take the wind out of someone's sails, to
take the wind out of someone's sails
Fig. to challenge someone's boasting or arrogance. John was bragging about how much money he earned until he learned that most of us make more. That took the wind out of his sails. Learning that one has been totally wrong about something can really take the wind out of one's sails.
take the wind out of someone's sails
BRITISH, AMERICAN ortake the wind out of someone's sail
AMERICANIf something takes the wind out of your sails, it makes you suddenly feel much less confident or determined in what you are doing or saying. The disappointment of that defeat took the wind out of our sails for a while. She suddenly apologized and it took the wind out of my sails. He missed the shot and it seemed to take a little wind out of his sail.
take the wind out of someone's sails
frustrate a person by unexpectedly anticipating an action or remark. 1977 Eva Figes Nelly's Version She could so easily have taken the wind out of my sails and put me in my place for good.
take the wind out of (one's) sails
To rob of an advantage; deflate.
take the wind out of someone's sails, to
To put someone at a disadvantage; to stop someone, literally or figuratively. This term, which alludes to impeding a sailing vessel by sailing to windward of it and thereby robbing it of the wind, was used literally until about 1800. Sir Walter Scott used it figuratively in The Fortunes of Nigel (1822): “He would take the wind out of the sail of every gallant.”