wither on the vine

Idioms  

1. Fail to come to fruition, as in This building project will wither on the vine if they don't agree on a price. This expression alludes to grapes shriveling and drying up because they were not picked when ripe.

---

Example Sentences

We do need to eliminate poverty for older Americans, but the answer lies in strengthening SSI, which has been allowed to wither on the vine.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026

It is just going to wither on the vine.

From Salon • Jun. 3, 2024

When my vegetables wither on the vine, or succumb to bugs or moths or lack of drainage, I tell myself: It’s not about the end product.

From New York Times • Sep. 10, 2020

The question, though, is how an algorithm alters the overall playing field—whose tweets tend to flourish, and whose wither on the vine.

From Slate • Mar. 5, 2017

But every idea, no matter how good, seemed to wither on the vine of his imagination.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss