go belly-up

go belly up

1. To break or malfunction; to die, fall apart, or cease to work. ("Belly up" is sometimes hyphenated.) Sorry, Mark, I'd love to give you a lift to the airport, but my car has gone belly up on me again. The disk drive in my laptop went belly-up after the one too many drops on the ground.

2. By extension, to have a poor, undesired, or ruinous outcome; to fail completely or not come together at all. It looks like our co-op might be going belly-up if we aren't granted a license for our communal work premises. The merger deal between the two companies went belly-up when it came to light that one of the CEOs had been dodging tax obligations for several years.

go belly-up

Fail, go bankrupt, as in This company's about to go belly-up. This expression alludes to the posture of a dead fish in the water. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see go broke.

go belly-up

INFORMAL

COMMON If a company goes belly-up, it fails and does not have enough money to pay its debts. Factories and farms went belly-up because of the debt crisis. Note: This expression may refer to dead fish floating upside down near the surface of the water.

go belly-up

Die; also, go bankrupt or otherwise fail. This slangy Americanism, which dates from the second half of the 1800s, initially referred to dead fish, which float in precisely that fashion. The transfer to humans as well as to inanimate objects, such as a business, took place in the early 1900s. It continues to be used in both senses, as in, “If those instruments fail, the astronauts will go belly-up” (that is, die), or as John Dos Passos put it in Chronicle (1920), “Labor’s belly up completely—The only hope is the I.W.W. [union].”

词组	go belly-up
释义	go belly-up go belly up 1. To break or malfunction; to die, fall apart, or cease to work. ("Belly up" is sometimes hyphenated.) Sorry, Mark, I'd love to give you a lift to the airport, but my car has gone belly up on me again. The disk drive in my laptop went belly-up after the one too many drops on the ground. 2. By extension, to have a poor, undesired, or ruinous outcome; to fail completely or not come together at all. It looks like our co-op might be going belly-up if we aren't granted a license for our communal work premises. The merger deal between the two companies went belly-up when it came to light that one of the CEOs had been dodging tax obligations for several years. See also: belly, go, up Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. go belly-up Fail, go bankrupt, as in This company's about to go belly-up. This expression alludes to the posture of a dead fish in the water. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see go broke. See also: go The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. go belly-up INFORMAL COMMON If a company goes belly-up, it fails and does not have enough money to pay its debts. Factories and farms went belly-up because of the debt crisis. Note: This expression may refer to dead fish floating upside down near the surface of the water. See also: go Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. go belly-up Die; also, go bankrupt or otherwise fail. This slangy Americanism, which dates from the second half of the 1800s, initially referred to dead fish, which float in precisely that fashion. The transfer to humans as well as to inanimate objects, such as a business, took place in the early 1900s. It continues to be used in both senses, as in, “If those instruments fail, the astronauts will go belly-up” (that is, die), or as John Dos Passos put it in Chronicle (1920), “Labor’s belly up completely—The only hope is the I.W.W. [union].” See also: go The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer See also: go belly up go tits up turn tits up go out of service airing air (one's) belly air belly air one’s belly bellies German goiter References in periodicals archive Luckily the world's largest rosary collection (housed in Stevenson, Washington) can never go belly-up. No vacation from religion "These are kids that have limited experience and not much else on their resumes." They also had no idea that their company, which a few months before had treated them to a lavish launch party on Ellis Island--to the tune of $275,000--would quickly go belly-up. Life After DotBomb
随便看	dirty work dirty work at the crossroads dis disabuse disabuse of disabuse (someone or oneself) of (something) disadvantage disadvantaged disagree disagree with disagree with (one) on (something) disagree with (someone or something) disappear disappear, etc. into thin air disappear from disappear from (something) disappear into the woodwork disappear into thin air disappear off the face of the earth disappear/vanish off the face of the earth disappear without (a) trace disappoint disappointed disappointed at disappointed at (someone or something)