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| ⇒ throw a wrench in the works (into) | |||
подпортить (into: Xi called Putin an "old friend" when they chatted in mid December, while the Russian leader hailed what he said was a "responsible joint approach to solving urgent global issues."
But kicking off an invasion of Ukraine in the middle of Xi's Olympic moment would throw a wrench into such warmth, and risk drawing China into the diplomatic fray.  bloomberg.com 4uzhoj) | |||
| English thesaurus | |||
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| if someone throws a wrench or throws a monkey wrench into a process, they prevent something happening smoothly by deliberately causing a problem (REGIONAL NOTE: in BRIT, use "throw a spanner in the works": They threw a giant monkey wrench into the process by raising all sorts of petty objections.) | |||
| throw a wrench: 39 phrases in 4 subjects |
| American usage, not spelling | 3 |
| General | 26 |
| Idiomatic | 9 |
| Makarov | 1 |