drive a nail into one's coffin
To do something that causes you serious and permanent harm: “I told my uncle that every time he lights a cigarette, he's driving another nail into his coffin.”
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Tuesday Is Named For A One-handed God Named TiwYes, it’s true, there’s a wild story behind the god who lends his name to Tuesday. Tiw’s remarkable myth involves women with beards (more on that in a bit). Regardless, the past 1,000 years or so have not been kind to this Northern European divinity. Who is Tuesday named for? To make a long story short, it seems that Tiw used to be a big shot, …
Nearby words
drisheen, drivability, drivage, drive, drive a hard bargain, drive a nail into one's coffin, drive at, drive home, drive screw, drive shaft, drive someone crazy
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.