tempest in a teapot

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, tempest in a teacup . A great disturbance or uproar over a matter of little or no importance. For example, All that because a handful of the thousand invited guests didn't show up? What a tempest in a teapot! This expression has appeared in slightly different forms for more than 300 years. Among the variations are storm in a cream bowl, tempest in a glass of water , and storm in a hand-wash basin . The British prefer storm in a teacup . The current American forms were first recorded in 1854. For a synonym, see much ado about nothing .

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

tempest tempest-tossed

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