house of cards
A structure or argument built on a shaky foundation.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“His plan was a house of cards and soon collapsed.”
“The company's finances were a house of cards, and when one investor pulled out, everything fell apart.”
“What had seemed like a brilliant political alliance turned out to be a house of cards, held together by nothing more than mutual fear and empty promises.”
- 01
basket house
A cafe or similar establishment where musical performances are given and the performers are then paid with money placed in a basket by members of the audience.
- 02
bet the house
Synonym of bet the farm.
- 03
bottom the house
To clean a house from top to bottom; to clean a house extremely thoroughly.
- 04
bring down the house
To garner enthusiastic or wild applause or laughter.
- 05
eat someone out of house and home
To consume so much of someone's store of food that little or none is left for the owner.
- 06
few cards shy of a full deck
Mentally deranged; demented; insane.
- 07
give someone their cards
To dismiss someone from employment; to fire or make redundant.
- 08
go around the houses
Do something (especially talking) circuitously.
Last updated August 10, 2026