throw a monkey wrench into
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.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
obstruct, hinder, wreck, subvert, cripple, vandalize, destroy, disrupt, hamper, undermine, torpedo, thwart, stonewall, foil, stall, impede, crimp, do, frustrate, attack
Nearby words
- throughway,
- throve,
- throw,
- throw a curve,
- throw a fit,
- throw a party,
- throw a punch,
- throw about,
- throw away,
- throw back
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.