- house of cards, bubble - a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"
--1 is a kind of scheme, strategy
- house of cards, cardhouse, card-house, cardcastle - an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
--2 is a kind of structure, construction