come to grief

Idioms  

1. Meet with disaster or failure. For example, The icy runway caused at least one light plane to come to grief. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

Two oilmen would come to grief, more or less, in the 1920s.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2023

Around the world they have often borrowed and spent their way to short-term popularity, only to come to grief when the easy money runs out.

From Washington Post • Jan. 28, 2017

A widow who works as a nurse practitioner, she has also come to grief by a regrettable misstep.

From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2014

A warning was delivered about fans perching in trees who might come to grief.

From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2013

There, back beyond our island, a ship under full sail had come to grief in the storm.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk