Word.ws English Dictionary

drive a coach and horses through

drive a coach and horses through verb: to spoil, break or render ineffective (a rule, plan or agreement).

Verb

drive a coach and horses through (third-person singular simple present drives a coach and horses through, present participle driving a coach and horses through, simple past drove a coach and horses through, past participle driven a coach and horses through)

  1. (UK, idiomatic) To spoil, break or render ineffective (a rule, plan or agreement).
    • These findings drive a coach and horses through the claim that Wonga has been lending responsibly.2014 October 2, Emma Dunkley, George Parker, quoting Pat McFadden, “Wonga to write off £220m of loans owed by customers”, in The Financial Times
    • We’ve been told that No 10 is preparing to update its obesity strategy. Part of that must be to get us all eating more healthily.¶ But a sugary, junk-filled trade deal will drive a coach and horses through it all.2018 March 18, Denis Campbell, “UK anti-obesity drive at risk from new US trade deal, doctors warn”, in The Guardian
    Synonyms:
    nonconform

Synonyms of drive a coach and horses through

Forms of drive a coach and horses through

third-person singular presentdrives a coach and horses through
present participledriving a coach and horses through
pastdrove a coach and horses through
past participledriven a coach and horses through
alternative formdrive a coach and six through

Questions about drive a coach and horses through

What does drive a coach and horses through mean?
Drive a coach and horses through means to spoil, break or render ineffective (a rule, plan or agreement).
What part of speech is drive a coach and horses through?
Drive a coach and horses through is a verb.
What is the past tense of drive a coach and horses through?
The past tense of drive a coach and horses through is drove a coach and horses through.

Words near drive a coach and horses through in the dictionary

  1. driv someone to drink
  2. driv to drink
  3. drivability
  4. drivable
  5. drive
  6. drive a coach and horses through
  7. drive a coach and six through
  8. drive a hard bargain
  9. drive a nail in someone's coffin
  10. drive a nail where it will go
  11. drive a stake through its heart

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drive a coach and horses through (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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