A-Z Database
see Bring down a peg or two
An Americanism that means destitute, penniless or incapacitated and dates from the late 19th century, originally from boxing where it means utterly de...
Down at heel meaning impoverished, destitute, sometimes shabby or miserable, dates from the early 18th century, and derives from the fact that poor pe...
see Out for the count
To be down in the dumps is to be unhappy, sad or depressed. The dumps has been an expression for melancholy or sadness since the early 16th century. I...
Morose and glum dates from the 1600s and refers to the corners of the mouth being turned down when people feel like this.
To be down on one's luck is to experience a time of ill-fortune, dates from the early 19th century.
Alternative expression to down the drain dates from the early 20th century, where a chute or slide is really an open pipe or drain. In Australia, from...
Lost, wasted, a British colloquialism from the late 19th century.
An American drinking toast that means down the throat and is first attested from the 1930s, It derives from obvious nautical origins where the hatch o...
Alternative expression to down the drain from the early 20th century where the pan referred to is of course the lavatory pan.
The American equivalent of down the pan from the mid-20th century, where the tubes are the soil pipes that run from the lavatory pan.
see To a “t”
see Get down to brass tacks
see Cut/pare something to the bone