spanner in the plan
- idiom
- UK
:
obstáculo
- The sudden weather change threw a real spanner in the plan for our outdoor event.
Examples
-
His illness put a spanner in the plan for the team's project launch.
-
Budget cuts have become a major spanner in the plan for development.
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What a spanner in the plan that was!
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The sudden rain was a spanner in the plan for the outdoor event.
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Budget cuts have become a major spanner in the plan for development.
-
His illness put a spanner in the plan for the team's project launch.
-
The sudden weather change threw a real spanner in the plan for our outdoor event.
Synonyms
148
3.6
A problem that delays progress or makes things worse
50
3.9
A problem that stops progress or makes a goal hard to reach
37
4.2
A small problem that causes a delay
35
4.8
An unexpected problem that is not obvious at first
25
4.6
An unexpected problem that delays a plan
22
7.7
An unexpected problem that makes a plan or situation more difficult
18
4.4
A problem that stops progress or makes moving forward difficult
16
5.9
An unexpected problem that stops progress in a plan or process
11
6.0
An unexpected problem that makes a situation more difficult
1
7.0
An unexpected problem that causes trouble with a plan
1
6.6
A serious problem that stops a plan, product, or event from going ahead
A sudden problem that stops progress and causes delay
A small unexpected delay in a planned schedule
Antonyms
How Disruptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
There is a clear metaphorical link: a 'spanner' (tool) inserted into something suggests causing a malfunction or obstruction, so a learner who knows the words might infer an obstacle to a 'plan'. However the expression is a conventional idiom (often 'spanner in the works') and the specific idiomatic sense is language- and culture-bound and not fully predictable from the parts for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Spanner in the plan may come from the picture of someone throwing a spanner (a wrench) into a machine so its parts stop moving, ruining the plan. So it means 'an unexpected problem' that stops what you planned.