go down for the third time

go down for the third time

Fig. to be just on the verge of failing. (From the notion that a boxer who is knocked down three times in one round normally loses the fight.) I was going down for the third time when I thought of a plan that would save my job.
See also: down, go, third, time
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • come a gutser
  • be down to (one)
  • be down to somebody/something
  • be down to something
  • be down to (do something)
  • close down
  • close down and shut down
  • bounce up and down
  • come a cropper
  • come a-cropper