一日一成语【26】put a spoke in someone’s wheel

put a spoke in someone’s wheel

spoke这个词大多数人都知道它是动词speak的过去式，却不知道spoke还可以作名词用。spoke作名词的一个很普通的解释就是连接车轮的中心和边框的轮辐，比如自行车轮子上的钢条。spoke的另一种解释现在不太用了。古时候，为了防止车轮在下坡时滑动，人们在车轮上留下几个眼，在下坡时插上一根特别的木棒，这根起制动作用的木棒就是spoke。因此put a spoke in someone’s wheel便具有“阻挠、制止”的意思：

If it hadn’t been for the spoke he put in our wheel, our plan would have come off.
要不是因为他从中作梗，我们的计划就会成功。

For more than once he has tried to put a spoke in my wheel merely out of jealousy.
他不止一次因嫉妒而试图和我作对。

Thinking they would not make an ideal couple, their parents put a spoke in the wheel of their marriage.
他们的双亲认为他们的结合不会美满，因此阻挠他们的婚事。