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

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

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

From The Panchronicon by MacKaye, Harold Steele

"Now Keith is fuzzy-wuzzying again," said Dally, and Keith thought he would sink through the floor.

From The Soul of a Child by Björkman, Edwin

In the far corner of the room he saw a slight, pale boy, who looked ready to sink through the floor.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 05 — Fiction by Mee, Arthur