go belly-up
Cease business operations
Go belly-up means to fail completely, especially financially.
A business that goes belly-up has collapsed or gone bankrupt: Three restaurants on that block have gone belly-up this year.
The image comes from dead fish floating upside down.
The phrase can apply to any plan or venture that fails utterly: Our vacation plans went belly-up when the airline canceled.
- failBe unsuccessful
- defaultPreset standard option
- flatlineShow no heartbeat
- collapseSudden structural failure
- bustFailure or sculpture
bite the dust · bankruptcy · insolvency · founder · fold · crash and burn · liquidation · defunct · go under · flop · receivership · close up shop · fall apart · ruin · go down the toilet · down the drain · disaster · hit the skids