manoeuvring the apostles

obsolete The act of borrowing or taking money from one person or source to fund or repay the debt of another. A variant of "robbing Peter to pay Paul," which means the same. Primarily heard in UK. Mr. Hardy's law firm has fallen into arrears of late, and he's taken to manoeuvring the apostles just to keep the business afloat. Never pay a debt by taking on more debt—that's just manoeuvring the apostles, and it never works for long.