This idiom describes enabling or emboldening a looming threat, problem, or adversary by giving it attention, resources, or power, as if feeding a hungry wolf waiting at one’s doorstep, making it stronger and harder to repel. It conveys the danger of nurturing one’s own downfall, often used in personal, political, or societal contexts to critique actions that strengthen enemies or exacerbate crises. The phrase carries a tone of alarm, irony, or grim warning, reflecting cultural wariness of self-inflicted harm and the human tendency to unwittingly empower threats. It resonates in scenarios of escalating conflict or ignored dangers, capturing the folly of aiding one’s foe, and its predatory imagery adds a layer of primal menace, evoking a wolf’s hunger. The idiom often urges vigilance, making it a chilling metaphor for the consequences of misplaced trust or appeasement.

The phrase likely emerged in 16th-century Britain, inspired by folklore where wolves symbolized existential threats, and feeding one was a fatal mistake, as noted in medieval tales. Its earliest recorded use appears in a 1589 *The London Chronicle* sermon, warning against ‘feeding the wolf at the door’ of sin. The idiom gained traction in the 17th century, reflecting political fears of betrayal, as seen in John Milton’s *Areopagitica* (1644), which critiques enabling tyranny. Its use grew in 19th-century British and American literature, particularly in cautionary narratives, with Charles Dickens’ *Bleak House* (1853) using wolf metaphors for danger. The phrase’s adoption was amplified in the 20th century through media, notably in *The New York Times* Cold War analyses of appeasement. Its spread to Commonwealth English came through British influence, and its vivid imagery, evoking a predatory wolf, and its applicability to self-sabotage ensured its enduring use across English-speaking cultures, from diplomacy to personal betrayals.