handbasket

[hand-bas-kit, -bah-skit]

noun

1. a small basket with a handle for carrying by hand.

Word History and Origins

Origin of handbasket¹

First recorded in 1485–95; hand + basket

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. go to hell in a handbasket, to degenerate quickly and decisively.

   The economy has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Example Sentences

“Without him, America has gone to hell in a handbasket,” Nguyen said.

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But mostly he whined about how stupid all the other leaders are and complained about how the country has gone to hell in a handbasket while promising to make America great again.

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"I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out," he contended.

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“Givers of Death” belongs to a fascinating subgenre: The world has gone to hell in a handbasket, so what do you hold on to?

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Moulton said that the American effort in Afghanistan “didn’t go to hell in a handbasket with the withdrawal” and that the country does not need a “narrow investigation focused on just President Biden.”

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