put the cat among the pigeons

• set the cat among the pigeons

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put the cat among the pigeons (third-person singular simple present puts the cat among the pigeons, present participle putting the cat among the pigeons, simple past and past participle put the cat among the pigeons)

1. (figuratively) To cause alarm, fuss, or agitation.
   • 1994 September 19, The Times:

     Professor Stephen Hawking put the cat among the pigeons last week with his cheery remarks about comet Machholz-2, which some astronomers believe could be heading our way.

   • 2023 September 2, Simon Schama, “The real Rino”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2:

     In any event, this professorial detonation, especially coming as it does from hardline Federalist Society constitutional originalists, has set the cat among the Republican pigeons.

• flutter in the dovecote

• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, 1996