"pull the rug out from under" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pulls the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulling the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pull the rug out from under (third-person singular simple present pulls the rug out from under, present participle pulling the rug out from under, simple past and past participle pulled the rug out from under)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "rug-pull"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's \"hidden heroes\"”, in Rail, page 42",
          "text": "But his organisation has been knocked off course by unexpected events: an economic downturn and 'austerity'... the Croydon tram crash... Brexit... and now a global pandemic that has pulled the rug from beneath Transport for London's feet.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To suddenly remove support from."
      ],
      "id": "en-pull_the_rug_out_from_under-en-verb-VW9Ksvg2",
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "support",
          "support"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To suddenly remove support from."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "cut the ground from under someone's feet"
        },
        {
          "word": "take the wind out of someone's sails"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pull the rug out from under.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2a/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pull the rug out from under"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "rug-pull"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pulls the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulling the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pulled the rug out from under",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "pull the rug out from under (third-person singular simple present pulls the rug out from under, present participle pulling the rug out from under, simple past and past participle pulled the rug out from under)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "cut the ground from under someone's feet"
    },
    {
      "word": "take the wind out of someone's sails"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's \"hidden heroes\"”, in Rail, page 42",
          "text": "But his organisation has been knocked off course by unexpected events: an economic downturn and 'austerity'... the Croydon tram crash... Brexit... and now a global pandemic that has pulled the rug from beneath Transport for London's feet.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To suddenly remove support from."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "support",
          "support"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To suddenly remove support from."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-pull the rug out from under.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2a/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/En-au-pull_the_rug_out_from_under.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pull the rug out from under"
}