go belly up
Cease to operate
Go belly up means to fail completely or go bankrupt, from the image of a dead fish floating upside down.
Businesses go belly up when they can no longer operate: Three restaurants on that block went belly up last year.
The phrase can apply to any venture or plan that fails utterly: Our vacation plans went belly up when the airline canceled.
- bankruptUnable to repay debts
- collapseSudden structural failure
- failBe unsuccessful
- go underSink or fail completely
- bustFailure or sculpture
insolvent · in the red · crash · fold · close up shop · out of business · ruin · financial ruin · default · broke · liquidate · underwater · debt · creditors · foreclosure · shutdown · tanked · bottom out