Idiom
play Old Gooseberry
Meaning
To suddenly put a stop to a disturbance by force or threats.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The teacher played Old Gooseberry when the students started shouting.”
“The manager played Old Gooseberry during the meeting, silencing the loud argument between the two employees.”
“When the rowdy crowd threatened to destroy the shop, the owner played Old Gooseberry and forced them to leave immediately.”
Examples
simple
“The teacher played Old Gooseberry when the students started shouting.”
contextual
“The manager played Old Gooseberry during the meeting, silencing the loud argument between the two employees.”
complex
“When the rowdy crowd threatened to destroy the shop, the owner played Old Gooseberry and forced them to leave immediately.”
Key words
Related idioms
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