not a standard word; the spelling is reap. Also compare rip, which means to tear.

Practice

After years of saving carefully, they finally began to ______ of their patience.

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