seal someone's fate
Guarantee inevitable outcome
To seal someone's fate is to make an outcome inevitable, usually a negative one.
The expression suggests that once fate is sealed, like a letter or document, it cannot be changed or reopened.
His refusal to cooperate sealed his fate with the committee.
The phrase often appears in contexts involving doom, failure, or punishment, though it can occasionally refer to positive outcomes that become certain.
- predeterminationDecision made in advance
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- writing on the wallObvious omen of trouble
- causalityCause-effect connection
- final blowDecisive finishing strike
last nail in the coffin · consequence · kiss of death · closure · permanence · turning point · certainty · done deal · decisive moment · final straw · culmination · kismet · binding decision · providence · irreversibility · death knell · no turning back · trigger
seal someone's fatebuy time
Delay to gain advantage
leave the door open · open doors · stay of execution · kick the can down the road
seal, seals, sealed, sealing, sealer, sealant, someone, fate, fateful