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house of cards
noun
- a structure or plan that is insubstantial and subject to imminent collapse, as a structure made by balancing playing cards against each other:
The scheme is so overly complicated that it's likely to prove to be just another house of cards.
house of cards
noun
- a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges
- an unstable situation, plan, etc
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of house of cards1
Idioms and Phrases
A weak and fragile structure, plan, or organization, as in Her scheme to reorganize the school sounds like another house of cards , or Jerry built his entire business on what turned out to be a house of cards . This metaphoric expression alludes to the structure made by balancing playing cards against one another. [First half of 1600s]Example Sentences
Each “Housewives” series is a rickety house of cards, just waiting for a dramatic gust of wind to implode its structure so it can be rebuilt with the queens and jokers in a different place.
After that, the constant repetition of clothes and video-making and too many shows — it’s really not good for a person’s emotional house of cards.
“The indictment and the allegations represent, if true, a disturbing and disappointing house of cards that deceived and victimized many across the country,” Carvalho said.
Dealing with this financial house of cards means navigating a world where traditional financial advice doesn’t apply.
If that doesn’t happen, our healthcare system will prove to be just one disastrous layer in a genuine American house of cards.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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