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.
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
Dixon, who represented parts of west and south central L.A., also pushed for the subway to go under Pico Boulevard instead of Wilshire.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
McKechnie had treated Anaheim Ducks ice hockey player Paul Kariya for a similar issue without him needing to go under the knife, and the Lakers liked the sound of that.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
If the animals could stop the engines, the station would go under.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
