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house of cards

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.14 sec.
house of cards
n. 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).
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.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"
bubble
scheme, 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"
card-house, cardcastle, cardhouse
structure, 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"


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But he had only to forget the artificial train of reasoning, and to turn from life itself to what had satisfied him while thinking in accordance with the fixed definitions, and all this artificial edifice fell to pieces at once like a house of cards, and it became clear that the edifice had been built up out of those transposed words, apart from anything in life more important than reason.
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo View in context
The whole Diaz machine would go down like a house of cards.
The Night-Born by London, Jack View in context
By the glare, Adam could see the tower shake and tremble, and finally fall to pieces like a house of cards.
The Lair of the White Worm by Stoker, Bram View in context
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