upset the applecart

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“A Fed hike could upset the applecart in a major way, sucking a lot of capital into the U.S.,” he says.

From Barron's • Apr. 20, 2026

But Hearts have upset the applecart this season and Edinburgh's surprise long-time leaders open their post-split schedule with their derby away to Hibernian on Sunday, 26 April.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

The US central bank is keen not to upset the applecart but seems to have done so anyway.

From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2017

Bruce had been using comedy to upset the applecart since his days as a teenage sailor during the Second World War.

From Salon • Jul. 19, 2015

"The modern Hydra, embracing innumerable adverse factors, would appear at least as many headed as the ancient, for as fast as one is more or less effectively decapitated up comes another to upset the applecart."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, October 27, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir