definitions

applecart

[ ap-uh l-kahrt ]
/ ˈæp əlˌkɑrt /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR applecart ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a pushcart used by a vendor of apples.

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RELATED WORDS

dislocate, disorder, sink

Nearby words

apple-pie, apple-pie bed, apple-pie order, apple-polish, appleby, applecart, appledrain, applejack, appleknocker, apples, apples and oranges

Idioms

    upset the/someone's applecart, to ruin plans or arrangements; spoil something: He was making a fantastic profit until a competitor upset the applecart by cutting prices.

Origin of applecart

First recorded in 1780–90; apple + cart
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for upset the applecart

applecart

/ (ˈæpəlˌkɑːt) /

noun

a cart or barrow from which apples and other fruit are sold in the street
upset the applecart to spoil plans or arrangements
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with upset the applecart

upset the applecart

Spoil carefully laid plans, as in Now don't upset the applecart by revealing where we're going. This expression started out as upset the cart, used since Roman times to mean “spoil everything.” The precise idiom dates from the late 1700s.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.