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.

---

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

The little booklets were picked up, read, dropped again, with laughter and comments, until Millicent felt that she would gladly sink through the floor.

From Harper's Round Table, May 7, 1895 by Various

Every eye was turned upon her, and she felt in this conspicuous position as if she should sink through the floor.

From A Dear Little Girl by Blanchard, Amy Ella

But he put the question weakly, and he might just as well have said, "I know what you mean, and I would pay a million pounds or so in order to sink through the floor."

From Buried Alive: a Tale of These Days by Bennett, Arnold