Dictionary — ontologydriven

upset the applecart en · VERB

(idiomatic) To disorganize or spoil something, especially an established arrangement or plan.
- This kind of impact causes contusions in the front and back areas of the brain and can create microscopic bleeding and shearing of neural pathways, causing synapses to misfire, upsetting the applecart of your brain, sometimes forever. 2011, Mira Bartók, The Memory Palace, →ISBN, page 5:
- “There are three reasons,” Trent answered. “First, he may find his way to England and upset the applecart; […]” 1900, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 22, in A Millionaire of Yesterday:
- Last week the Senate Banking Committee upset the carefully stacked apple cart when it voted 10 to 5 not to approve the Administration's bill. 1979 December 10, “Business: Putting Brakes on a Bailout”, in Time, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2012:
- She told me herself just now that the worst was over. And those confounded people must go and upset the applecart. 1922, William Somerset Maugham, Caesar's Wife, act 3, page 136:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
upsetting the applecart	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
upset the apple cart		alternative	lexicographic
upset the applecart	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
upset the applecart	Tense=Past		lexicographic
upsets the applecart	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic