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.
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
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
Before, of course, the inevitable crash and burn when the law finally catches up to them.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
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
It makes me feel like I’m going to fall, or trip, or crash and burn.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
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.
