house of cards (redirected from houses of cards)

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).

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house of cards

n

1. (Group Games / Card Games) a tiered structure created by balancing playing cards on their edges

2. an unstable situation, plan, etc.

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" 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"