go belly-up

Idioms and Phrases

Fail, go bankrupt, as in This company's about to go belly-up . This expression alludes to the posture of a dead fish in the water. [ Slang ; early 1900s] Also see go broke .

Example Sentences

First, some individual state markets may simply go belly up because not enough people, or the wrong demographic mix, signed up.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• descend
• dip
• drop
• flop
• go down
• nose-dive
• plummet
• plunge
• sag
• skid
• slip
• slump
• spill
• stumble
• topple