Pull the rug out from under
verb phrase
To undermine or disable; put opponents at a great and often sudden disadvantage: They were intended to pull the rug out from under left-wing critics (1946+)
Remove all support and assistance from, usually suddenly. For example, Stopping his allowance pulled the rug out from under him, forcing him to look for a job. This metaphoric term alludes to pulling on a rug a person is standing on so that he or she falls. [ Mid-1900s ]
Read Also:
- Pull the string
verb phrase [perhaps fr the use of a string to fasten and release a concealing sheet on something about to be unveiled; perhaps fr pull the lanyard, ”to fire a cannon”]
- Pull-top
[poo l-top] /ˈpʊlˌtɒp/ adjective, noun 1. .
- Pullulate
[puhl-yuh-leyt] /ˈpʌl yəˌleɪt/ verb (used without object), pullulated, pullulating. 1. to send forth sprouts, buds, etc.; germinate; sprout. 2. to breed, produce, or create rapidly. 3. to increase rapidly; multiply. 4. to exist abundantly; swarm; teem. 5. to be produced as offspring. /ˈpʌljʊˌleɪt/ verb (intransitive) 1. (of animals, etc) to breed rapidly or abundantly; teem; […]
- Pullulation
[puhl-yuh-leyt] /ˈpʌl yəˌleɪt/ verb (used without object), pullulated, pullulating. 1. to send forth sprouts, buds, etc.; germinate; sprout. 2. to breed, produce, or create rapidly. 3. to increase rapidly; multiply. 4. to exist abundantly; swarm; teem. 5. to be produced as offspring. /ˈpʌljʊˌleɪt/ verb (intransitive) 1. (of animals, etc) to breed rapidly or abundantly; teem; […]
- Pull-up
[poo l-uhp] /ˈpʊlˌʌp/ noun 1. an exercise consisting of chinning oneself, as on a horizontal bar attached at each end to a doorpost. 2. a flight maneuver in which an aircraft climbs sharply from level flight.