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]
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.

With so many players talking about the work they've been doing to avoid the crash and burn moments they experience too often in games then something had to change.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

This year’s report by Dias and Salamat is the second significant claim of superconductivity to crash and burn in 2023.

From Scientific American • Nov. 8, 2023

“I don’t want to crash and burn and have everything crumble down,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2022

A star is born — but will she survive and thrive, or crash and burn?

From Salon • May 13, 2022

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