Failure - Experiencing Failure

Explore English idioms that regard experiencing failure with examples like "go up in flames" and "fall flat".

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to [hang] on by {one's} fingernails [phrase]

to barely manage to survive or succeed

Ex: The team was hanging on by their fingernails in the final minutes of the game , but they managed to hold on for the win .

on {one's} knees [phrase]

in a difficult, desperate, or vulnerable situation where help or intervention may be needed

Ex: After the scandal broke , the politician was on his knees begging for forgiveness from the public .

to [go] pear-shaped [phrase]

to proceed in a way that causes a bad outcome

Ex: I was trying to fix the leaky faucet , but then everything went pear-shaped and I ended up flooding the bathroom .

to [fall] at the first (hurdle|fence) [phrase]

to fail or encounter difficulties at the beginning of a task or process, before any significant progress has been made

Ex: The new restaurant fell at the first hurdle when it received a terrible review in the local newspaper , causing a sharp drop in business .

to [fall] at the (final|last) (hurdle|fence) [phrase]

to encounter failure or difficulties just before reaching the end or achieving a goal

Ex: After months of negotiation , the business deal seemed promising , but it fell at the last fence when unexpected terms were introduced .

the wheels [fall off|come off] [sentence]

used to refer to something that was working or progressing well but suddenly stopped functioning or fell apart

Ex:

to [fall] flat [phrase]

(of a joke, remark, event, etc.) to be completely unsuccessful in amusing people or having the desired effect

Ex: The team 's attempt at a trick play fell flat and resulted in a turnover .

to [go] (up|down) in flames [phrase]

to experience a complete failure or defeat, often accompanied by dramatic or disastrous consequences

Ex: The project is going up in flames due to mismanagement .

to [fall] flat on {one's} face [phrase]

to experience an embarrassing failure in an attempt to do something

Ex: The speaker had not prepared for the presentation and so when she got up to speak , she fell flat on her face and forgot her lines .

to [go] ass over (tit|tip) [phrase]

to suddenly fall down because of losing one's balance

Ex: The skateboarder tried to do a trick , but he lost his balance and went ass over tit .

to [go] south [phrase]

to experience a sudden and significant decline, deterioration, or devaluation, often unexpectedly or rapidly

Ex: The weather was beautiful all morning , but in the afternoon , it suddenly went south and it started raining heavily .

to [go] haywire [phrase]

to malfunction or stop functioning properly

Ex: The experiment seemed to be going well , but then the equipment malfunctioned and things went haywire .

to [beat|bang|hit] {one's} head against (a|the) (brick|) wall [phrase]

to repeatedly try to do or achieve something without success

Ex: The environmental activist expressed frustration , feeling like she was banging her head against a wall , as the calls for sustainable practices went unanswered by the industry leaders .

{sb} [can't|couldn't] hack it [sentence]

used to convey that one is unable to cope with or handle a particular situation, task, or challenge

Ex:

to [go] belly up [phrase]

(of a company, organization, plan, etc.) to experience a complete failure

Ex: The restaurant was struggling to attract customers , and eventually went belly up .

black eye [noun]

an issue causing progress to slow down or stop entirely

Ex: The unexpected budget cuts dealt a black eye to our project 's progress .

to [fall] to pieces [phrase]

to completely fail to be effective

Ex: The old car was already starting to fall to pieces , and then it finally broke down on the side of the road .

Failure
Resulting in Failure	Experiencing Failure	Lost in the Game	Wastefulness
Fruitlessness	Deterioration	Defamation & Unpopularity	Defeat
Game Over	Lose or Win	Mistakes & Poor Performance