Idiom
Pull the plug
To pull the plug is to stop something, such as a project, plan or business, usually by ending the money or support it depends on.
How people use it
People use it for canceled shows, abandoned projects and closed businesses (the network pulled the plug on the series after one season). It often comes with on. It is informal and common in news and business talk. Because the phrase can also mean switching off a patient's life-support machine, people use it with care in hospital settings. It suggests a decision by someone in control, not something that ended by itself.
Examples
- The company pulled the plug on the new app after only a few hundred downloads.
- Rain was pouring down, so the organizers pulled the plug on the outdoor concert.
- If the bakery keeps losing money, the owners may pull the plug by summer.
Where it comes from
No one knows for sure which plug came first. Early uses may refer to pulling the plug from a drain or from the water tank of an early flush toilet, which emptied it. Later, electrical plugs made the image of cutting off power obvious. The medical sense, about turning off life support, became common in the second half of the 1900s.
Check yourself
1. If a TV network pulls the plug on a show, what does it do?
Answer: It cancels the show. Pull the plug means ending something, often by cutting its funding or support.
2. Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Answer: After months of delays, the city pulled the plug on the new stadium.. Canceling a delayed project fits. Adding money is the opposite, and the charger sentence is literal.
Similar idioms
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