wait for the other shoe to drop

Idioms

Await a seemingly inevitable event, as in Now that she has a good enough job to leave her husband, we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop. This expression alludes to a person awakened by a neighbor who loudly dropped one shoe on the floor and is waiting for the second shoe to be dropped. [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is merely a sleight of hand and a twist of fate, and we're all resting on Bono's bed of nails while we wait for the other shoe to drop.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2022

So now we wait for the other shoe to drop.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 28, 2021

And as they toast to their survival skills with communion wine by candlelight, we wait for the other shoe to drop.

From Forbes • Oct. 19, 2014

But there’s so much emotional reserve in her style that when she coos a line like “I want to see you,” on “Hamburg, Noon,” you instinctively wait for the other shoe to drop.

From New York Times • Aug. 29, 2010

He knew to wait for the other shoe to drop.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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