drop like flies

Idioms  

1. Rapidly collapse, die, or drop out, usually referring to a group rather than an individual. For example, The words were so difficult that the spelling bee contestants were dropping like flies. The simile like flies has meant “in large numbers,” as it does in this expression, since about 1600.

---

Example Sentences

“Retail stores are dropping like flies,” he says.

From Reuters

“It feels like it’s just biting everybody at this point in time. And this is the wrong point. We’re in a critical stretch here, and we’re having guys dropping like flies right now. It’s unfortunate.”

From Washington Post

One insider says: "People were dropping like flies."

From BBC

“All indicators are getting darker and darker … people are dropping like flies.”

From Seattle Times

How is it that in Australia, it's 3 out of every 100,000 people, and in New Zealand it's 1 out of every 200,000 people, but here in America we're dropping like flies?

From Salon