desert a sinking ship

Idioms

Abandon a failing enterprise before it is too late. For example, After seeing the company's financial statement, he knew it was time to desert a sinking ship. This metaphoric expression alludes to rats, which leave a vessel when it founders in a storm or runs aground so as to escape drowning. It was transferred to human behavior by about 1600.

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 first to desert a sinking ship is the first to discover the ship is sinking.

From Time Magazine Archive

If rats desert a sinking ship, mice teem over this one.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is a generally well-founded belief among sailors that rats will desert a sinking ship.

From The Story of a Strange Career Being the Autobiography of a Convict; an Authentic Document by Anonymous

He is deserting us as rats desert a sinking ship," Mrs. Doolan said positively; "and I am only surprised that he has the grace to feel a little ashamed of the action.

From Rujub, the Juggler by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

One divined a scurrying as of rats about to desert a sinking ship.

From The False Faces Further Adventures from the History of the Lone Wolf by Vance, Louis Joseph

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023