English

Phrase

flutter in the dovecote

1. (idiomatic) A disturbance, usually one caused within a prescribed group of people.
   • I further argued that the principal cause for the political deadlock that persisted for thirty years after the guns fell silent was Israeli intransigence rather than Arab intransigence. The appearance of the first wave of revisionist studies excited a great deal of interest and controversy in the media and more than a flutter in the academic dovecote. — Israel Confronts Its Past

Related terms

• flutter the dovecote

Translations

See also

• put the cat among the pigeons