be asking for trouble
/bi ˌɑːskɪŋ fə ˈtrʌbl/INFORMAL · B2
Meaning
to act in a way that will probably cause problems for you
Examples
- 1Leaving your bike unlocked outside the station is asking for trouble.
- 2Leo was asking for trouble when he posted rude comments about his manager online.
- 3Driving across the hills in winter with no spare tyre would be asking for trouble.
- 4Borrowing money from friends for a holiday you can't afford is asking for trouble.
- 5My neighbours are asking for trouble with that old tree leaning over the road.
Grammar
Only be changes: is, are, was, would be. asking stays in the -ing form.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about problems and trouble
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →make a mountain out of a molehillto treat a small difficulty as if it were seriousa storm in a teacupa lot of anger or worry about something unimportantnip something in the budto stop a problem at an early stage before it growsa tough nut to cracka problem or person that is very hard to deal withgo pear-shapedto start to fail and turn out badlyopen a can of wormsto start dealing with something that causes many new problems
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
