open the floodgates

idiom

: to remove something serving to restrain an outburst

Many people fear that the court's latest ruling will open the floodgates for/to a host of new lawsuits.

Examples of open the floodgates in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But that score seemed to open the floodgates, so to speak. —Kansas City Star, 23 Nov. 2025

Hillwood also hopes this new development will open the floodgates for southwest Denton County. —Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Nov. 2025

Jeffries’s decision to endorse Mamdani will likely open the floodgates for GOP messaging, particularly as Republicans have latched on to the fact that Mamdani, a socialist, is the Democrats’ nominee. —Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 24 Oct. 2025

And this could only open the floodgates for the top performers in Louisiana, with Chase Young and Chris Olave being other options potentially on the move. —Tyler Small, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for open the floodgates

• macroinvertebrates
• abates
• annates
• awaits
• birthrates
• bookplates
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• casemates
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• classmates