Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

Rock the Boat

To destabilize something or make a situation problematic; creating disturbance or to spoil a plan

Etymology:

  • This phrase is quite popular in U.S and England from 1920s onwards. Imagine that you’re going somewhere in a very small boat without any disturbance and then suddenly someone rocks the boat and the boat could’ve gone down. Thus, people who usually rock the boat can create some disturbance and destabilize a situation.
19 Views
“

We were planning to go for a walk but Shaun rocked the boat.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Additional definitions for 'Rock the Boat':

rock the boatTo disturb the status quo or go against rules or conventions, as in an effort to get attention.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the Rock the Boat phrase in other languages:

Schaukeln Sie das Boot

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Rock the Boat

sex, drugs and rock 'n' rollmiss the boatsolid as a rockwhatever floats your boatsteady as a rockrock uprock alongpush the boat outrock bottomnarrow boatrock out with one's cock outrock solidrock outmissed the boat

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Rock the Boat phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Rock the Boat definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Rock the Boat." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/rock-the-boat_44988>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    He was as _____ as a cucumber.
    A green
    B fleshy
    C skinny
    D cool

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ