go under
Britishverb
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(also preposition) to sink below (a surface)
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to founder or drown
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to be conquered or overwhelmed
the firm went under in the economic crisis
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Suffer defeat or destruction; fail. For example, We feared the business would go under after the founder died . [Mid-1800s]
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Lose consciousness. For example, Ether was the first anesthetic to make patients go under quickly and completely . This usage dates from the 1930s.
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Submerge, sink, as in This leaky boat is about to go under .
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 statue will go under the hammer at Chorley's Auctioneers in Gloucester later.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
But companies go under and relaunch with new advertising all the time.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
When you go under, your brain doesn’t just sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Pending home sales, a data point that measures homes that go under contract well before the sale closes, perked up in April, rising 3.2% from the year prior, according to the National Association of Realtors.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
“Maybe you go under ’im, maybe not,” said Kehaar.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
