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to cook
one's
goose
/kˈʊk wˈʌnz ɡˈuːs/
phrase
to prevent someone from achieving success by destroying their plans
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to give
sb
enough rope to hang
oneself
/ɡˈɪv ˌɛsbˈiː ɪnˈʌf ɹˈoʊp tə hˈæŋ wʌnsˈɛlf/
phrase
to give someone an opportunity to act freely with the intention of hurting them
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to play hard to get
/plˈeɪ hˈɑːɹd tə ɡˈɛt/
phrase
to not easily give a person something that they need or want from one
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to queer
one's
pitch
/kwˈɪɹ wˈʌnz pˈɪtʃ/
phrase
to prevent someone from achieving what they want by creating problems for them
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to rain on
one's
parade
/ɹˈeɪn ˌɑːn wˈʌnz pɚɹˈeɪd/
phrase
to ruin what someone has planned or not allow them enjoy something
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to throw a (monkey) wrench into / in the works
/θɹˈoʊ ɐ mˈʌnki ɹˈɛntʃ ˌɪntʊ ɪn ðə wˈɜːks/
phrase
to slow down a plan or activity or prevent it from going on
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to tie
oneself
(up) in / into knots
/tˈaɪ wʌnsˈɛlf ˌʌp ɪn ˌɪntʊ nˈɑːts/
phrase
to do something that makes oneself overly worried or confused
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to upset / overturn the apple cart
/ʌpsˈɛt ˌoʊvɚtˈɜːn ðɪ ˈæpəl kˈɑːɹt/
phrase
to cause problems, often by ruining or interrupting something that was planned
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to muddy the waters / issue
/mˈʌdi ðə wˈɔːɾɚz ˈɪʃuː/
phrase
to complicate a simple situation
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to put the kibosh on
sth
/pˌʊt ðə kˈɪbɑːʃ ˌɑːn ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrase
to make an attempt to prevent something from continuing or happening
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to knock the wind / breath / stuffing out of
sb
/nˈɑːk ðə wˈɪnd bɹˈɛθ stˈʌfɪŋ ˌaʊɾəv ˌɛsbˈiː/
phrase
to do something, particularly something others do not expect, in order to make them feel less confident or important
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to cast a shadow / cloud over / on
sth
/kˈæst ɐ ʃˈædoʊ klˈaʊd ˌoʊvɚɹ ˌɑːn ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrase
to cause a situation to become less hopeful or enjoyable
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fly in the ointment
/flˈaɪ ɪnðɪ ˈɔɪntmənt/
phrase
a person or thing that ruins an otherwise positive or enjoyable situation
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to put a damper on
sth
/pˌʊt ɐ dˈæmpɚɹ ˌɑːn ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrase
to lessen or decrease the enjoyment, strength, or activity of something
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to take the gilt off the gingerbread
/tˈeɪk ðə ɡˈɪlt ˈɔf ðə dʒˈɪndʒɚbɹˌɛd/
phrase
to cause something to be less enjoyable as it could be
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