to put the cat among the pigeons
- idiom
- UK
:
meter el gato entre las palomas
- Her question at the meeting put the cat among the pigeons and sparked a heated debate.
Examples
-
His announcement about the merger really put the cat among the pigeons at the company.
-
He always puts the cat among the pigeons with his comments.
-
If you reveal that secret now, it will surely put the cat among the pigeons.
-
Don't put the cat among the pigeons at the meeting!
-
Her question at the meeting put the cat among the pigeons and sparked a heated debate.
-
His announcement about the merger really put the cat among the pigeons at the company.
-
If you reveal that secret now, it will surely put the cat among the pigeons.
Synonyms
165
4.8
To start a fight or argument by annoying someone
103
3.2
To do things that make problems for other people
48
4.8
To make people feel strong emotions like anger or fear
31
7.6
To make someone angry or unfriendly
20
5.3
Do or say something that causes trouble and upsets other people
13
7.6
To cause people to argue or become divided on purpose
9
7.2
Upset people by challenging usual views
8
8.0
To cause trouble by saying things to make people argue
5
5.3
To cause fights or problems between people on purpose
1
7.0
To cause many people to show strong public anger or criticism
1
9.9
To say or do things to make others angry and start fights
To say or do things that cause arguments and make people angry
To cause trouble between people to get attention
To cause disagreement between people or groups
To make people argue or fight
To cause a lot of trouble and anger among people
Antonyms
How Disruptive
7
4.1
115
3.7
- UK
6
4.0
22
3.7
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
put + the + cat + among + the + pigeon
The literal meanings of 'put', 'cat', 'among' and 'pigeons' evoke a clear image of placing a predator among prey, which naturally implies causing alarm or disturbance; a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer the figurative sense of provoking trouble. However, the phrase is an idiomatic metaphor and relies on pragmatic inference rather than strict compositional rules, and equivalent metaphors vary across languages, so the meaning is partially but not fully predictable.
Etymology
Put the cat among the pigeons comes from imagining a cat loose among a group of pigeons, so the birds panic, fly up and scatter. So, the phrase means 'to cause trouble, confusion, or strong reactions'.