bottom drops out, the

Idioms

Also, the bottom falls out. A collapse occurs, as in The bottom dropped out of the steel market, or When they lost the game, the bottom fell out of their hopes to make the playoffs. This term alludes to collapsing deeper than the very lowest point, or bottom. [First half of 1600s]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023