in flames

in flames

Of a failure, spectacularly and permanently. Used in the phrases "down in flames" and "up in flames." My campaign speech went down in flames after I forgot everything I had rehearsed and just stood on stage sweating. If we don't get that shipment by Monday, our whole business plan will go up in flames.
See also: flame
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • come a gutser
  • be down to (one)
  • be down to somebody/something
  • be down to something
  • be down to (do something)
  • bounce up and down
  • ask down
  • close down
  • close down and shut down
  • come a cropper
References in periodicals archive
The car, a Lamborghini Countach, looked like it went up in flames after its middle-mounted V12 engine exploded into fire.
A couple, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, lost each of their cars when they went up in flames in the middle of the night.
but when Shelley Mandiville joined in a stunt for a friend's joke website her life as a carefree teenager went up in flames.
The building, which is used for sports events, weddings and christenings, was engulfed in flames upon arrival and, despite brave efforts to quell the fire, the club was destroyed.
Last August, 18 sailors were killed when the fully-armed submarine INS Sindhurakshak exploded in flames and sank in a military shipyard in Mumbai.
STAFF at a Nuneaton sheltered housing complex are urging elderly people to be on their guard after one of their residents saw her bedroom engulfed in flames.