Idiom
spanner in the works
Meaning
Something that disrupts smooth operation or functioning.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The sudden rain put a spanner in the works for our picnic.”
“We had everything planned for the wedding, but the caterer canceling at the last minute really threw a spanner in the works.”
“The sudden resignation of the lead engineer threw a significant spanner in the works, forcing the entire project team to delay the launch by several months.”
Examples
simple
“The sudden rain put a spanner in the works for our picnic.”
contextual
“We had everything planned for the wedding, but the caterer canceling at the last minute really threw a spanner in the works.”
complex
“The sudden resignation of the lead engineer threw a significant spanner in the works, forcing the entire project team to delay the launch by several months.”
Key words
Related idioms
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