put a spanner in the works BrE
throw a spanner into the works BrE
put a wrench in the works AmE
throw a wrench in the works AmE , auch: put a monkey wrench in the works AmE , auch: throw a monkey wrench in the works AmE

"Well if you are right, we sure put a spanner in the works."

There is, therefore, the risk that the governments are going to put a spanner in the works.

As for his hypothesis, he said, the new data had "put a spanner in the works - temperature does not play a role."

The Council of Ministers, however, is still putting a spanner in the works.

The conservative lobby in this House, however, has put a spanner in the works.

The jilted pair follow them and try to put a spanner in the works."

Another factor that puts a spanner in the works is international IP law.

Fight back, put a spanner in the works of bureaucracy, stay legal but fight dirty.

Apart from all that, I see these amendments as being submitted by a mean, narrow-minded individual who wants to put a spanner in the works.

Chrissie had previously been pursuing a possible romance with Sacha, so his arrival "put a spanner in the works".

Hopefully, initial talks will soon be held in Belgrade too, provided that the Montenegro issue does not put a spanner in the works.

'I put a spanner in the works of one of the companies that later merged to form Spinward.

Or will creative differences as well as Fonte's total hatred of Barne put a spanner in the works?

Some governments - perhaps the Italians, the Irish, and certainly some of the Scandinavian ones - were putting a spanner in the works and stalling on this.

The Constitution also brings us more effectiveness by extending the number of areas in which decisions are taken by qualified majority, thus ensuring that one country cannot put a spanner in the works.

"If someone holds Michael prisoner and is waiting to intercept the courier, having a man who looks exactly like Michael walk in the door would certainly put a spanner in the works.

You lose the election so you set up a commission to put a spanner in the works of the main policy of the duly elected government and you get the taxpayer to pay for it.

I am also pleased that the Dutch Government did not put a spanner in the works. This is mainly thanks to the opposition in the Dutch parliament, who were aware of their enormous responsibility.

I regret this deeply, but there will still be a democratic majority in the Lower House today prior to the accessions, which means that the Netherlands will not necessarily put a spanner in the works.

One minute a mere tomboy Neighbour with a habit of putting a spanner in the works, the next Kylie was an overnight sensation, a pop princess with the Midas touch, so ordinary and yet so electrifying.

The record at the ground dubbed 'Fortress Murrayfield,' by Scotland captain Gavin Hastings is formidable: since 1985 only Australia (in 1988) and England (1988, 1991 and 1992) have put a spanner in the works.

I see that the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament and the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance want to put a spanner in the works.

In 1151, King Eystein II of Norway put a spanner in the works by sailing through the waterways of Orkney with a large fleet and catching the young Harald unawares in his residence at Thurso.

I would like to say that this is overshooting the mark and is due to the fact that people on certain sides would like to put a spanner in the works and make people believe that the Treaty of Lisbon could represent a problem for the legal security of employees.

"But having them here in such numbers could certainly throw a spanner into the works for us."

One doesn't want to throw a spanner into the works of Love's young dream.

"And then I get up and throw a spanner into the works."

Aunt Cora certainly threw a spanner into the works that day.

But the fact is that the country I know best threw a spanner into the works when it insisted on having three pillars.

Afraid that she might have thrown a spanner into the works here, destroying what had been slowly, surely developing between them.

O'Neill had thrown a spanner into the works.

What he meant by that was coming up with theories that send everybody scurrying, it just throws a spanner into the works.

The arrival of a pre-adolescent girl, inteligible to share a boy's room, threw a spanner into the works (and probably confirmed beliefs in English eccentricity).

Allowing thousands of marchers through city streets in the middle of the day is to throw a spanner into the works of a large and complex machine.

So far the task group had managed to run down everyone who'd arrived in Adler since the system's change in management, though Nuada's hardware glitches threatened to throw a spanner into the works now.

In clear desperation Vale looked to Xin Ra-Havreii, hoping that, at the very least, the friction he'd developed with Jaza might inspire him to throw a spanner into the works.

But to argue about whose fault it was, whether it was the fault of the Member States, whether it was the Commission's fault or which Member States threw a spanner into the works, serves no purpose.

That could put a monkey wrench in the works."

"The core question is whether he is inclined to seriously cooperate with us, which I think he is, or is he just trying to put a monkey wrench in the works?"

I've been looking forward to this day all week, and now you have to throw a monkey wrench in the works."

They're taking no chances on anyone sneaking up and throwing a monkey wrench in the works."