bargain for meaning
more than you bargained for used to say that something was more than you expected, and you were surprised or it caused problems for you:
▪ It was a wonderful holiday but it cost a lot more than we'd bargained for.
get more than you had bargained for
▪ The thief got more than he'd bargained for when Mr Cox turned a gun on him.
sb hadn't bargained for/on sth if you hadn't bargained for something, you did not expect it to happen, and you are surprised or it causes problems for you:
▪ What they hadn't bargained for was the prejudice of the trial judge.
▪ I hadn't bargained on being stuck in traffic for two hours on Kilburn High Road.
■ SIMILAR TO: reckon with
▪ It was a wonderful holiday but it cost a lot more than we'd bargained for.
get more than you had bargained for
▪ The thief got more than he'd bargained for when Mr Cox turned a gun on him.
sb hadn't bargained for/on sth if you hadn't bargained for something, you did not expect it to happen, and you are surprised or it causes problems for you:
▪ What they hadn't bargained for was the prejudice of the trial judge.
▪ I hadn't bargained on being stuck in traffic for two hours on Kilburn High Road.
■ SIMILAR TO: reckon with
[American slang]
v. To be ready for; expect. When John started a fight with the smaller boy he got more than he bargained for. The final cost of building the house was much more than they had bargained on.
Compare: COUNT ON.
Examples
More: Next- i did not bargain for that.
- they decide to go with hawk-eye to bargain for cora's release.
- the wife of lieutenant-governor does not bargain for such an experience.
- what a waste of time to bargain for everything
- don't bargain for fish which are still in the water
