sink through the floor
sink through the floor
1. To wilt, wince, or cower from extreme embarrassment. When the teacher accused me of cheating on the test, I thought I would sink through the floor. I accidentally let out a very audible fart as I bent over, and I got back to my desk as soon as I could so I could sink through the floor.
2. To suffer a feeling of extreme dejection, disappointment, or sadness. Usually said of one's heart. My heart sank through the floor when I saw Joe walking hand-in-hand with Melissa. Our hearts started sinking through the floor the moment the doctor came into the waiting room with such a serious expression on her face.
See also: floor, sink, through
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
sink through the floor
Suffer extreme embarrassment, as in When she called our name on the list of those who owed dues, I sank through the floor. This hyperbolic term dates from the early 1900s.
See also: floor, sink, through
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
sink through the floor, to
To be extremely embarrassed. This hyperbolic expression, indicating that one wishes one could actually disappear by sinking through the floor, dates from about 1900. L. M. Montgomery used it in her popular novel Anne of Green Gables (1908): “She thought she would sink through the floor when she saw you come in all rigged out like that.”
See also: sink, through
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- sink through the floor, to
- fear
- make a clean breast
- make a clean breast of
- make a clean breast of (something)
- make a clean breast of it
- make a clean breast of something
- recoil at the thought (of someone or something)
- a horseback opinion
- cower from