down the drain
Lost for good
Down the drain describes something wasted, lost, or ruined beyond recovery.
Money, time, effort, or opportunities can all go down the drain when they yield no benefit or disappear entirely.
All that planning went right down the drain when they canceled the event.
The image is of something valuable being flushed away with wastewater, irretrievably gone.
- discardDeliberately throw out
- garbageDiscarded waste material
- squanderUse up carelessly
- throwing good money after badWasting resources on failures
- up in smokeDestroyed, wasted, ruined
out the window · all for nothing · collapse · disaster · bankruptcy · flush · debacle · pointlessness · fiasco · gone to pot · going south · downfall · vanishing act · slipping away · falling apart · catastrophe · wreckage · total loss
- declinedecline, in decline, decrease, downswing, on the decline
- ruinedruined, destroyed, wrecked, demolished, obliterated
down the drainput to good use
Apply effectively toward purpose
salvaged · saved · recovered · worthwhile · fruitful
down the drainon the rise
Becoming greater or more
on the up and up · in the black · going places · gaining ground · turning around
down the drainappreciating
Recognizing value or quality
growing · accumulating · building up · paying dividends · compounding
down, drain, drained, downtown, downs, draining, download, downgrade, downer