put a (monkey) wrench in(to) the works



put a (monkey) wrench in(to) the works

To disrupt, foil, or cause problems to a plan, activity, or project. Primarily heard in US. We had everything in line for the party, but having the caterer cancel on us at the last minute really threw a wrench in the works! It'll really put a monkey wrench into the works if the board decides not to increase our funding for this project.
See also: put, work, wrench

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Mariannemah-ree-AH-nə (German), MAH-ree-ahn-ne (Finnish)French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Lewella-Welsh
Darius[də'raiəs]
Hadley[''hædli]
RomÁN-Hungarian
Doru-Romanian