Idioms for plug

    pull the plug on, Informal.
    1. to discontinue or terminate: The government has threatened to pull the plug on further subsidies.
    2. to disconnect life-sustaining equipment from (a moribund patient).

Origin of plug

1620–30; < Dutch; cognate with German Pflock

OTHER WORDS FROM plug

plug·ga·ble, adjective plug·ging·ly, adverb plug·less, adjective plug·like, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for pull the plug on

plug
/ (plʌɡ) /

noun

verb plugs, plugging or plugged

Derived forms of plug

plugger, noun

Word Origin for plug

C17: from Middle Dutch plugge; related to Middle Low German plugge, German Pflock

Medical definitions for pull the plug on

plug
[ plŭg ]

n.

A dense mass of material filling a hole or closing an orifice.

v.

To fill tightly with a plug.

Idioms and Phrases with pull the plug on (1 of 2)

pull the plug on

1

Discontinue, end, as in The government pulled the plug on that program. [First half of 1900s]

2

Remove all life-supporting equipment, as in The family debated whether it was time to pull the plug on him. [Second half of 1900s] Although this idiom undoubtedly alludes to cutting off electricity to an electrical device, it originally referred to the removal of a stopper that flushed an old-style toilet.

Idioms and Phrases with pull the plug on (2 of 2)

plug