Home British & World English drive a coach and horses through

Definition of drive a coach and horses through in English:

drive a coach and horses through

phrase

British

  • Make (something) ineffective.

    ‘he's driving a coach and horses through our environmental legislation’
    • ‘What is the point of having planning conditions when people can drive a coach and horses through them?’
    • ‘If there is an accident, someone could sue the club and a good lawyer could probably drive a coach and horses through any defence the club might put forward.’
    • ‘Because it's unwritten it's very easy to drive a coach and horses through, because it has no legal protection in text.’
    • ‘It would drive a coach and horses through NATO's doctrine of nuclear strikes as a last resort.’
    • ‘To allow this would be to drive a coach and horses through the traditional monopoly of the legal profession to appear on behalf of litigants.’
    • ‘But the legal people have told me they could drive a coach and horses through that one.’
    • ‘It does seem that we are driving a coach and horses through the planning policies with this.’
    • ‘The internet drove a coach and horses through this prim arrangement.’
    • ‘She asked: ‘Why should we be driving a coach and horses through our own policy to save the education authority and the Church a lot of money?’’
    • ‘We have to uphold our policies or anyone can come along and drive a coach and horses through them.’