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general::
Phrase(s): A burnt child dreads the fire.
Prov. If something has hurt you once, you avoid it after that. (See also once bitten, twice shy.) • Jill: Let’s go ride the roller coaster! Jane: No, thanks. I got sick on one of those once, and a burnt child dreads the fire. • Ever since Cynthia rebuffed me so rudely, I’ve avoided asking her for anything; a burnt child dreads the fire.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs