trouble at mill
- idiom
- UK
:
problemas en la fábrica
- After the manager announced layoffs, there was obvious trouble at mill among the staff.
Examples
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When the rumor spread about new policies, people sensed trouble at mill in the department.
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The supervisor warned that if demands were not met, there would soon be trouble at mill.
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There is trouble at mill with the new management.
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Did you hear about the trouble at mill during the meeting?
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After the manager announced layoffs, there was obvious trouble at mill among the staff.
-
The supervisor warned that if demands were not met, there would soon be trouble at mill.
-
When the rumor spread about new policies, people sensed trouble at mill in the department.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A situation with fighting or strong arguments that disturbs people
∞
1.0
A situation in which things are untidy and confused
9
3.7
A place where problems or fighting happen often
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
trouble + at + mill
The literal parts 'trouble' + 'at' + 'mill' yield an understandable basic sense (problems occurring at a mill), so a learner could guess a general idea of 'there is a problem here'. However the phrase is a regionally used, somewhat idiomatic shorthand that generalizes to mean problems in a situation or workplace and drops expected articles, so the exact pragmatic nuance and broader use are not fully predictable from the words alone.
Etymology
Trouble at mill may come from old factory life, where trouble at the mill, like a strike or a broken machine, stopped work and affected many people. That's why it now means 'problems or conflict in a place or group'.