throw a monkey wrench into

Idioms  

1. Sabotage or frustrate a project or plans, as in The boss threw a monkey wrench into our plans when he said we'd have to work Saturday. This transfer of industrial sabotage—that is, throwing a tool inside machinery—to other subjects dates from the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

And part of their idea was you throw a monkey wrench into this process to stop it.

From Salon

Russell Berman in The Atlantic interviewed Lieberman and asked him these questions and Lieberman couldn't really come up with any concrete reason why now is the time to throw a monkey wrench into the electoral system with all that's at stake.

From Salon

“The last thing that a booming economy needs is to throw a monkey wrench into a system that we have that is working marvelously well.”

From Seattle Times

It’s why the American Medical Assn. has tried to throw a monkey wrench into a last-minute bipartisan agreement that could result in the enactment of a ban before the end of this year.

From Los Angeles Times

This means that it's made diseases ever more communicable and its ability to throw a monkey wrench into a globalized economic system and financial markets so much greater.

From Salon

Related Words

• cripple
• destroy
• disrupt
• hamper
• hinder
• obstruct
• subvert
• torpedo
• undermine
• vandalize
• wreck