dash someone's hopes
dash (one's) hopes
To undercut one's dreams or optimistic views. I became a lawyer after my parents dashed my hopes of being an artist.
dash someone's hopes
Destroy someone's plans, disappoint or disillusion. For example, That fall dashed her hopes of a gold medal. This term uses dash in the sense of "destroy," a usage surviving only in this idiom. [Second half of 1500s]