pull the rug out from under

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

pull the rug out from under (third-person singular simple present pulls the rug out from under, present participle pulling the rug out from under, simple past and past participle pulled the rug out from under)

1. (idiomatic) To suddenly remove support from.
   • 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 42:

     But his organisation has been knocked off course by unexpected events: an economic downturn and 'austerity'... the Croydon tram crash... Brexit... and now a global pandemic that has pulled the rug from beneath Transport for London's feet.

Derived terms

• rug-pull

See also

• cut the ground from under someone's feet
• take the wind out of someone's sails

References

• “pull the rug (out) from under”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.