crash and burn
Idioms-
Fail utterly, as in Dale crashed and burned three times before passing the bar exam . This idiom alludes to a car or airplane that has crashed and caught fire. [ Slang ; 1970s]
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In skateboarding and other sports, be taken out of competition by a collision, accident, or fall, as in Although she was favored to win the downhill race, she crashed and burned on her first run . [ Slang ; 1980s]
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.
And will the $500-million proposal to ferry fans by gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium remain aloft or crash and burn?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
A new study has found a way to avoid what has proven to be the Achilles’ heel of momentum strategies — their tendency to occasionally crash and burn.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
A tour of Australia gives a group of England players the opportunity to achieve cricketing immortality, or crash and burn.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2025
Before, of course, the inevitable crash and burn when the law finally catches up to them.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
I think most of the kids in the class were waiting to see what Cade Hernandez was going to do to get Lucky Lindy to crash and burn.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
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.
