get one's fingers burnt

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get one's fingers burnt (third-person singular simple present gets one's fingers burnt, present participle getting one's fingers burnt, simple past got one's fingers burnt, past participle (UK) got one's fingers burnt or (US) gotten one's fingers burnt)

1. (idiomatic) To suffer relatively minor, adversive, and unexpected harm.

   He got his fingers burnt in that stock market scam, but at least he didn't lose his house.

   • 2015 August 25, “Anwar Raja, the farmer, got his fingers burnt”, in The Hindu‎, retrieved 20 November 2018:

     He developed a special interest in coconut cultivation after witnessing the success of some farmers who made huge money only to get his fingers burnt.

   • 2011 February 8, Stephen Evans, “German firms fear China technology theft”, in BBC news‎, retrieved 20 November 2018:

     Artur Fischer, for example, is the head of the Berlin stock-exchange who got his fingers burnt in China.

Unlike the saying "burn one's fingers", it does not imply that it was the sufferer's own fault.