to cook one's goose
/kˈʊk wˈʌnz ɡˈuːs/
phrase
to prevent someone from achieving success by destroying their plans
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
to play hard to get
/plˈeɪ hˈɑːɹd tə ɡˈɛt/
phrase
to not easily give a person something that they need or want from one
to queer one's pitch
/kwˈɪɹ wˈʌnz pˈɪtʃ/
phrase
to prevent someone from achieving what they want by creating problems for them
to rain on one's parade
/ɹˈeɪn ˌɑːn wˈʌnz pɚɹˈeɪd/
phrase
to ruin what someone has planned or not allow them enjoy something
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
to tie oneself (up) in / into knots
/tˈaɪ wʌnsˈɛlf ˌʌp ɪn ˌɪntʊ nˈɑːts/
phrase
to do something that makes oneself overly worried or confused
to upset / overturn the apple cart
/ʌpsˈɛt ˌoʊvɚtˈɜːn ðɪ ˈæpəl kˈɑːɹt/
phrase
to cause problems, often by ruining or interrupting something that was planned
to muddy the waters / issue
/mˈʌdi ðə wˈɔːɾɚz ˈɪʃuː/
phrase
to complicate a simple situation
to put the kibosh on sth
/pˌʊt ðə kˈɪbɑːʃ ˌɑːn ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrase
to make an attempt to prevent something from continuing or happening
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
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
fly in the ointment
/flˈaɪ ɪnðɪ ˈɔɪntmənt/
phrase
a person or thing that ruins an otherwise positive or enjoyable situation
to put a damper on sth
/pˌʊt ɐ dˈæmpɚɹ ˌɑːn ˌɛstˌiːˈeɪtʃ/
phrase
to lessen or decrease the enjoyment, strength, or activity of something
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
Langeek no picture

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