go belly up
/ɡəʊ ˌbeli ˈʌp/INFORMAL · C1
Meaning
to fail, especially as a business
Examples
- 1The travel company went belly up, and hundreds of holidays were cancelled.
- 2Three restaurants on our street have gone belly up since January.
- 3The shop couldn't pay its rent or its staff, and it went belly up in March.
- 4If the factory goes belly up, half the town will lose their jobs.
- 5Why did such a popular café go belly up after only a year?
Grammar
go is irregular: went, gone. The subject is usually a company, a shop or a plan.
More idioms about success
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →learn the hard wayto find something out through your own mistakesget off the groundto start successfullybear fruitto produce good results after a lot of efforta feather in your capan achievement you can be proud ofrest on your laurelsto stop trying because of past successhit the jackpotto have a big success, usually through luck
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
