| 释义 |
house of cards
house of cardsn. pl. houses of cards A flimsy structure, arrangement, or situation that is in danger of collapsing or failing: "The collapse of the rupiah ... has brought down a house of cards in overleveraged conglomerates" (Sander Thoenes).house of cards n 1. (Card Games) a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges 2. an unstable situation, plan, etc house′ of cards′
n. a structure or plan that is insubstantial and subject to imminent collapse. [1900–05] Thesaurus| Noun | 1. | house of cards - a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"bubblescheme, strategy - an elaborate and systematic plan of action | | 2. | house of cards - an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"cardcastle, cardhouse, card-housestructure, construction - a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts; "the structure consisted of a series of arches"; "she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons" |
Translationshouse of cards
house of cardsA plan, organization, or other entity that is destined to fail due to a weak structure or foundation (likened to a literal house of cards, which is built by balancing playing cards against one another, and is very easily toppled). Greg decided against investing in the new technology company because he got the feeling that it was a house of cards. So your plan is to just cram and miraculously get good grades on all of your exams? That sounds like a real house of cards to me!See also: card, house, ofhouse of cardsA 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] See also: card, house, ofa house of cards COMMON If you describe a system, organization, or plan as a house of cards, you mean that it is likely to fail or collapse. This government could fall apart like a house of cards during the first policy discussion. When he left the company, the whole house of cards collapsed. She knows that the cosy family relationships of the past were a house of cards, based on unstable foundations. Note: This refers to the building of an elaborate but unstable pyramid structure using playing cards. See also: card, house, ofa house of cards an insecure or over-ambitious scheme. Literally, a house of cards is a structure of playing cards balanced together. 1992 New York Times Book Review Integrated Resources later proved to be a house of cards, costing Drexel customers many millions when it collapsed. See also: card, house, ofa ˌhouse of ˈcards a plan, an organization, etc., that is so badly arranged that it could easily fail: His plans collapsed like a house of cards when he was told he hadn’t won the scholarship.See also: card, house, ofhouse of cardsA weak, insubstantial construction, plan, or organization. Building “houses” by balancing upright playing cards against one another surely dates from the earliest days of paper or cardboard playing cards, which in Europe was the late Middle Ages (earlier in China). Likening a precarious structure to a “house of cards” presumably began soon afterward. An elegant use of the metaphor came in John Milton’s Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline (1641): “Painted Battlements of Prelatry, which want but one puff of the King’s to blow them down like a past-board House built of Court-Cards.”See also: card, house, ofhouse of cards
Synonyms for house of cardsnoun a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot controlSynonymsRelated Wordsnoun an unstable construction with playing cardsSynonyms- cardcastle
- cardhouse
- card-house
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