sink through the floor

Idioms  

1. Suffer extreme embarrassment, as in When she called our name on the list of those who owed dues, I sank through the floor. This hyperbolic term dates from the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sink through the floor

Recalled Eleanor, "I wanted to sink through the floor in shame."

From Time Magazine Archive

Commander Fitz turned her attention to me, and I wished I could sink through the floor.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

The countenance, seeing the singer's uncovered shoulders and bare feet, shows signs of embarrassment, and looks ready to sink through the floor.

From Love by Constance Garnett

Rebecca remembered ever afterward how she wished that "all those men" would sink through the floor of the cabin.

From The Panchronicon by Harold Steele MacKaye

Poor Arkwright, tingling with a scorching blush, and ready to sink through the floor with confusion, stammered out that he had never thought of venturing to remark upon my Lady Le Marchant’s looks.

From The First Violin A Novel by Jessie Fothergill