flunk out
Idioms-
Expel or be expelled from a school because one's work does not meet the required standard. For example, He flunked out of Harvard after just one year . [ Slang ; early 1800s]
-
Fail at anything, as in The camera ran out of film so we flunked out as photographers . [ Slang ; late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The difference between dropping the SAT and dropping the civil service examination is that incompetent students flunk out in a year or so.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
In her first year at college, as she studied to be a nuclear engineer, her depression led her to flunk out and return home, too crippled to get out of bed.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 21, 2021
If I got a football scholarship but had no place to live, no priority registration and no financial support, I’d flunk out of school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2021
In fact, about 90 percent of experimental treatments flunk out during clinical trials, either because they aren’t shown to be any more effective than the standard treatment or because their side effects are too severe.
From Slate ● Jul. 25, 2017
If you flunk out of law school, you have to go to work at your father’s insurance company.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
