open the floodgates

idiom

: to remove something serving to restrain an outburst

Many people fear that the court's latest ruling will open the floodgates for/to a host of new lawsuits.

Examples of open the floodgates in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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There, Chuck demonstrates the key's power by hacking into the Thames Barrier to open the floodgates. —

Emily Blackwood, People.com, 22 Jan. 2025 But during more than an hour of oral arguments Tuesday, some conservative justices expressed concern that allowing that interpretation would open the floodgates to types of lawsuits the law wasn’t intended to cover. —

Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 15 Oct. 2024 Tracking New And Evolving Threat Vectors The tech landscape has never been more innovative—for example, the proliferation of generative AI applications—but new tools can also open the floodgates for novel and evolving threats to people and organizations. —

Sean Brady, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024 Does this open the floodgates for more crypto ETFs? —

Bob Pisani, CNBC, 23 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for open the floodgates

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“Open the floodgates.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open%20the%20floodgates. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

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