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upset the applecart

 - 2 dictionary results

ap⋅ple⋅cart

[ap-uhl-kahrt]
–noun
1. a pushcart used by a vendor of apples.
2. upset the or someone's applecart, to ruin plans or arrangements; spoil something: He was making a fantastic profit until a competitor upset the applecart by cutting prices.

Origin:
1780–90; apple + cart
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Idioms & Phrases

upset the applecart

Spoil carefully laid plans, as in Now don't upset the applecart by revealing where we're going. This expression started out as upset the cart, used since Roman times to mean "spoil everything." The precise idiom dates from the late 1700s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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