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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

open Pandora's box en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To perform an action that causes problems to appear which did not exist beforehand, or were not known about prior.
    • It’s a thin line between charming, candy-flavored verisimilitude and craven commercialism, and if Spielberg ultimately stayed on the right side of it, “E.T.” nevertheless helped open a Pandora’s box of product placement. 2022 August 4, Adam Nayman, “Five Sci-Fi Classics, One Summer: How 1982 Shaped Our Present”, in The New York Times:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
opened Pandora's box Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
opened Pandora's box Tense=Past lexicographic
opens Pandora's box Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
opening Pandora's box Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

sow dragon's teeth

Translations (6)

ro deschide cutia Pandorei (to perform an action that causes problems) · pl otwierać puszkę Pandory (to perform an action that causes problems) · pl otworzyć puszkę Pandory (to perform an action that causes problems) · fi avata Pandoran lipas (to perform an action that causes problems) · fr ouvrir la boîte de Pandore (to perform an action that causes problems) · oc obrir la bóstia de Pandora (to perform an action that causes problems)