cut the ground from under

Idioms  

1. Unexpectedly withdraw support or destroy one's foundation, trip someone up. For example, Overriding his veto, Congress cut the ground from under the President. This metaphoric phrase alludes to removing the solid earth from under someone. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

The best way to cut the ground from under them again was just such a proposition as Bevin had made: a long-range goal of cooperative selfhelp, which depended on assurance of long-range U.S. support.

From Time Magazine Archive

This seemed to cut the ground from under General Allen's contention that Kennedy had risked "possible loss of American and Allied lives."

From Time Magazine Archive

By playing up so lavishly to the Asian leaders � at a remove from the unspontaneous crowds -Khrushchev cut the ground from under local Communists.

From Time Magazine Archive

Shrewdly, the Assembly's old cuties had calculated that Faure was young enough, dynamic enough, and leftist enough to cut the ground from under Mend�s with the voters.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Nealson would expel you publicly, cut the ground from under your feet if you resigned,” they said.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright