on the rocks

Idioms  

1. Ruined, spoiled, as in Six months after the wedding, their marriage was on the rocks . This expression, alluding to a ship running aground on rocks and breaking apart, has been used figuratively for other disasters since the late 1800s.

2. Served over ice only, as in He always drinks whiskey on the rocks . The “rocks” here are the ice cubes. [Mid-1900s]

3. Destitute, bankrupt, as in Can I borrow next month's rent? I'm on the rocks . This usage, from the late 1800s, is heard more often in Britain than America.

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Example Sentences

“We can gather limpets,” I said, “and mussels on the rocks.”

From Literature

Suddenly it was silent, as silent as it could be with the waves running high and throwing themselves up on the rocks at our feet.

From Literature

Now renamed the People's Party, their hopes that they would improve on their 2023 performance were dashed on the rocks of the old-style patronage networks which have dominated provincial politics in Thailand throughout its modern history.

From BBC

Their marriage was on the rocks, and on the day she went missing Arlene had been due to meet a solicitor to discuss a £250,000 divorce.

From BBC

But Nim got another load and then another, till she had twenty fat coconuts heaped on the rocks, and then she hurled them into the water one by one.

From Literature

Related Words

• bankrupt
• exhausted
• impoverished
• indigent
• insolvent
• needy
• penniless
• poor
• poverty-stricken
• strapped